Yesterday was Canada's 142nd birthday. So A and I decided to celebrate this feat by cycling through some beautiful landscapes in preparation of our big Honeymoon cycling trip at the end of this month. We decided to bike to Renfrew to visit one of the staple restaurants we used to go to when we visited grandpa and to eat an ice cream cone at our favorite dairy, that is, if we made it that far. Since we figured it would probably be too far to cycle there and back as well, we asked A's parents to meet us their for lunch, our treat, and drive us and our bikes back to town. They agreed so we were on!
We got up early yesterday morning, at about 5:30, had breakfast, got our stuff ready, changed into our new cycling shorts, (which by the way are awesome!) and prepared for a rainy day. There was a 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms and the skies looked pretty threatening. A attached a Canadian flag to the back of his bike, and we were ready to go. We left the house around 7:20. We had picked a route through a some of the small communities between here and 'the frew', places I had not been to before, plus that way we could avoid the main (=busy) highway. It was an excellent experience, not only do you get to enjoy the country side that much more when you travel through it more slowly, the exercise and fresh air gave me so much energy!
Aside from lovely landscapes we saw an old car show in Arnprior and a fun looking parade (I believe it was in Braeside). We saw this man pass by on a ride on lawn mower, he had red and white balloons and canada flags stuck all over it and he himself was decked out in Canada paraphernalia as well. When we turned the corner there were a whole lot of them, clearly all going somewhere to line up for a parade. It seemed like everyone in town who owned a ride on lawn mower or something else small and motorised, little dirt bikes, atvs, what have you, were going to be part of the parade, entire families came by. It was very funny, and it looked like the kids where having a blast.
The most iffy part for me was when we were riding on a tiny dirt/gravel road somewhere, surrounded by deer and horse flies whom as soon as you slowed down tried to land on you, and we didnt know what path to take. We turned right but after following tat road for a little bit we realised we were going the wrong way, so we turned back. A was able to ask 2 local guys working in a garden where we were and they were able to point us in the right direction: Down an even narrower dirt/gravel road. I had a hard time speeding down hill on that road. On the one hand I was afraid to fall with my still broken rib, on the other hand I didnt want to slow down too much due to the deer flies that seemed to be swirling in an eddie behind my back. A mentioned there where probably about 20 of them coasting along behind me, I believe him because when he passed me on the hill there were a lot behind him too. All this to say I was happy to reach an open field and asphalt.
We made it to Renfrew without getting wet. We did notice a lot of areas that were completely soaked, water was running down the road in streams, as they obviously just got pored on. At one point we were riding in this blue sky patch surrounded by very dark clouds. It felt really special, as if the clouds could tell how happy we were feeling and felt we could use some sun to match our moods. We made it dry to renfrew. We got of our bikes to take a couple of pics at the you reached renfrew sign, and then we got rained on... big time! We finally found out why there was water streaming down the road. Luckily we had brought a change of clothes. Unfortunately A had forgotten to pack extra shoes, so he was swushing away in those, but at least most of him was dry.
We had an excellent lunch, followed by a delicious icecream cone from the dairy. A got vanilla icecream with peanut butter cups and peanutbutter swirl, and I had madawaska mud, of course a chocolate based flavour, with brownie bits and caramel swirl. Yum! We spent the rest of the day at A's parents, swimming in the pool and socialising with some family friends that were visiting from out of town. We had a nice supper and a nice relaxing evening, and now we are back to reality of life: work. I cant wait for the weekend!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
June is flying by, were did it go?
Happy belated Birthday Irene!!
Last night we invited B over for dinner. We hadnt seen her in a long time and it was good to catch up. We decided to go for a walk after dinner, and A and B were nice enough to go along with my plan to walk to DQ and get some icecream relief from the heat. It was an excellent walk, but on the way home something I have been worried about ever since I sneezed with a broken rib finally happened: I got the hiccups! I even thought about it while biking home from work yesterday (which by the way was mostly fine as it doesnt put tention on the soar spot unless it is bumpy). I am telling you, Not fun! However, luckily they only lasted for a couple of hiccups, thank goodness, I was able to hold my breath and get them out of my system, but I almost cried. So, from now on I will eat my icecream more slowly. Chew every bite well, and drink with caution in the hope that this will not occur again in the next few weeks... Sigh...
Now that I am done complaining, I got a call from the temp agency yesterday; they may have found me a 3 month contract with Health Canada in a bit of a different type of position (read not booking meetings and travel) which would be awesome, I really hope they pick my resume, I feel I need to move on to something new, and gain new experience. I do really like the spot I am in now, and if I could work here as a junior policy analyst or researcher or something like that, I would be very happy to stay, but I dont want to get stuck as the admin assistant. Once you have that label it is so hard for people to see you as something different. So I am crossing my fingers. If it works out it will be at a different location, so new people, new contacts. It will definetly change my commute, I may be able to bus now and I wonder what it would be like to cycle there.... I am trying to stop thinking about it, and not get my hopes up too much but it is hard not to.
I noticed I really need to shop for some summer professional attire. Most of my clothes are dark and wintery, and I want a few light and colourful pieces for my wardrobe.Also, A and I will soon be shopping for some cycling gear we will need for our trip. We are planning on cycling and camping along the Cabot Trail for our honeymoon at the end of july!!! I am sooo excited about it, it should be fantastic, really hard, but fantastic!
Last night we invited B over for dinner. We hadnt seen her in a long time and it was good to catch up. We decided to go for a walk after dinner, and A and B were nice enough to go along with my plan to walk to DQ and get some icecream relief from the heat. It was an excellent walk, but on the way home something I have been worried about ever since I sneezed with a broken rib finally happened: I got the hiccups! I even thought about it while biking home from work yesterday (which by the way was mostly fine as it doesnt put tention on the soar spot unless it is bumpy). I am telling you, Not fun! However, luckily they only lasted for a couple of hiccups, thank goodness, I was able to hold my breath and get them out of my system, but I almost cried. So, from now on I will eat my icecream more slowly. Chew every bite well, and drink with caution in the hope that this will not occur again in the next few weeks... Sigh...
Now that I am done complaining, I got a call from the temp agency yesterday; they may have found me a 3 month contract with Health Canada in a bit of a different type of position (read not booking meetings and travel) which would be awesome, I really hope they pick my resume, I feel I need to move on to something new, and gain new experience. I do really like the spot I am in now, and if I could work here as a junior policy analyst or researcher or something like that, I would be very happy to stay, but I dont want to get stuck as the admin assistant. Once you have that label it is so hard for people to see you as something different. So I am crossing my fingers. If it works out it will be at a different location, so new people, new contacts. It will definetly change my commute, I may be able to bus now and I wonder what it would be like to cycle there.... I am trying to stop thinking about it, and not get my hopes up too much but it is hard not to.
I noticed I really need to shop for some summer professional attire. Most of my clothes are dark and wintery, and I want a few light and colourful pieces for my wardrobe.Also, A and I will soon be shopping for some cycling gear we will need for our trip. We are planning on cycling and camping along the Cabot Trail for our honeymoon at the end of july!!! I am sooo excited about it, it should be fantastic, really hard, but fantastic!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Crunch - another random injury
What I didnt mention in my post last week was that I had a minor collision with one of the players on the other team. I fell funny and winded myself, but was fine after and kept playing. The next day it felt very bruised and sore, and the days following I didnt sleep all that well as I kept waking up when I rolled over. Sunday A finally convinced me to go see a dr. I did, and it turns out I broke my rib right where it attaches to the sternum at the front, te examination was very uncomfertable, and definetly created a bit of a set back. I again didnt sleep well a few nights in a row and I was so tired at work today that I had to leave early to go home for a nap. After my nap I felt soo much better, hopefully this is a turning point and from now on I will sleep more so I can function a little better at work.
A and I are the happy uncle and aunt of another lovely little girl. My sister-in-law I gave birthday to Nina on sunday, fathers day. We are thrilled that mother and daughter are doing well and the first pictures show that she looks a lot like her cute older sister. I really wish I could go over to see her, but we wont be able to do that for a little while. We first have some travelling of our own to do, to start with our honeymoon.
There are new developments on that as well, but I will save that for a different post. I am hoping to sleep early tonight and biking in to work tomorrow.
A and I are the happy uncle and aunt of another lovely little girl. My sister-in-law I gave birthday to Nina on sunday, fathers day. We are thrilled that mother and daughter are doing well and the first pictures show that she looks a lot like her cute older sister. I really wish I could go over to see her, but we wont be able to do that for a little while. We first have some travelling of our own to do, to start with our honeymoon.
There are new developments on that as well, but I will save that for a different post. I am hoping to sleep early tonight and biking in to work tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Random fact
I just realised a random fact about myself, I appreantly really like using highlighters to colour code tasks or calendar entries... huh... who knew? Wheeee pretty colours! I feel like I have had way to much sugar even though I have not, it must have been that free employee appreciation tea I got this morning :)
I have been super moody this past week. I had a lot of things on my mind, and I couldnt deal with them well, so I ended up feeling really stressed which turned into me being really bitchy at home . Luckily I finally managed to straighten stuff out in my head and I am now feeling a whole lot better and able to enjoy my life more again. I really need better stress coping strategies. I have definetly improved, but I am still not close to where I want to be.
Work is going really well. I enjoy working with the new teams, It si really nice to work with people that want you there and appreciate the work you are doing for them.
Saturday was our first real soccer game. I had so much fun. Our team this year is really nice, we are definetly not very skilled yet, but we had a good time loosing, because every tried their hardest and the other team, even though much more experienced seemed to be enjoying our fun too. That is why I like that rec league, most teams are very supportive of people learning the sport.
Sunday was S and L's baby shower. Even though it didnt turn out the way I expected it would, it still was a lot of fun. People enjoyed themselves and the couple and baby got spoiled with lots of fun gifts. I was happy to be part of it all.
Yesterday I took a rest/mental health day, I think it was the best thing I could have done for myself. I feel so much better now. We topped it up with date night. I ordered sushi take-out, which we ate on our fancy japanese dishes, watched an episode of long way round and we had amazing talks.
Today I took my bike in to work, which means I get to bike home, I am really looking forward to it as it is a very nice day out. I hope I remember to actually time myself this time, so I have an idea of what time I need to leave to actually bike into work and not be late. Yay biking!
Life is good :)
Work is going really well. I enjoy working with the new teams, It si really nice to work with people that want you there and appreciate the work you are doing for them.
Saturday was our first real soccer game. I had so much fun. Our team this year is really nice, we are definetly not very skilled yet, but we had a good time loosing, because every tried their hardest and the other team, even though much more experienced seemed to be enjoying our fun too. That is why I like that rec league, most teams are very supportive of people learning the sport.
Sunday was S and L's baby shower. Even though it didnt turn out the way I expected it would, it still was a lot of fun. People enjoyed themselves and the couple and baby got spoiled with lots of fun gifts. I was happy to be part of it all.
Yesterday I took a rest/mental health day, I think it was the best thing I could have done for myself. I feel so much better now. We topped it up with date night. I ordered sushi take-out, which we ate on our fancy japanese dishes, watched an episode of long way round and we had amazing talks.
Today I took my bike in to work, which means I get to bike home, I am really looking forward to it as it is a very nice day out. I hope I remember to actually time myself this time, so I have an idea of what time I need to leave to actually bike into work and not be late. Yay biking!
Life is good :)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A lot can change in a week
Thursday was my last day at work. They took me out for lunch at Kelseys where they gave me a nice bouquet of flowers, a card signed by lots of people wishing me well and a chapters gift card, all very unexpected. Then they took met to dairy queen for dessert. When I came back from the lunch and about 5 minutes before I was going to leave I got called into the office of one of the directors here. She asked me if I would mind working for them until the fall as they needed help with their administrative work as their regular girl was acting in a different postion. So, I am working here until I find something different. Friday we called the temp agency and got everything sorted out, and monday I was back at work, this time in a different cubicle on a different floor. I am really happy with the move. This time my cubicle doesnt have a huge pilar in it, so it feels much bigger and brighter. I really like it. The walls are super bare though so I am going to have to bring in some pictures to liven things up, it doesnt look very cozy at the moment.
I am very relieved I dont have to worry about money while I find myself something better. Yay!
The weekend was nice, we did some gardening, so A's aunt from BC at a family dinner and went to a barbeque at K and Cs. We saw a lot of friends we hadnt seen in a while so it was nice to catch up. We brought Rockband and it was so much fun. I may have had a little to much to drink, well, it wasnt that much, I just drank really fast, so everything was pretty funny to me. Sunday we got up early to meet the K, C and K at Lincoln fields for Sunday Bikeday. We biked from Kanata to lincoln fields and to parlement hill and back. It was a long ride, 57K, but it felt great.
I am hoping to start biking to work again this week and I have decided to sign up for a french course to improve my chances of finding a job here in town.
I am very relieved I dont have to worry about money while I find myself something better. Yay!
The weekend was nice, we did some gardening, so A's aunt from BC at a family dinner and went to a barbeque at K and Cs. We saw a lot of friends we hadnt seen in a while so it was nice to catch up. We brought Rockband and it was so much fun. I may have had a little to much to drink, well, it wasnt that much, I just drank really fast, so everything was pretty funny to me. Sunday we got up early to meet the K, C and K at Lincoln fields for Sunday Bikeday. We biked from Kanata to lincoln fields and to parlement hill and back. It was a long ride, 57K, but it felt great.
I am hoping to start biking to work again this week and I have decided to sign up for a french course to improve my chances of finding a job here in town.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Lots of things on my mind
I cant believe I havent written in so long! it seems that whenever I have a lot on my mind i dont take the time to sit down and write. Which is really too bad, because there have been three really great weekends in the last little while. No point in rehashing what I did three weeks ago though.
Main reason of thought distraction is my impeding joblessness. as of thursday I will be unemployed unless I find something before then, which is doubtful at this point. At first I was very upset about it, but I am perfectly ok with it all now. I really need to move forward with my life and on to something different, and hopefully better for me. I am working hard on not letting the stress of it all get to me. I am really hard on myself when it comes to stuff like this. I tend to feel like I am letting my loved ones down because I dont have everything sorted out yet, which I rationally know is not reasonable, but feelings sometimes have a mind of their own.
Because I was starting to become obsessive about job hunting, i decided to take this weekend of and relax, do fun things that made me happy. And therefore A and I spent saturday shopping around lots of different furniture stores to look for couches for the family room and basement. And we found some! We are going to be the proud owners of: a love seat and chair fpr the basement and a couch and love seat for the family room. I am really excited about them. The basement set arrives Friday, (comfy movie watching here I come!!) but we will have to wait for 8 whole weeks before our family room furniture arrives. I cant wait! this is the first time I have bought new grown up furniture and I am anxious to see what it looks like. We didnt find a coffee table we like yet, and we will be looking for a rug of some sort as well, but couches are a great start. I hope they fit!
Sunday was also a very exciting day for me. I spent most of my time gardening. After breakfast I got into some old clothes and made my way to the gardening centre. I spent a good chunk of time and change and came home with a whole lot of veggies, as well as some perrenials and annuals for the front yard and I was thrilled. Mind you, it wasnt the warmest day yesterday, and it also rained quite a bit, but I put on my splash pants, rubber boots and old winter coat and started digging and weeding. I am focussing on one little project at a time, as there is sooo much to do out there, on the bright side, I will have lots of time to garden in the next little while :D The veggie garden looks great, I cant wait to see what it does. I will let you know how that goes!
On a different note, this past week I sent in my aplication for canadian citizenship. It was a pretty big step for me. Now it is a matter of waiting and seeing what will happen. Appearantly the process takes about the same time as permanent residency applications do, so I am going to put it out of my mind completely for the time being.
Main reason of thought distraction is my impeding joblessness. as of thursday I will be unemployed unless I find something before then, which is doubtful at this point. At first I was very upset about it, but I am perfectly ok with it all now. I really need to move forward with my life and on to something different, and hopefully better for me. I am working hard on not letting the stress of it all get to me. I am really hard on myself when it comes to stuff like this. I tend to feel like I am letting my loved ones down because I dont have everything sorted out yet, which I rationally know is not reasonable, but feelings sometimes have a mind of their own.
Because I was starting to become obsessive about job hunting, i decided to take this weekend of and relax, do fun things that made me happy. And therefore A and I spent saturday shopping around lots of different furniture stores to look for couches for the family room and basement. And we found some! We are going to be the proud owners of: a love seat and chair fpr the basement and a couch and love seat for the family room. I am really excited about them. The basement set arrives Friday, (comfy movie watching here I come!!) but we will have to wait for 8 whole weeks before our family room furniture arrives. I cant wait! this is the first time I have bought new grown up furniture and I am anxious to see what it looks like. We didnt find a coffee table we like yet, and we will be looking for a rug of some sort as well, but couches are a great start. I hope they fit!
Sunday was also a very exciting day for me. I spent most of my time gardening. After breakfast I got into some old clothes and made my way to the gardening centre. I spent a good chunk of time and change and came home with a whole lot of veggies, as well as some perrenials and annuals for the front yard and I was thrilled. Mind you, it wasnt the warmest day yesterday, and it also rained quite a bit, but I put on my splash pants, rubber boots and old winter coat and started digging and weeding. I am focussing on one little project at a time, as there is sooo much to do out there, on the bright side, I will have lots of time to garden in the next little while :D The veggie garden looks great, I cant wait to see what it does. I will let you know how that goes!
On a different note, this past week I sent in my aplication for canadian citizenship. It was a pretty big step for me. Now it is a matter of waiting and seeing what will happen. Appearantly the process takes about the same time as permanent residency applications do, so I am going to put it out of my mind completely for the time being.
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