This morning, I overslept (while dreaming about missing the bus), and slipped on the ice in the parking lot on my way to work. I managed to fall on my butt and my knees somehow (without spilling any coffee, heheh); I'm still not sure how I pulled that off! So I was a little grouchy to begin with, but to top it all off, a taxi driver in the parking lot watched the whole thing.
Oh well, if you can't laugh at yourself, other people will anyway, right!
I have a strong feeling that Roll up the rim is a conspiracy hahah...but I'm still a sucker for it because I'm going to win that car! :)
Lately, I've been thinking of writing more seriously (as in, making a point to write, not writing about only serious things:P), not because other people have commented on my writing, because a few friends have mentioned wanting to do this themselves. As someone who enjoys writing, I fully support these friends, and if I had lots of money, I'd invest in their work, however that works:) Alas, that's not my lot in life at the moment, and it's probably better that way!
Anyway, the thought of actually writing a book or even a handful of poems or short stories fills me with something akin to terror, so this might not be on the immediate horizon. Besides that, I have a pretty evident addiction to putting little happy faces at the ends of sentences, which is basically a bad habit I've developed. What can I say, I'm a visual person, and that's how I get around the starkness of type. Maybe one of these days, I'll get around to posting something that I've written, if I ever finish one of my projects!
Don't you working people wish we could get a March break too? (Or spring break, for you out west.) Some friends of mine who are in med school and teacher's college get a March break as well as reading break- must be nice:)
This weekend, my sister is going to Montreal to visit our friend/former roommate Leyla (you may remember her from my first post) who has gotten married to a French man. I have yet to meet this fellow but he must be a gooder if he landed Leyla:) It's a little sad when someone close to you gets married, in my opinion, because you experience a loss of friendship to an extent. At least I'm confident she has a good head on her shoulders and didn't marry someone strange, as far as we know, heheh. Liz is going with Jenny, our other former roommate, and I'm a little jealous, but it will be good for the three of them, they are close and they need this reunion.
I'm hoping to take a trip there myself in April maybe, to visit my friends Diana, Paola and Daniel who were in London before, and Leyla too. We shall see.
What are everyone's weekend plans? I get paid tomorrow, and I think I'll have to bite the bullet and use that money for glasses, once I get my eyes checked. I'm going to go see «Les Ch'tis» on Saturday with my friend Shona- I saw it on the plane coming back from Paris so it might be nostalgic but it's pretty funny. Other than that, our soccer team has to sit out this week, which is a downer, but I'll probably climb some stairs with my team for the CN Tower. Woo hoo!
If I can get over my disappointment at the snow and cold being back, I may take some photos to post. This blog needs some pictures.
Have a great day, my friends!
Well
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Finally, Friday...
Today is a bit overcast, but I love this weather, other than the melancholy feelings I get from it. Already this morning, I am faced with people's pain, in my job, in my friends. Why are we bent on hurting each other? Or why does the course of someone's life take a turn for the worse in a matter of seconds? I just want to wrap my arms around the world and hold everyone tight, I guess because I'm a huggy kind of person. I wish that could make everything better.
With some coworkers, I've signed up for the team CN Tower Climb, to raise money for WWF Canada. I'm pretty excited but have already managed to injure myself, the same injury I got last year from running 25+ kilometres, I've now gotten from running only two or three times, short runs too. In light of people's actual problems they're dealing with, mine look pretty minor...yesterday, in a Bible study I'm doing with a few other women, we talked about dying to self, and this is something I haven't assessed in my life in a while, and it makes me pretty uncomfortable to see all the ways I do everything but die to self. It's not a popular concept and I don't enjoy the process but I know it is necessary for me to grow closer to God.
With some coworkers, I've signed up for the team CN Tower Climb, to raise money for WWF Canada. I'm pretty excited but have already managed to injure myself, the same injury I got last year from running 25+ kilometres, I've now gotten from running only two or three times, short runs too. In light of people's actual problems they're dealing with, mine look pretty minor...yesterday, in a Bible study I'm doing with a few other women, we talked about dying to self, and this is something I haven't assessed in my life in a while, and it makes me pretty uncomfortable to see all the ways I do everything but die to self. It's not a popular concept and I don't enjoy the process but I know it is necessary for me to grow closer to God.
I just found out that Urbana is on again this year, a huge missions conference in the States that I've been wanting to go since the last time when I wasn't able to, I think it was 2006. I am not approved to get the time off work but I'm on the waiting list- if God wants me to go, I think He will work this out!
Hey, do any of you know Ricardo? Well, not actually the guy, but his cooking show? :) I guess this is more for the francophones out there (Jared, you should check it out)- my friend at work subscribes to his magazines and they're fantastic, best recipes ever. Well, I haven't actually made any of them yet, but they look delicious:)
Well, I don't have much else to say at this time, so have a great weekend!
Monday, February 23, 2009
25 choses (un peu bizarre peut-etre)...
You have probably all seen this on facebook, but I thought I'd post it here instead. Of course, the rage has nearly passed so I'm a bit behind on everything- not unusual for me- and I don't know if anyone cares anymore (heheh), but here goes.
1) I tend to take these kinds of things too seriously and think too hard about them, so that by the time I get around to it, it's kind of passé.
2) I have an attachment to knee socks (especially striped) and different kinds of scarves.
3) Given the opportunity, I could quite gladly live in France and drink café crème and be a little bit aloof and wear scarves (with the French flair) the rest of my life.
4) At work, I'm often tempted to only speak in different accents on calls, but they are all recorded and with my luck, those would be the ones my supervisors listen to, and they may not like it. One of these days...
5) Sometimes I think the world looks better when you squint at it.
6) I've only ever had one sick day (that I can think of) at work- last fall, the day after my marathon when I had to clutch the bannister for dear life every time I attempted the stairs. It was quite refreshing.
7) I love coffee and don't feel that I should break the habit even though I'm probably kind of caffeine-sensitive. I often dream of being one of these people that drinks green tea and other healthy beverages like green juice that hippies drink, but then I would have to stop drinking coffee.
8) For years, I've wanted to get dreads, but I don't want to get mouldy hair so I haven't done it yet.
9) My downstairs neighbours are playing guitar right now even though they promised not to. Grrrr. Some people's kids. Boys.
10) I'm a semi-closet germophobe. I avoid putting my mittens on during the walk to work if I was the one that had to pull the bell cord on the bus, cuz lots of people touch those things. Then my hands freeze and I lather them with hand sanitizer when I get to work. I try to suppress these compulsions but they sometimes get the better of me.
11) There is no better pairing than cheese and wine. Or maybe wine and chocolate. Cheese and apples?
12) I think I may be in love with France. I'm still trying to determine whether it returns the feeling.
13) There seems to be a pattern in my life that when I move to a new place, I forget my friends from other places for a while. For instance, I made amazing friends in Bible college that I love and miss a lots but many of them, I haven't spoken to in a while. Then I get in touch with them all of a sudden and it's maybe off-putting; really they've been on my mind and I'm abrupt with recontacting people. If you are one of these people I've done this to, thanks for putting up with me, you mean a lot to me! And I miss you!
14) I would love to live overseas, in Europe or Africa or the Middle East. Also, I hope to visit Antarctica in about 15 years with my sister Liz.
15) In my apartment there is a hot pink bike that I bought off Kijiji. I may or may not replace it with an upgrade in the spring. I called it Manon Ouellette.
16) I miss living in Alberta.
17) I love to sing while doing the dishes.
18) One day, I would like to get published.
19) I can't get enough of fall in Ontario and Quebec. Next year I'd like to go to Gatineau Park in the fall and go hiking, because it's an unparalleled view.
20) One of my favourite smells in the whole wide world is the house and cottage of Grandmaman and Grandpapa. I would like to go there right now and visit them.
21) I have a childhood dream of competing in the Olympics and I've held onto this crazy ideas that it can still happen.
22) I did not win anything on my Roll up the rim cup this morning.
23) I am almost done this list.
24) I love to bake but I'm trying to be more creative with cooking.
25) In the next year I hope to visit both coasts of Canada.
Phew, that was harder than I thought! Now I'm taking a break:) Have a great day, amigos.
1) I tend to take these kinds of things too seriously and think too hard about them, so that by the time I get around to it, it's kind of passé.
2) I have an attachment to knee socks (especially striped) and different kinds of scarves.
3) Given the opportunity, I could quite gladly live in France and drink café crème and be a little bit aloof and wear scarves (with the French flair) the rest of my life.
4) At work, I'm often tempted to only speak in different accents on calls, but they are all recorded and with my luck, those would be the ones my supervisors listen to, and they may not like it. One of these days...
5) Sometimes I think the world looks better when you squint at it.
6) I've only ever had one sick day (that I can think of) at work- last fall, the day after my marathon when I had to clutch the bannister for dear life every time I attempted the stairs. It was quite refreshing.
7) I love coffee and don't feel that I should break the habit even though I'm probably kind of caffeine-sensitive. I often dream of being one of these people that drinks green tea and other healthy beverages like green juice that hippies drink, but then I would have to stop drinking coffee.
8) For years, I've wanted to get dreads, but I don't want to get mouldy hair so I haven't done it yet.
9) My downstairs neighbours are playing guitar right now even though they promised not to. Grrrr. Some people's kids. Boys.
10) I'm a semi-closet germophobe. I avoid putting my mittens on during the walk to work if I was the one that had to pull the bell cord on the bus, cuz lots of people touch those things. Then my hands freeze and I lather them with hand sanitizer when I get to work. I try to suppress these compulsions but they sometimes get the better of me.
11) There is no better pairing than cheese and wine. Or maybe wine and chocolate. Cheese and apples?
12) I think I may be in love with France. I'm still trying to determine whether it returns the feeling.
13) There seems to be a pattern in my life that when I move to a new place, I forget my friends from other places for a while. For instance, I made amazing friends in Bible college that I love and miss a lots but many of them, I haven't spoken to in a while. Then I get in touch with them all of a sudden and it's maybe off-putting; really they've been on my mind and I'm abrupt with recontacting people. If you are one of these people I've done this to, thanks for putting up with me, you mean a lot to me! And I miss you!
14) I would love to live overseas, in Europe or Africa or the Middle East. Also, I hope to visit Antarctica in about 15 years with my sister Liz.
15) In my apartment there is a hot pink bike that I bought off Kijiji. I may or may not replace it with an upgrade in the spring. I called it Manon Ouellette.
16) I miss living in Alberta.
17) I love to sing while doing the dishes.
18) One day, I would like to get published.
19) I can't get enough of fall in Ontario and Quebec. Next year I'd like to go to Gatineau Park in the fall and go hiking, because it's an unparalleled view.
20) One of my favourite smells in the whole wide world is the house and cottage of Grandmaman and Grandpapa. I would like to go there right now and visit them.
21) I have a childhood dream of competing in the Olympics and I've held onto this crazy ideas that it can still happen.
22) I did not win anything on my Roll up the rim cup this morning.
23) I am almost done this list.
24) I love to bake but I'm trying to be more creative with cooking.
25) In the next year I hope to visit both coasts of Canada.
Phew, that was harder than I thought! Now I'm taking a break:) Have a great day, amigos.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
"A dream, within a dream..."
On Saturday, I went to my good friend Amy's wedding reception. She had her wedding in Calgary in the beginning of January, and had her reception at the Calgary Zoo- sweet, eh?- but had a second reception for all the London/Toronto people.
Her dress was so floaty and she looked gorgeous in it! Don't you agree?
My friend Lisa and I- can you tell she just travelled to Mexico? (okay, fine, I'm also just pasty-white)
I borrowed this dress and jewelry from my sister- it's great to live with someone you can share (some) clothes with.
I'll take more photos soon so that I have better subjects, not just self-portraits! I swear I'm not that self-absorbed, at least I hope not.
This weekend I'm heading home for a friend's bridal shower. It will be fun to see the girls again, as well as my family.
My roommate from college for two years just had a baby a few weeks ago, he's a preemie and is getting open-heart surgery at the U of A hospital today- if you think of it, please pray for him, and for his parents, Nicole and Peter. His name is Timothy.
Thanks!
Liz et moi
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I love those grey days...sometimes
The other day before work, I really wanted to take some photos of my yard- well, more precisely, of the neighbour's yard:) There was a light dusting of snow everywhere and the snow shovel looked kind of cool.
The photos look kind of dingy and don't capture the grey days I love. I hate when the sky is just white with no contrast, it's too depressing.
Doesn't this look like they're having a conversation? :)
The view from our house.I did say I would post about St. Catharines, and I totally forgot, so I'll mention it now. A couple of weeks ago, I rented a car and drove to visit some friends in St. Catharines after work on a Friday. We have been in touch over the past few years since I met them at PRBI (where I went to school), and I've been thinking of joining their organization or pursuing some short-term to longer-term missions trips with them. They've been tremendously supportive and also have faithfully kept in touch to see where I'm at. I think I'm getting closer to decision-making time, which is totally daunting but also pretty exciting, all at the same time.
I also met with a rep from another organization regarding literacy work, which I'm really interested in. It's giving me lots to think about between the two- it seems there's so much out there of interest to me, I'll never narrow it down! However, I don't believe that the events in our lives are all random, and I know that if I pursue something and the door closes, it's not the option to pursue at this time. It's really reassuring to me because it doesn't mean those doors are closed forever, but for the time being it could be a wrong choice.
Liz and I had breakfast together on Valentine's Day- waffles with strawberries, soy ice cream and whipped cream- kind of cancels out the soy haha if you're lactose intolerant- and it was so good. We rarely eat together from being on different shifts so it was a treat in more ways than one:)
Other than that, I went for my first run in about 2 months yesterday- yikes- and I'm sooo sore today! Oh well, now I'm over the hardest part- getting out the door on the first day:) So here's hoping I can run again tomorrow and not take such a long hiatus for a while. I can tell I've put on a few and I don't like that feeling but oh well, my identity is not in my weight, right, girls! I've been thinking of myself as a "lapsed runner" and I'm still probably not going to race for a while, I'm too out of shape, but I'll maybe do a 10k here and there, we'll see.
Well, that's all I've got for now, do you like my new blog background? Green for Nat, heheh.
Blogger won't save my spaces between paragraphs, grrr... so annoying. Does anyone know how to fix this?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Walking on a Sunday
On Sunday, the sun was glorious and I just had to take a walk after church. My sister was sleeping all day anyway before her night shift, and I didn't want to be cooped up indoors, so I grabbed my camera, a notebook and a novel and shoved them into my purse, and headed outside.
In a stubborn frame of mind, I decided to wear my green shoes instead of boots, because my feet would be getting wet regardless, and it was a time of slipping and sliding on ice and tiptoeing through puddles- this thaw was so sudden.
I took a gander down Victoria St, a street near the university that has a marker on the pavement showing "City Limits 1910" or some year around there. The houses are all so unique and I love to look at them and pick which one I would live in:) I used to walk down here once a week to babysit for my Australian family:) who are all growing up way too fast in their Christmas photos, by the way. Anyways, I wanted to walk down here for old time's sake, and it was kind of sad to go past their house and see no bikes and bike trailer and kid's toys. I really miss those kids and wish I had spent more time with them.
From there, I continued into Old North where the houses are larger and older. I just love the architecture and could stare at these houses all the time, I don't get tired of this.
I ended up by King's College, which has a huge fenced-in green area, the kind of black wrought-iron fence that looks so classy, and through it you can see the huge castle-like building that's part of the college. The road here is ridged by towering pines, and I so badly wanted to take some photos. The sun made their bark glow reddish, and it reminded me of the pines on Pine Grove Hill back home. It turned out my camera batteries were dead, so it's only a picture in my mind now, but hopefully I can return soon.
By the time I was back home, my feet were drenched and dyed green from my wet shoes, but it was so refreshing to actually spend some time outside. Since I've taken the winter off from running this year, I have been going more stir-crazy and the fresh air was a welcome change. I'm hoping to sign up for a gym membership through my company- I just wish I didn't hate treadmills and those machines so much- I'll have to get over that at some point or I'll be so lazy in the winter.
Have a great day, everyone, Happy Wednesday!
In a stubborn frame of mind, I decided to wear my green shoes instead of boots, because my feet would be getting wet regardless, and it was a time of slipping and sliding on ice and tiptoeing through puddles- this thaw was so sudden.
I took a gander down Victoria St, a street near the university that has a marker on the pavement showing "City Limits 1910" or some year around there. The houses are all so unique and I love to look at them and pick which one I would live in:) I used to walk down here once a week to babysit for my Australian family:) who are all growing up way too fast in their Christmas photos, by the way. Anyways, I wanted to walk down here for old time's sake, and it was kind of sad to go past their house and see no bikes and bike trailer and kid's toys. I really miss those kids and wish I had spent more time with them.
From there, I continued into Old North where the houses are larger and older. I just love the architecture and could stare at these houses all the time, I don't get tired of this.
I ended up by King's College, which has a huge fenced-in green area, the kind of black wrought-iron fence that looks so classy, and through it you can see the huge castle-like building that's part of the college. The road here is ridged by towering pines, and I so badly wanted to take some photos. The sun made their bark glow reddish, and it reminded me of the pines on Pine Grove Hill back home. It turned out my camera batteries were dead, so it's only a picture in my mind now, but hopefully I can return soon.
By the time I was back home, my feet were drenched and dyed green from my wet shoes, but it was so refreshing to actually spend some time outside. Since I've taken the winter off from running this year, I have been going more stir-crazy and the fresh air was a welcome change. I'm hoping to sign up for a gym membership through my company- I just wish I didn't hate treadmills and those machines so much- I'll have to get over that at some point or I'll be so lazy in the winter.
Have a great day, everyone, Happy Wednesday!
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