Ya Mon!

There's something about Jamaica that makes white people say "ya mon" all the time and it's just awful. Jamaicans can say it, but if you're white, it's really not necessary.

We had a great time in Jamaica. It wasn't unbearably hot, but it was hot and humid. It wasn't TOO sunny but sunny enough. We had delicious rum creams and ate some alright food. We laid out on the beach, went swimming and drank at a swim up bar, watched crabs running around the beach, and had a few impromptu photo shoots. Here are a few photos to demonstrate.

Rum Creams!

We walked into the room and this was on our bed one night!

A little airport nap!

No pics yet

I haven't uploaded my pictures from Jamaica yet so I'm saving the post about it until I do.

Tonight I went to field hockey. Last week we had a great game and I even scored. Tonight was a different story. We were playing a team that was WAY better than us and we lost majorly. Still, I feel like we played well as a team and we communicated and we did the best we could. We couldn't ignore than the other team was running circles around us and was just flat out better. We were one person short of a full team as well, so we had no subs and had to run around like crazy for the full hour. We have people of varying skill levels as well, so as much as we try, sometimes things just don't go our way.

At the end of the game, one of our stronger players who is pretty vocal on the field (which is good, but can come across a little harsh) decided to give us a little speech. It went a little something like this: "This weekend I was in a tournament that was about 10 hours. I ran harder that entire 10 hours than most of you did tonight. You all need to run faster and harder and get the f#$%ing ball. That's where I stand right now."

We all just kind of stood there and no one said anything. No one really addressed it and we walked away. In my opinion, the message was true and valuable, but don't you think it could have been delivered a little differently?

How about "I think we need to run way harder, we aren't getting to the ball quick enough" or even "Heather you need to run harder" or "__________ you need to run harder"... But is it really necessary to talk about how well SHE did and how we are worse? I thought the delivery spelled out B-I-T-C-H in a major way.

What do you think?

Too Much

These last few weeks have been busy busy busy. I ran my first triathlon, which was crazy. I went to Jamaica with Matt for a vacation which was great. Then I went unexpectedly to Vermont from Jamaica because my grandmother died. My whole family was there, and I got to spend time with people I haven't seen in over 10 years, so that was a positive aspect of the unexpected extended vacation. Otherwise, it was very sad and hard and heartbreaking all at one time.

I'll write about my fun times at the race and the beach later.

Race Reports

This was a busy weekend for a lot of people!

Over in Ottawa, Kristen ran an awesome 10k! Woooweee good job and great time! Jordan ran an awesome marathon with a great personal best and boston qualifying time. Were there 50 pushups? I'm not sure. Jordan's parents walked a great half marathon too! I don't know what the time was but any weekend where four people run races with personal bests and no trips to any medic tents is great! Good for all of them!

I was busy with being on call at work, and having to stay up and be ready to hurry into work until 1am. LAME! I was on call for 5 days and assuming I don't get called out in the next 3 hours, I didn't hear a peep for the crew schedulers. I got paid (a little) for sitting around working on my project for my Stampede committee! Today before my on call time I went out for a little brick workout with Katie, and we biked the route for next week's race and then ran the route as well. Things learned:
1. I am in trouble when I get my road bike tomorrow. I couldn't seem to get going when I tried on Katie's. It's very wobbly!
2. This is a boring bike route. Four 3k loops with lots of turns. Yawn.
3. I'm a chicken. I can physically go fast on the bike, but I'm way too scared.
4. Running after biking isn't really that easy.
5. We are vain, because most of our conversation revolved around how terrible we're going to look after the swim and how we wish we could have permanent make-up.
Regardless, we had fun and it was such a nice day out that it made it extra enjoyable.

Matt and I went to the bottle depot and got 23$! Sweet.

I need to find a cute dress for a fancy wedding at the beginning of July. I was thinking something short ish, structured (not flowy) and maybe strapless? It's going to be stinking hot in Toronto I'm assuming so less is more here. So far I haven't found anything but I've barely looked. Any suggestions?

I don't think I'm going to post pics of my new uniform because my mum always gets mad at me when I talk about work too much, and she wouldn't approve of me showing everyone on the internet who I work for. Maybe if I blur it out or something... I'll work on it.

Next weekend is going to be busy for us Calgarians, with Kirsten running the calgary half marathon and me doing my little triathlon. I hope the weather is good!

I'm alive! Just a bad blogger.

Since I haven't been too motivated to write a post in a while, I think the list format is appropriate.

• My first super sprint triathlon is on the 31st. Um, yikes!
• I wish it was a different day so I could go watch Kirsten run her race. If it's a good day, I think she's going to blow it out of the water!
  
• I've really been enjoying not having to sort or take back my recycling. Unfortunately I'm too cheap to put my cans and bottles in there, so those are piling up like crazy.
• I went to Banff for mother's day brunch and I got a gluten free english muffin and flourless chocolate cake! Since then, I've made 2 of those cakes and man o man they are delicious.
  
• The weather is crappy. That is all.
• My entire core of my body is sore. Too many sit ups I guess.
• We got the barbeque going on Sunday and it was great! I love barbequeing veggies and all that. Everything tastes better on the bbq.
• The launch date for new uniforms at work is quickly approaching. It's a big change! Very fancy.
• I'm furiously trying to be comfortable on a bike and it's hard. I'm not so much worried of my ability to finish 12k on a bike for my race, but I'm worried about cycling on a course with other people and not getting in the way or breaking some unwritten rule. Yikes.
• Matt found out yesterday that he passed his school stuff for his apprenticeship!
  
• What else?
  
• My apartment is cold. I just don't have the heart to turn the heat back on. Maybe closing a window would help.
• I think that new movie with Christian Bale and Johnny Depp looks really good.
• I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to just order HBO so that I can watch the new season of True Blood starting in June. If you don't know what True Blood is, and you enjoyed Twilight but wished it wasn't for teenagers, then you need to watch True Blood. Better yet, go to chapters or indigo and get this series of books. The show is based off the books. They're fun, though nothing that exhausts your brain power, but you will not regret it.
  
• Outdoor field hockey started a couple of weeks ago. It's fun. Lots of running, but fun.

I think that's enough for now. I am going to try to post a little more. I know your lives have been incomplete since my last post, and I apologize.

Done and done!

Sunday was the Calgary Police Half Marathon, and I ran it. I was a little weary leading up to the race, with my shin injuries, and then dropping a garbage can on my ankle on Wednesday which got swollen and hurty, and then me not running at ALL the week leading up to the race (because of the garbage incident). I wasn't really sure what to think about anything. It also blew snow and rain the entire day on Saturday. Anyway, at 8am on Sunday morning, I started the long 21.1km trek from Mount Royal College to around the Glenmore Resevoir, up the Weaselhead hill and back to MRC. I also had a huge fan club. Kristen, Matt, my mum, Della, and my dad all came for the start. About 100 m after the start line they were there and Kristen had a big poster that said "run like the police are chasing you" which made me giggle. Then, at Glenmore Landing everyone (sans my dad because he had to leave) was there again with a poster that said "hurry up, we're cold" which also made me giggle. Then, after the hill of death (which wasn't THAT bad, but I walked up half of it) they were there AGAIN, with an other poster that said "go heather" with a picture of me.

This picture has a bit of history. I can't really remember how old I was, but I decided it would be funny to take Kristen's clarinet and pretend to play it and put my mum's magic bag on my head. It made her laugh, so mum took a picture. That picture is still on her fridge, and any time she feels a little blue, she just looks at it and she giggles. Kristen and I also just need to think of the picture and it makes us laugh. SO, there they are, with a bazillion people running by, with a huge sign that says "Go Heather" and then there's me with a magic bag on my head playing the clarinet. I think I said "you're dead" but I laughed too.

Anyway, back to the race. The last 2 km of the race were pretty difficult. We had to run up a pretty long not that steep hill. If you were just walking, you probably wouldn't have noticed that there was even a hill there, but when you've run 19 km, every little incline makes a big difference. I also was very tired. Anyway I was feeling a little sorry for myself, since I knew I was a little shy of making my 2:00 hour goal, and I was wasting my finishing kick on surviving the hills, when out of nowhere (well, somewhere) came Kristen, and she decided to run the last little bit with me. So I was not really talking, grunting more, giving her looks of pain, and she was all "go go , don't stop, you've got it, keep going" and it helped. It would have helped more if she had picked me up and carried me, but this was a close second. She left me to finish the last tiny bit because she figured she shouldn't actually cross the finish line. Then there was Matt, saying "go heather" very calmly, like he does, then there were mum and Della, who yelled all enthusiastically, and then my boss from the store was there (looking way too well rested for someone who had already run the race) and he yelled at me to "push it girl" and told me apologetically that there were 100 m left... And then I saw two of my friends, one of whom had finished probably 25 minutes prior, who yelled at me to keep going, and then I finished. And I was happy. I ended up with 2:05 and I'm happy with that. My old time was 2:13, so shaving off 8 minutes is a pretty big deal for me, and that's that.

So I was the most popular participant (ha!) in the race with the best fan club who went to 4 different spots, and I felt WAY better during this race than my first. As I put it, I was less miserable for way less of the race, which is great. The first one, I felt awful for probably the last 5 k or more, and this one was only the last 2k. So I'm improving. And with the help of everyone, the race was a great success! And I pretty much had no pain! My knee crinked a bit at the start, but other than that, my body waited until after the race to hurt!!!

Now I have to remember I have a super sprint triathlon to train for. Speaking of that, I'm off to the pool!

Seems like a listy thing to do!

There are a lot of lists going around the internet these days so I'll join in. Just a list.

• I have watched a lot of star wars lately.
• I just ate a large bag of mini eggs that my mum got me for easter. I feel a little sick.
• I think there was a ghost in my hotel room last night. Either that, or I was in some kind of electromagnetic force field. All the lights in my room (lamps and overhead) flicked on and off for about 10 minutes. Also, my cell phone started flashing, the screen flickered, and one light that doesn't normally stay on stayed on. It was a fairly new hotel, so I'm just going to say it was something wonky with the wiring. Or a ghost.
  
• I have a very very busy week starting tomorrow. I hope I survive.
• My left ankle is almost always cold these days.
• I'm starting to feel like I can actually swim properly. It's taken a while, but I'm not as panicky and frantic in the pool as I used to be.
• I really want to do something outside today, but I'm stranded indoors by laundry and not wanting to over exert myself for my busy week.
• I'm REALLY excited for Kristen to come for a visit this weekend.
• I hope I run a strong race next Sunday and will be disappointed if I don't. (I think that's normal).
• I think I may need to buy a bicycle.
  
• I have finally perfected homemade hash browns. I've tried for years to make good ones out of fresh potatoes and today I finally did it. And it was so simple. Now I need to perfect the shredded hash brown.
• We will get our new work uniforms in the next couple of weeks. I hope they fit and look good!
• I got the greatest coffee from the farmers market last week. I worked with a first officer who told me about it, and she actually is friends with the two owners. They both quit their jobs as engineers one day and started this coffee shop and it's been really successful. It's amazing and totally worth the extra cash.
  

I guess that's it for now!

Ouch!

I haven't posted in a while!

I've had a few running mis-haps in the past few weeks. Mainly, my shins have been bothering me like crazy. I ran 18k on the 22nd of March, then ran the following Tuesday and thought that my legs were going to snap in half. My shins were hurting so badly that for the nest three days, I hobbled around like an idiot. I didn't know what to do really. I stretched, iced, but nothing really worked. I finally decided to see a sports chiropractor. I have never been one to go to a chiropractor, even when recommended to me by my doctor, but this time I was desperate. The one I went to specializes in running and other sports injuries and injury prevention, so I felt that they would at least know something about what I was doing and how to help. It definitely worked. I found out that I have disproportionately weak hips compared to the rest of my legs, and my calf muscles were having to make up for that and in turn pulling on my shins. It's a type of shin splint, but not a normal or common type. As long as I strengthen my hips and stretch my calves, I should be good as new.

The good news? I ran for the first time today since the whole calf dying incident, and it went well! I did 20k, and there wasn't too much pain. I'm icing and stretching now, and hopefully with a few more sessions with the chiropractor, I'll be pain free!

What else is new? Not much. I got some hemp hearts from my grocer and just tried them for the first time. Apparently they have some crazy health benefits and I decided to give them a go since I've seen them around a lot lately. I'll let you know how that goes.

How's everyone else doing? I know Kirsten is training for a race (I really hope your knee doesn't hurt anymore!), k is getting back in the running game (WITHOUT getting hurt), lu just ran her longest run of the year, evey just joined a gym, fuzzy wuzzy (I have a hard time writing that without giggling) is gearing up for the half marathon walk... The goals are set and they're getting closer! My race is less than a month away! Keep me updated!

It snowed a bunch today...

...in case anyone didn't notice. There was a LOT of snow out this morning.

I made some chicken pot pie on Tuesday, and even though it took me about 3 hours, it was totally worth it. It had a pesto chive biscuit topping instead of a traditional crust, and I made everything, from the chicken to the stock to the biscuits, from scratch. I got it from the food network's chef at home, and man o man it was super delicious. We have a bunch leftover in the freezer and I can't wait to thaw it and eat it on a day when I don't want to cook.

I have a week off! Hurray!

Mmmmm, Granola

Last night I made some gluten free granola. I am so sick of eating really crappy, really gross and really fatty store bought gluten free granola. Anything I've purchased is still sitting in my cupboard almost full. My mum has made some tasty granola, but I only get it once a year at Christmas and it's long gone by now. I took her recipe and meshed it with one from Gluten-Free Girl and voila! The most delicious incredible and not too fatty granola ever!!! (Don't get mad Mum, yours is only one small notch under this one). (And I'll still probably want some next year for Christmas).

The oats and oat pearls I use are from Only Oats and I ordered them online. I think you can get them at Planet Organic as well.

Gluten Free Granola

12 cups of GF oats or oat flakes
2 cups of GF steel cut oat pearls
bunch of almonds (about 1 cup)
bunch of cashews (about 1 cup)
bunch of sunflower seeds (about 3/4 cup)
bunch of pecans (about 1 1/2 cups)
bunch of soy nuts (1 cup ish?)
1 1/2 cups maple syrup
slurp of some kind of oil (I probably used 1 1/2 tbsp or so)
slurp of Vanilla (I thought I used way too much when I put it in because I wasn't paying attention, but it turned out great so go crazy with the vanilla)
1/2 cup or so of some kind of juice (I used grapefruit because that's what I had)
Cinnamon
All spice
Ground Flax (I know it makes more sense to use whole flax, but apparently flax is so small that the human body doesn't break it down and we miss out on all the great things from flax. By using ground flax, there's no need to break it down!)
Raisins (Personally I don't like raisins because they look like little bugs, so I used golden raisins and they blend right in! No bugs!)

Pre heat your oven to 300F. Combine the oats and nuts in a big bowl. Combine the maple syrup, oil, vanilla and juice in small bowl and mix well. Poor the liquid into the oat mixture and mix until all the oats and nuts look coated. Add the spices (I put quite a bit of cinnamon) and mix well again. (My arm got REALLY tired. I think I need to do some more push-ups).

Line two cookie sheets with wax paper (I only did this because I'm pretty sure my cookie sheets are all gluteny. I should really get some new ones. Maybe Mum you can give me some with my Christmas granola) and put the coated oaty mix on them.

Bake for a while, stirring every 5 minutes. You do have to be pretty diligent with the stirring, because the bits on the edges of the cookie sheets get burnt pretty quickly. I also alternated the position of the two sheets, switching the top and bottom every once in a while. I think it took about an hour in all, but when the granola turns more golden than it was before, it's done.

When the granola has cooled, add the ground flax and the raisins. Done!

As you can see, I was very willy nilly with any measurements. I just shoved things in the bowl. Yum! I'm so happy I could eat granola all day! And the apartment smelled incredible! And way less oil than normal granola! I had some with plain yogurt today after work and it was the perfect sweet and not sweet combo.

I hope you try it and shove other random things in the bowl and love it!!

Thanks a lot

Today I pushed a little past my limit today. I was running with the half marathon running group through the store. We were supposed to run 16k, which is doable. I had a great run on Thursday and I felt really ready. It was flipping freezing this morning, so that made me a little hesitant, but I still layered on my gear and set out. Within the first half hour, my water was all frozen. Not only was the water itself frozen, but the lids were frozen as well. I don't really need a lot of water, but when I'm expecting a little sip every 10 minutes or so and I don't get any, it sets me back a bit mentally. I was struggling quite a bit, with the wind blowing and the no water thing, and all in all I just wasn't feeling it at all. Then, at about mile 5 ish, we come up to a sign that says "Route closed due to dangerous conditions" and just kept going. (As in going on said route). We ran up a thin, icy trail, and then all of a sudden we got to a huge sheet of ice (on the side of a cliff). We struggled, but got across, but most of us had to get on our hands and knees or asses to do it. Meanwhile a few people were quite far ahead, and we totally lost site of them as we approached a second, bigger, more dangerous sheet of ice. We tried to get across, but couldn't, so we decided to turn back without our group leader and two other guys. We barely made it across the first sheet of ice the second time because we polished it up real nice our first way across. Anyway, we made it, and ran back towards the original path that wasn't unsafe. By this time, my mitts, my ass, and my knees were all soaked. When we found the others (which was about 30 minutes later) I was SO tired and we had already run 15k. I still couldn't get any water out of my bottles, and I was all in all very cranky. I had fallen a bunch of times on the ice and I felt like a whole huge pile of ass. Also, we were still not close to the store (where we start and end the run). By the time we got back, we ended up running 19k. 3 extra kilometers doesn't seem like much, but it really really is. I was so far past my last straw that I really didn't know if I would make it. I wasn't super impressed that we were taken on a trail that was closed and ditched. I don't have to pay for this running group, but everyone else does, and I wouldn't have been too impressed if I had shelled out some cash for that. We didn't get any apologies either, by the way.

That was my run, and now I am sore. It took a good half hour for me to warm up when I got home. I felt like I would NEVER get warm. And now I'm going to sit on the couch and do nothing for the rest of the day and for supper I'm making some poutine with fresh cheese all the way from Quebec.

Anyone know a good hip stretch?

I'm finding my hips are getting very stiff as my running distances increase. I'm also biking more than I used to (which means more than never) and that's hurting them a bit as well. I know the one where you are in a lunge position and then bring your pelvis forward, and this other one on the floor with one leg extended backwards and one leg crossed in front (is anyone else finding it hard to describe a stretch?!?), but I need some others. Those two aren't doing it for me.

Maybe it will be easier to find links instead of describing. That was hard.

Caring, hilarious, brings out my best.

I've decided to participate in this question answer thing because I blatantly ignored the "25 Things" thing on facebook. I liked this survey on these two websites so here we go.

What are your middle names?
Mine are Diana Cross and Matt's is Kent.

How long have you been together?
Two years and a bit, though we forgot about our anniversary until it passed. Ooops.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
About 3 hours. Even though I tried to say he wasn't my boyfriend for a few days for some odd reason, but then I gave in to his charm.

Who asked whom out?
I gave him my number and he called me a couple of hours later.

How old are each of you?
I'm 24 and he's 23. I know, I'm a cougar.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Ummm, neither really. I see my own sister most but Matt doesn't see her much. Neither of our siblings live in the city.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Money woes.

Did you go to the same school?
Nope. Not even in the same province.

Are you from the same home town?
Nope. I'm from Calgary, he's from Stouffville. (Or Toronto, depends on if anyone knows where Stouffville is).

Who is smarter?
Depends on what kind of smart I guess. I can conjugate the crap out of verbs, and he can install electrical wires. I can read a book in a day, and he can make a fixed gear bike out of a different kind of bike.

Who is the most sensitive?
I cry at strangers weddings, watching movies about not divorcing gay marriages, then again when telling people about that movie about not divorcing gay marriages, when someone wins a gold medal (or comes in 4th), if anyone around me sheds even one tear, when I'm tired, when I'm hungry, when I can't find an outfit... You get the idea.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Mostly Vietnamese, even though Matt gets sick of it pretty quickly, or Chianti's/Fiore's, since they have GF pasta.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Honolulu, but Nassau is a close second I think.

Who has the craziest exes?
Well, I've never met any of Matt's, nor do I ever want to. Matt and I have haphazardly seen one of mine out and about one day, and Matt thought I was referring to this overweight balding guy (which I wasn't) and it lightened the mood significantly. I think I have more exes than Matt, but I'm not really sure if they're crazy. Let's just say his.

Who has the worst temper?
Definitely Matt. But I am thankful that he works very hard to make it less and less every day. (Imagine the crying description above mixed with a quick temper. Not so great).

Who does the cooking?
I cook more often and I try different things all the time, but Matt can definitely bust out some delicious dishes.

Who is the neat-freak?
Neither of us, which is a problem, so I try to channel my inner neatness so our place doesn't get lost under the mess.

Who is more stubborn?
Both of us. Terrible.

Who hogs the bed?
Matt. He gets all up in my business all the time. I push him all night.

Who wakes up earlier?
Matt, just because he works early. He is jealous of me every morning. When I'm away working, I wake up significantly earlier than him most of the time, but it doesn't count because he doesn't see it.

Where was your first date?
The Rusty Cage. Oh baby.

Who is more jealous?
Me.

How long did it take to get serious?
After the few days I denied that I was falling for him, it got pretty serious pretty quick. He then moved across the country for me, so that made things a tiny bit serious too.

Who eats more?
Matt, but he's a growing boy.

Who does the laundry?
We do our own laundry!

Who's better with the computer?
It depends on what on the computer. I spend more time on mine, but I still can't figure out how to get that bit torrent thingy to download things faster. He is clever.

Who drives when you are together?
Either one of us, though we both like to point things out to each other. (See how nicely I put that?)

I really like the word "y'all". I wish I could say it without people thinking I was crazy.

Ooops

I finished my hat yesterday. It turned out great, except it's HUGE. I have no idea how it ended up being so incredibly gigantic, since it's a pattern that Kaitlin has used many times, but oh well. I had a little photo shoot to illustrate how enormous it is.

At first glance, this doesn't look that big.

Then, in this picture, it's starting to look a little bigger, maybe a bit too big.

Then there's this one, where it's so huge that my glasses are the only things keeping it from falling over my eyes. Awesome. It's even too big to be a tea cozy. Maybe a bag? I don't know. Oh well.

My next project is a neck warmer/scarf/baggy thing. I hope it will turn out a little better than the hat. It's a new skill that I'm trying, since obviously I'm using more than two needles. The point is to make it round in the knitting part, instead of making a long thing and sewing the ends together to make a round shape. This is the same way you'd make mittens, so I might have to try that too!

I'll try another hat soon, and just make it significantly smaller. I'm still working on the other scarf, but I just got sick of looking at all that white.

Eventually I'll post something about something besides knitting.

Knitty knit knit

I thought I'd share my progress on my knitting projects. Keep in mind these are my first!

The picture above is a hat, though it's not finished, obviously since it's still on the needle. I need to finish the top and then sew the sides together. I think it will be too big for me but it's cool and it didn't take long at all since I used really thick yarn and thick needles. There are quite a few holes where I dropped a stitch here and there, and I didn't know how to pick them up so I was kind of stuck. I think I can fix them after I'm done it though.



This is my next project, a scarf, which is taking a bit longer since the needles are a lot thinner. The picture doesn't do it justice (you can click on it to make it bigger if you're that curious), but I'm actually making a ribbed style scarf, which is a lot like the cuff of a knit sweater, and it takes two different types of stitches (called knits and purls). Look at me, the knitting pro! Haha just kidding, it's actually really easy. Anyway I'll let you know how it goes! So far I'm getting the hang of remembering to switch the stitch every second one. It took a lot of concentration at first, but now it's a little easier.

Once I finish the hat (which I need my friend to help me with) I'm going to do another scarf, this time using two difference colours of yarn at the same time. I think I'll make it a loose chunky type one. Then maybe I'll try a mitten or something. I've come a long way! The last time I tried knitting, I got scolded from my granny because I dropped a few of my mum's stitches. She told me to start my own to I didn't ruin my mum's hard work. It was pretty funny.

Completely stolen: Nine in '09

My big sis, K, wrote this post, and I thought it was a great idea, so I'm going to be inspired by HER and do the same. (I don't think I've ever referred to Kristen as my big sis, but it somehow seemed appropriate). I might even steal some of her goals... Who knows. I always wanted to be like her as a kid, so why not now?

Sporty goals:

1. Run another half marathon, preferably under 2 hours.

That one makes sense and doesn't need too much explanation. I've signed up for the Calgary Police Half Marathon in April so we'll see how the training goes.

2. Get into Triathlons.

My friend Katie called me and convinced me to do a Super Sprint Triathlon, which will be a nice easy way to see if I like the sport of the multi sport. I think the distances are 300 meter swim, 12k bike, and 3k run, so it's definitely do-able. Considering I don't really swim or bike EVER, I think this is a good way to go. That's in May. I'll be busy this spring.

Living goals:

3. Save more money.

I do save money through work and investing, but I could be a little better at not just buying things when I would like them, and instead save for a little while. I think it will make me like those things more when I actually get them.

4. Be tidier.

I'm not the tidiest person around. That being said, I get very stressed out when things are a mess around me. I really will work on putting things away immediately instead of letting them pile up for a while and then when I get really frustrated, put them all away.

5. Floss more.

This sounds really weird/gross, but I find it really difficult to floss every day. I'm really really going to work on that this year.

Happiness goals:

6. Go on a vacation.

I don't really care where, though I would love it if it were somewhere tropical or hot. It doesn't have to be a big vacation, but I'd like something. I get cheap flights, so why don't I go somewhere already?!?

7. Watch less TV.

This seems pretty self explanatory as well.

8. Love my hobbies.

I just started knitting, and I'm having a blast. I'd like to continue doing that. I also would like to read more interesting books, go for more walks around the neighbourhood, maybe go for a hike or two... I think I need to enjoy what life has to offer a little more.

9. Give more.

If give more time, more attention, more presents for no reason, more energy, I think I'll be happier in the end. And so will the people who get the presents for no reason.

I think those are some pretty good goals. And I think I can attain them. I know open ended goals are harder to achieve, so I've been told that making a game plan for each one helps with the end result part. I won't bore everyone with my game plans, but I'll write them down somewhere and check back with them every once in a while.

Thanks Kristen!

It's cold again

I was warm in Calgary the whole time I was away, and now that I'm home, it's cold. Annoying!

Work has been very stressful lately. Lots of things have happened that I never thought I'd have to deal with, but luckily we all made it through to the other side and it's all ok. I'm happy to say nothing made me re-think my job, which is great, but it did make me a little more aware of everything around me. This has been a crazy season for flying for everyone!

Our visit with Kristen and Jordan was great and I was very sad to see them go. It's hard that they don't live here.

I have recently discovered a grocery delivery service, which I couldn't be more excited about. Someone at work had it, and told me about it, and I'm totally hooked. It's not just a grocery store with delivery. It's a website that deals with organic, local produce and grocery products who deliver instead of run a grocery store. Their idea is that they'd like to cut down the cost of getting groceries. Instead of having a store, employees, utilities, and us having to drive there and spend time there, they have a warehouse and a few drivers, they buy as locally as possible and then branch out when local isn't available, and we at home can order on the website and then have it delivered every week, two weeks, month or just once in a while. It's really not much more expensive (if at all) and you can get everything you need. I can ever get gluten free bread. I am so in love with it and I can't even express how great it is. We haven't been to a grocery store since we started getting it. We've decided that we'll still visit cosco for big items and staples, and then just get this for everything else. It's incredible. Unfortunately, it's only in Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary in Canada, and a few places in the states, but Kristen is investigating to see if there's something like it in Ottawa. Hopefully there is!

I guess I should get off my duff and get started for the day!!

The hills are aliiiiiive...

Last night the Sound of Music was on (and of course I sang along), and the night before, Matt put on the Sound of Music record that he bought me (and of course I sang along to that) so I'm in Sound of Music heaven! There's just something about it that makes me so happy. I don't really know what exactly it is, but on the whole it's great and it makes me think of my mum and my sister and makes me smile!

Christmas came and went. Matt and I flew to Toronto on the 18th, which worked out flawlessly! We were really worried, since there were huge storms, flight cancellations, and all the flights to Toronto were sold out for about days. We decided to just go for it, so we packed an all day picnic, brought all sorts of things to amuse ourselves, and baked treats for the staff, and were mentally prepared for a full day at the airport. We got there around 4:30 am and by 7 we were boarded and ready to go on the first flight of the day! I had to sit up in the flight deck while Matt got some person stuck in the line-up's seat, and we were so relieved. As we were walking down the gate thing we were giggling and smiling and so happy! Anyway we got to Toronto and went straight to his little brother's hockey game, and then the Christmas festivities began. Christmas dinner here, there, at this Aunt's house and this other person's house. It was a lot but it was great. His parents were SO great about the whole gluten free thing. They were so careful, they'd watch every person and make sure they didn't use the same knife in two things, make sure no one touched this or that, it was awesome. Matt said we should take a page out of their book because I don't think we're even that careful. They even bought me a new toaster to keep at their place!

Christmas was fun at their place. His little brother got rock band, so we had fun playing on that for a while. Matt's parents got us a GPS for the car, which is really cool. We've already used it a few times and now Matt wants to take a road trip so we can use it more! My stocking was way bigger than any of theirs, and they all made fun of it, but Christmas came around and theirs were overflowing and basically had the same amount as mine. Anyway I got lots of nice presies and I had a great first Christmas away from home.

We made it home without a problem either, so all in all, standby travel at Christmas worked out really well. I thought it would be so much worse, and it really wasn't! Yay for us!

Now we're home, getting ready for Christmas number two with my family. We have new year's fondue, then on Friday we're doing Christmas with everyone here. It will be fun.

On a side note, I got a new coffee maker with my giftcard from futureshop. I would never have spent this much on a coffee maker, but since it was a gift, I decided to be frivalous. It's a kitchenaid coffee maker with a timer, a re-usable filter, a thermos pot, and a built in grinder. It's incredible. Our old coffee maker and grinder were the cause of much chagrin between the two of us. Matt hated the grinder, which really was terrible and would put grinds EVERYWHERE, and I was defensive over this poor grinder for no reason whatsoever. The coffee maker was once awesome, but the coffee started tasting really bad, and brewing all funny, and we tried a lot of things to make it taste better, but nothing worked. I still haven't gotten rid of it because it has an espresso maker attached and a frother, and I like making espresso drinks. I do have a stovetop espresso maker but no frother, so until I get something else, I'll keep it and pull it out when I need it. Last night we set the timer, put in the water, whole beans, and this morning at 5:30 I woke up to "burrrrrrrrrrrrrrwhirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgrinddddddddddddd drip drip drip" which made me giggle. Yay for new appliances!

I hope everyone has a good new year!

It's a storm!

Calgary is snowy. I don't like driving in the snow much, but it has to be done. I walked as much as possible today and yesterday, but I did have to drive to my mum's and check on the cat. The drive was alright, though I went slowly. The cat was lonely and sad to be locked out of my mum's room. My mum had put notes on every door saying "please leave closed" so even though Willow was meowing outside them, I had to obey the post-its.

I'm leaving for my last pairing of December tomorrow. I'm happy to have the rest of the month off, though I wish I didn't have to fly standby over the holidays. I have a feeling it will be a smidge busy.

I made some fudge last night. It's from Kirsten's recipe and it's super easy and delicious! I just need to stop eating it every time I open the fridge. I only take a little taste, but I'm thinking all those little tastes add up to a little more than I should have.

I got a $200 gift card for Future Shop at my second job's staff party! I couldn't believe that I won something, finally!!! I never seem to win draws or raffles, and this time I did! Now I need to figure out what to buy with it. Any suggestions?

Have a good week!

Don't mind me, I'm a little woozy.

So I have had a busy two days. Yesterday I tore myself away from my vampire books and went to the GI doctor. This is the appointment I have been waiting for since February. I go in, we talk about celiac disease and I tell him I'm on a gluten free diet so I understand that in order to get an accurate result of a biopsy I need to go back on gluten. He asks me when I went off gluten, and I told him about 2 or two and a half months ago. He tells me "alright, lets do this tomorrow." TOMORROW. As in, TODAY. More funny things happened in that appointment but they're too embarrassing for the internet. Lets just say my face was SO red that his student Dr couldn't look at me and he even got a little embarrassed.

So this morning at 7am, I went to the hospital for an endoscopy. I didn't really think it was a big deal, and I really didn't expect it to be as hospital-y as it was. I did, however, expect it to be terrible. I went into a big room with a bunch of beds, was ordered to strip (but I was allowed to keep my socks, how kind of them), put on the backless gown, and put my things in a locker. I kind of felt like I was going into a gas chamber, but I begrudgingly obeyed. Then a nurse came over, told me what was going to happen as another nurse was putting in an IV. I really didn't think I was going to get an IV. I knew I would be sedated, but I thought there would be gas or something. Anyway it was really hard to concentrate on the talking nurse while the needle nurse was searching for a vein. Eventually I got wheeled into the procedure room, saw the doctor, had to sign consent forms with an IV, the nurse sprayed my throat with local anesthetic, and then she injected the medicine. It wasn't general anesthetic, but just sedation. From that point I don't really remember much. The nurse said I would feel the stretcher go down my throat (that goes down before to make room for the camera) and gag, and then they would tell me to swallow, but I really don't remember a thing. I heard them call my name a few times, but I don't know whether it was telling me to swallow, or if they were saying "all finished"... I seem to remember that. Anyway I woke up in the recovery area when the doctor came back to do something terrible and I don't want to talk about it, but luckily I don't remember that either. I remember saying "at least you're wearing purple gloves" and him laughing. Enough about that (though that has to do with the embarrassing things that happened at the appointment yesterday). I woke up a little later, had some apple juice and gluten free cookies, slept a little more, tore out the breathing nose thing, slept, woke up, got dressed, and that was that. I honestly have no recollection of the procedures at all. Yay!

After I saw mum in the waiting room, the Dr. called me back to discuss his findings. He said that even though the biopsies have to be sent for official testing, he could without a doubt say that I have celiac. My intestine is slightly damaged, which is good because it shows a positive result, but also because it means the gluten free diet is working. Horray! Done! Not even close to as terrible!! But more hospital-y. Oh well. Anyway I'm woozy, and am legally impaired until 7am tomorrow, and then I'm off to Maui!

I am officially a teenager

I realize that I'm 24 years old, but trust me, after this post, you'll all be thinking "OMG Heather is like, totally a teenager".

I LOVE the "Twilight" series of books.

I didn't even know what they were last Thursday. I worked with a flight attendant who couldn't put down the second one, and I asked her what they were. She sheepishly said "Umm, well, they're teenager books about vampires" to which I replied "give me one."

Our next stop was Edmonton, where they have an Indigo in the airport. She ran off the plane, bought the first one for me, the third one for her (since she was almost done the second one), and the two of us read every second we could for the rest of our pairing. I finished it by Saturday and she lent me the second one to take home with me. I finished that one in two days. I was pretty bummed that I didn't have the third one, and when I got home yesterday from a pairing, Matt had bought it for me! A big step, since when I came home from the first pairing talking about my new vampire books, he reminded me that his 11 year old brother reads them too.

These aren't small books either. They're easily over 500 pages each, but they're easy reading. I figured they'd just be whatever, nothing crazy, but I REALLY liked them. I cried several times in the second one. CRIED! It's crazy. I'm not going to pretend they're going to change the world, but for a light read, they're awesome. I guess Stephanie Meyer, the author, had a dream about one of the scenes in the first book, and they all stemmed from there.

Best news? The movie of the first book comes out THIS WEEK. So the flight attendant who introduced me to them and I are going on Friday, just because we can. We'll probably be the only ones there without a chaperone. Go ahead a laugh, but once you read one, you'll love them too.

It's Wednesday

I hope everyone had a nice remembrance day. I went to the hockey game against the leafs last night and there was a nice little ceremony there before the game started. It was a fairly boring game, but the flames won so that felt nice. I went with five people who were in leafs jerseys so I was happy to win.

Maui was great. I won't get into details since I'm sure no one wants to hear them, but running on the beach watching the sunrise, yoga on the beach, beach relaxing and fresh pineapple were among the highlights. I got a little bit of a sunburn on my feet/ankles where I missed reapplying sunscreen but other than that I did ok.

Yesterday I had my first shift at the tech shop. I had a great time! It's a super relaxed atmosphere and they people seem nice so far so I'm happy. I have tonnes to learn still, since I got through maybe five of the bazillion shoes on the wall, but the workers and nice and helpful and I'm happy. I go back today so hopefully it goes as well.

Yesterday a 19 year old girl got kidnapped at gunpoint while she was getting into her car at a strip mall in Calgary. The guy she was with was forced to the back seat, and the kidnapper drove around for four hours, stopping periodically to sexually assault the girl while the guy sat and watched helplessly. That's pretty close to my worst nightmare and it's very scary that it happened in the middle of the day. I tend to be on the paranoid side when it comes to attackers, but mostly at night. Now I'll have to up the paranoid level in the day. When I heard the story on the morning news I dropped my mouth open in shock and teared up quite a bit. I couldn't even imagine what that would be like for her or the guy she was with. Terrifying. Anyway I hope they find who did it and he gets the help he needs, because the only way I could think someone could do that would be if they have some mental and psychological problems. If he doesn't, well I hope he goes to jail for a long time. Anyway I guess we all need to be a little more aware when we're getting into our cars.


In the states (or at least Maui), Starbucks has their Christmas cups out already, but here we don't! Should be happening soon, no?

I didn't see President elect Obama in Hawaii. (What's with the President elect business? Isn't it just President Obama?) I thought I might see him when he went to his Grandmother's funeral in Hawaii, but I think she was in Waikiki or somewhere other than Maui. I have to admit I'm excited for what's to come for the good ole U S of A. I found out on the plane on the way to Maui and I got shivers! Yay Obama!

Have a good day!

Muffins, Maui and More

I made some more muffins today. Raspberry, oats and vanilla yogurt. They are special gluten free oats that I ordered from a farm in Saskatchewan. I hope they're good!

Tomorrow I'm flying to Maui with work, and I get back on Thursday, then leave on Friday to do the exact same thing. The flights are red eyes, so I think I'll be tired by the time I get back on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, when I arrive, I have to rush down to the Talisman Centre and hopefully make it to my field hockey game. Yesterday's double header was especially rough and I got a little bit pummeled. Today both ankles, one knee and one hip are REALLY hurting. It's a rough sport I tells ya.

Kristen made me some gluten free brownies when I was in Ottawa, but I didn't get to taste them. Because of this and that we didn't make it to their place and I was tired. She tried hard and made them from scratch, and hopefully she and Jordan enjoyed them! Thank you and next time I will taste them.

I got a second job at the Tech Shop today. I think I'll start next week. I'm pretty excited to get doing something else and learn a bunch more about running gear. I think I'll have a good time. I've been avoiding a second job like the plague since my experience at the coffee shop wasn't great near the end, but this I think will be a new challenge. I'm really looking forward to it. And the pay is great, so that's a bonus. I'm needing cash lately so this will help.

I like all the posts about the 100 omnivore's list. It's fun to go through and see what you've eaten. You should check them out. It really makes me think about all the food that I might never be able to try because of the celiac. I love food and trying new things, so I have to admit it makes me a little sad, but some of the greatest food I've ever had is gluten free, so I think I'll manage.

Here's to hoping I don't get a sun burn!

I stumbled across this...

... and I thought someone might find it interesting!

Enjoy!

I guess no one has any thoughts about organic milk...

I bought some new running shoes... My old ones are worn out.

Kristen had a nice long visit here. It was great. Sad to see her go though.

I bought a candle for our coffee table in hopes that it will get the musty smell away.

It's supposed to be nice here tomorrow!

I did a lot of laundry yesterday.

I have my first field hockey game on Sunday. I hope I have fun.

Tonight I'm hanging out with my friend Sarah and I made these antipasto lettuce wraps to have for supper. I hope they are good.

The sliding door in our apartment is getting foggy now that the heat is on. I wonder if it's not sealed properly.

I bought a new toaster so that my bread won't be contaminated. A gluten free only toaster.

Tomorrow I'm going to China Town to get some cheap salad roll ingredients. I know they're cheap as it is but they're even cheaper in China Town. I'm stoked.

Those are a few random musings for now.

Miak

Why is it getting cold?? I'm not interested.

I bought organic milk the other day as a test to see if I can taste a difference. So far it's pretty similar, but I've only had it in cereal. It seems less blue than regular skim milk... And it's double the price. I think the difference is less in taste and more in the actual contents of the milk. I know if lots of regular milk there are other things that make their way into the milk so I think that's the major difference. Anyone have any thoughts?

Worst. Flight. Ever. (and by flight I mean getting on a flight)

I'll share with you the terror that was Matt and I getting home from Toronto. When I looked on Saturday, all the flight from Toronto to Calgary were decently open. There were about 5 flights on Sunday after 1:00 pm, so I knew we wouldn't have a problem.

When I checked on Sunday after the race, all of a sudden they were all full. We scrambled to get packed and rushed to the airport in hopes of making it there in time to get a good priority number. We made it there about 2:45 before the flight (when 3:00 is "first in line"), so we checked in, and waited. We found out that one of the flights was canceled because the plane got struck by lightning, so that was the reason all the other flights got busier! So we didn't make it on to 2 flights, and things were looking pretty terrible for the third and fourth. Oh, did I forget to mention that Monday was Matt's first day at his new job, and the new job being an electrician apprentice?? Yeah so we were kind of desperate to get home.

Here's a major side note. Since I am an employee, I can sit up front in the jump seat in the flight deck with the pilots. I told them that I would only do this if there was a seat in the back for Matt, because I didn't really need to get home as quickly as Matt so I'd just wait until he got on a flight and I'd sit in the jump then. On the first flight, at one point it looked like there would be a seat for Matt, so I was going to be sitting jump. As we were excited that we might get on the flight, the crew walked by. I let out this huge gasp and Matt said something like "HOLY SHIT" when we saw one of the pilots. I'm not sure if I enlightened you about our Hawaii extravaganza, but there was a pilot who basically made our life a living hell and has since retold the story over and over again to his crews, antagonizing this terrible flight attendant and her awful boyfriend. This guy is the world biggest prick. I don't normally use that word, but he just is. He's terrible. And if I had to work with him, I would call in sick. He's that awful. Anyway the thought of me sitting in the flight deck with him the whole time was less appealing than getting an old person's nasty gross feet rubbed on me. I also thought that if this captain had a say in it, we wouldn't even get on the flight even if we were next in line. Luckily, we didn't have to make the decision because there were no seats for Matt, but it was scary. I was actually glad we didn't make that one.

The fourth flight was on one of the bigger planes, which hold 166 people. There is a minimum crew requirement on airplanes, meaning the crew/passenger ratio is 1:40. Normally we carry 4 flight attendants on all planes, and if the flights are full on that bigger plane, they'll pull a flight attendant from somewhere else and put them on that flight. That didn't happen for this flight. So there were 6 seats on a plane that had to remain empty, while there were 10 people in the toronto airport DYING to get home. So as a flight attendant, there is a chance that I can work in order to get myself home. That is, if you have a uniform. So I stood at the counter in the boarding lounge and was talking with the Customer Service Agents, who ultimately control my and Matt's fate, and said "well I'm a flight attendant, but I don't have a uniform." So sorry Heather, no uniform, no working. At this point, Matt and I had been at the airport for about 5 hours, Matt had called and left messages with his new boss explaining that he wouldn't be at work for his first day, and we were feeling all in all terrible.

I decided to go up to the counter one more time, just to remind them I was there, yeah, hi, over here, love to get on a flight, when the CSA said "hang on Heather, we might be able to track down a uniform for you." OK LET'S GO! I ran back to my seat, grabbed my pass for the airports, and we ran down to this crazy mystery uniform room. While we were down there, a the CSA got a message via walkie talkie that I needed to call crew sked, who control the crews and are the people you want to be friends with, because if you're on their bad side, you're in trouble. And the last time I spoke with them, I was less than polite. Needless to say, I was expecting them to say "NO! HA!". I called, stated my purpose, and was SO expecting them to say no that when they said yes I just said "ok thanks!" and hung up. I couldn't believe it!

So up I went to the gate in pants that looked like they were crumpled in a ball for the last 5 years, a shirt that was too big and a sweater, with my sandals still on. I didn't have shoes or socks. Well one of the flight attendants working had an extra pair, and the CSA who helped me gave me her own shoes!!! I couldn't believe it! So in another mad dash, I got my stuff, went down to the plane, got all ready to start working. Matt got one of the seats, 5 other standbys got on, plus two more in the jump seats in the flight deck. So I had to work, which was fine, though I was a tad on the tired side since I had gotten up before 5:00am and ran a race and all that jazz, but we got home. Matt got to sit in a comfy seat and watch movies and get service, but don't worry I wasn't jealous. We finally made it home and went straight to bed.

And that was our terrifying adventure. Should I mention that I've never not gotten on a flight before? And we didn't get on THREE. Crazy.

Mmmmmuffins

I made some muffins today. They are pumpkin carrot. I haven't actually tried them yet, so I can't say if they're good, but they smell good! I made them with chickpea flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, ground flax, applesauce, pumpkin, carrot and other normal muffin things. I also made a corn and bean salad to bring with me on the road. I met with my dietitian again today and she told me I don't get enough grains. Well duh! So together we came up with some ways to get more grain in my diet, hence the muffins. These ones, since they're homemade, are much healthier than other muffins and have added sources of fiber. We came up with some other meals that I can eat on the road too, so I have a list of 4 breakfasts, 5 lunches, and a few different snacks. Once I get used to these, we can come up with some others. They aren't too far off from what I eat, but there are a few differences. The addition of grains, (but I can't seem to find gluten free wraps), making sure there's protein, which I try to do but doesn't work super well, and honestly, it's a little more food than I normally eat. Anyway, I'm learning, and Sarah the dietitian is helping.

The race weekend went well. I made my personal record, barely, of 26 minutes. I got 26:57 for my 5Km. I didn't specify that it had to be 26 or UNDER, so in my mind I made it. I've learned I'm terrible at pacing myself. I really need to work on that. Kristen and Jordan did well, but were a few minutes off their goals. Still did great though. I managed to see Kristen, Jordan, and my mum cross the finish lines, so I was really happy about that. We had great spots to cheer them on and every one of them heard me cheering, so I felt very successful. My family met Matt's family as well and we had a great time, so that was another notch in the successful column.

Matt started his job as an electrician apprentice this week after a horrifying trip home which I'll save for another post. The flying wasn't the bad part, but the almost NOT flying was. I'll elaborate later. His second day on the job went swimmingly and the third even better. It started a little rocky, but he loves it now. I hope everything continues to get better and better!

All in all, we've had a great weekend/week!!

Gluten Free = Anything good Free

I have been living Gluten Free for what seems like forever. I don't even know actually, but I think it's something like 2 weeks or a week and a half.

I'll just come right out and say it: It's a whole lot of shitty. Before you all think "come on, it's just food", I know. I know it's just food, I know I don't have cancer, I know I don't have diabetes, I know life could be so much worse, and I'm not pretending that my life is coming to an end. BUT, it's incredibly difficult and I hate it so far.

I was in Community Natural Foods after about day 2 of being gluten free, and I was looking around for snacky foods. You know, when you're running out the door and need something to throw in your purse in case you get hungry, or when you just want as a little something at home. Anyway, I'm looking, and looking, and looking, and all I find are some bar thingys. There is HUGE selection of bars at the store, so I'm thinking there HAS to be something that's got some nutritional value, not too fatty, and reasonably priced. Well, there are three brands that are gluten free. THREE. (I know I didn't look at every single one, but three out 15 I would say). There's the Larabar, which I know and love, but really, not much of a nutritional bar, more of a "I'm craving something sweet so I'll choose this instead of candy or a chocolate bar". And it's also between $1.50-$2.00 per bar. Then there are these Glutino brand bars, which are basically like those Chewy tendres made by Quaker, which are $7.50 per box of five. Lastly, Bumble Bars, which are about $2.50 per bar, and are good, but again more like the Larabar in nutritional content. They are so strange though, made with little tiny yellow dots... I'm thinking by the name maybe they're made out of some kind of bee product. Anyway that's the snack part of the trip.

The baking? I won't bother. A small loaf of bread (and I mean SMALL... like the size of a baker's potato) was $7.50.

On to the sauces. I would like a salad dressing. I looked for about 10 minutes, and finally bought some balsamic vinegar that I can mix with oil. No regular salad dressings are gluten free.

I started to tear up a bit, I know that sounds cheesy, but I did. I held it together, paid $30 for not even a bag full of things, and left. As soon as I got into the car, I cried. Full on cried. I just felt sorry for myself, thought things like "why me?" and "this is stupid"... By the time I got home, I was still crying, and I walked inside feeling really stupid because things are so much worse for so many people in this world, but I just wanted to cry. Matt was here, thought maybe I crashed the car or someone died, but "no", I said between tears, "I can't eat ANYTHING" boo hoo. He was sweet and went online to order some gluten free goods. He found lots, but the shipping ended up being ridiculous, so we decided to hold off. I think there are a few other websites that may be a bit closer to home so we'll give those a shot. Anyway he cheered me up and we made some delicious thai food that we happened to have, and that's gluten free.

My problem, aside from snacks, are the sauces. For the love, why is there wheat in EVERYTHING????? Soy sauce, anything WITH soy sauce, BBQ, salad dressings, peanut sauce, chicken broth, and anything else that has a flavour. This is the tough part.

I saw a new nutritionist who is sweet as pie and we are going to work well together to find things to make, things to bring on the road, how to re-organize my kitchen, since we can't use the same toaster or peanut butter. I'm happy to have someone I can just call and say "can I have this?" and she'll say yes or no. I feel a little bit better, and things I know can only get better, but at the start, to say "you can't eat gluten, and.... GO!" and to be so in the dark and have no one and nothing is not really ideal.

I am off to Toronto for the weekend with my mum, my sister, Jordan and Matt to run a little race in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon weekend. It will be fun! Eating will be interesting, but I'll make it through!

I think I figured it out

I'm pretty sure the whole point of the "er" thing is that everything at bell is better than the rest, so cool is now cooler, sexy is now sexier, etc. It's just putting the emphasis on the superlative. (I think the word is superlative anyway). That's what I've decided anyway.

On a side note, I am now gluten free. My Dr got in touch with the GI specialist and together they decided that since I have no appointment in sight, I should go off gluten, and then I'll have to go back on it for 10 days leading up to the appointment. Apparently those 10 days will be "uncomfortable" but I think it will be worth it for now! Too bad this decision wasn't made 6 months ago...

Bell Commercial

Has anyone seen the new Bell commercials? The company name is Bell, but then the slogan is something like "Friday night's just got better" with the final er highlighted in blue. There are a few others where the final er are highlighted in blue as well, and I seriously don't understand it. What do the letters e and r have to do with Bell? For some reason this is consuming me. Please help.

When I grow up I wanna something blah blah I wanna have boobies!

Does anyone else think that Pussycat Dolls song is ridiculous? I wanna have boobies? But as Matt and I discussed, when I was younger, it's true, all I wanted was boobies. I would go to bed every night thinking "please when I wake up in the morning let me have something more than mosquito bites" and then, after lots of wishing, one day in grade 12 I woke up with glorious boobs and I've been happy ever since. Where they came from, I don't know. So, as much as it's the lamest song ever (and Matt's ringtone), it's accurate.

I had a pretty exciting weekend!

First, I saw Pineapple Express. It was pretty funny at the start, and then half way through it got a little out of hand, but it was still quite funny.

Second, I sang Karaoke!! I have always avoided singing at Karaoke bars. I like to think I'm a decent singer, and the idea of being awful in a bar full of people doesn't really sound like fun. Anyway I decided to bite the bullet and try. So I sang "Saturday Night" by Whigfield, and it was really fun. Before I went up, and thought "oh jeeze, I only know like two lines of that song!" and then after I started, I realized there WERE only two lines in the song so it was all ok. It dragged on a bunch at the end but other than that it was super fun. Matt was a big hit. He started with Purple Rain, then a whole bunch of others, and ended with Ziggy Stardust, and it was hilarious. The night was tons of fun, except when a hearing impaired guy who stank a bunch took off his shirt and got into judo chop position and threatened to kill Katie's boyfriend (who for real didn't provoke him). Actually, that was still kind of fun but a little more dangerous than we were hoping for the evening. When we got home, our neighbours were having a fire in the backyard so we joined them for a little as well. It was quite a long night!

On Sunday we were quite slow going (because when you sing Karaoke, drinks must be consumed prior to, during, and after the singing). What is the best cure for a hangover? Heavy yardwork on the roof! Matt and I gave my mum our services for Christmas, and she chose to redeem them with yardwork. Matt cleaned the eaves troughs, hauled rocks and we both had to clean off the garage roof of branches, pinecones, and nine garbage bags full of pine needles. There were a couple of small trees growing ON the roof as a result of all the needles too, so we got rid of those too. She rewarded us with ribs and corn on the cob and we watched some Olympics after. It was a little rough though.

The last event of the weekend came in the middle of the night last night in the form of a headache. It wasn't my everyday this is annoying and hurts kind of headache. It was the worst headache I've ever had but then ten times worse. It was in my temples, behind my eyes, AND in the back of my head, when normally I get the pain in one of those three places. No matter how I positioned my head, I couldn't get the pain to even ease up a bit. I took drugs, I drank water, and held my head in the toilet for a bit because I thought I was going to throw up for a while, I sat up, laid down, I closed my eyes, opened them, put pillows everywhere and nothing would help. Then I thought of a magic bag, which I don't have, so I went and put my head in the freezer for a little while to recreate the feeling (which upon reflection probably wasn't a good idea). I cried for a while, but then made myself stop because the congestion from the tears made my headache worse. It was awful awful awful. I eventually fell asleep but it took a long time, and when I woke up I still had a bit of a headache. I actually still do, so I'm not too sure what is wrong with my brain but it sure doesn't like me. Ouch!

That's the end of that post I think. And in five more sleeps it's my birthday! Wahoo!

Shoes!

I got new shoes! How fun!

My knees and shins have really been bothering me lately. So much that I have not been running at all because of the pain. It's not great. So I decided I should stop wearing flip flops around and heels at work. I got some new shoes with better support, and I'm going to see if maybe I need orthotics. I went to Gravity Pope to find something great, and they had a buy two sale items get one free sale. How often does that happen? Free shoes? Anyway enough talk, I'll show you the shoes!

First, some simple shoes. I dig em.

Second, some pumas. They're mostly like this but where the picture has grey, mine are black.

Thirdly, some birkenstocks. They're this style but a silver/white/grey colour.

I feel like a rock star kind of. I mean, how often do you get THREE pairs of shoes in ONE day. Bliss.

And all in all it was under 200$. Fabulous. My mum was going to get me some birks for my birthday, so I was trying to get something different, but since there were so many sales, there weren't a lot of shoes left in my size. In the end I didn't have much choice in the last pair. Either way, they were free, so I couldn't really go wrong.

Shoes!!

Still no hair pictures...

I haven't taken any that really do it justice. I'll get some good hair pics on here soon. Don't worry. (Because you're all DYING to see it, I know. All you can think about what my hair looks like and when you're going to see a picture.)

Matt and I are settling in our new place. I'm still trying to find places for everything and trying to organize things, but it's coming along well.

I tried to put a picture as my masthead but I guess none of the ones I tried were the right size. I'm not really sure what size I need, but none of mine were it. I'm bummed.

Last night was SO hot that we had all the windows open in the apartment. It was so hot that Matt got me ice packs to put on my body to make me stop complaining. It got really windy in the middle of the night, and when we woke up it looked like a tornado had hit the place. There were papers and napkins ALL over the living room and kitchen. Funny stuff.

I'm going to attempt to shave Matt's head tonight... We'll see how that goes. Maybe I can post one of HIS hair pics.


Update: * Matt wouldn't wear the cape thing that came with his clippers, so I decided to wear it instead. This is me pouting on the couch because he wouldn't wear the cape. And my extensions aren't in... Sorry.*

I moved!

It went really well. I packed EVERYTHING before moving day, so when it came time to pack up the truck, it took no time at all. The time consuming part was the putting away in the new place. I had lots of help but it still took forever. The new place has significantly less space to put things, so we're still trying to figure out where everything needs to go. It will come, eventually.

I need to upload some pictures of the hair. I haven't done that yet.


I just got a new (and FREE!) blackberry pearl and it's a little bit confusing to figure out, but I'm getting there. First thing was first though, and Matt got me two (FREE!) ringtones, so when he calls me is MIA paper planes and when anyone else calls me is that song by Estelle featuring Kanye West that I really like. It has a cool black and white video and it makes me dance a little bit.

My first Stampede as a volunteer came and went. I had fun and wore cowboy boots and a hat every shift I had. About five people came up and asked when I was in the Stampede Show Band because my cowboy boots, which are the red uniform boots that I conveniently forgot to give back when I left the band. I was only in the band for a couple of months, but I never gave back the uniform and they never asked for it, and now they have a new one so they don't care. The first time I wore them I told Matt that I bet people will know that I have stolen Stampede Band boots, and he laughed at me and told me that NO ONE would ever know, so it made me laugh every time someone recognized them.

It was my sister's birthday on the 11th and I didn't even post a happy birthday post. I am a horrible sister. I just had so much going on, though that is no real excuse. I post happy birthday's to so many other people and I didn't even give one to her. I did call her and sing happy birthday when she was at work, so it's not like I forgot it was her birthday, I just forgot in the blogging world. I'm sorry Kristen. Do you forgive me? She told me I could get her a spread the net net as a present, but I feel like as much as it's a good cause, it's a smidge boring for a BIRTHDAY present. Maybe I can get a net plus something else. Now don't go judging me for not having already gotten her a present. I wanted to know what she wanted, and since I was moving it all just got delayed. (Is "not having already gotten" right? Maybe "having not already gotten" is better? I think the second one sounds better.)

After having so much time off for moving and Stampede I now have to work a bunch. It's a tough life, only having to work half the month. I don't know how I'll ever go to having a real job where I have to work EVERY week day, ALL day. Barf.

I think I need to attempt to get back to a real schedule by going to bed. I've been working red eyes to and from Montreal and Calgary for the last four days. Working all night and sleeping all day gets normal after a day or two, but now that I'm finished, I'm all mixed up. I've only been awake for about 9 hours but it's already 2:00am and if I want to actually DO something tomorrow I should probably try to force the sleep thing. I need to find a little tiny book reading light so that I can read in bed without bugging Matt. On an unrelated note, does anyone know if dry cleaners give away hangers for free? We are in desperate need of more hangers.

How to pack for a month but not actually pack a thing:

1. Have 5 boxes. A large 2 bedroom apartment can fit in 5 boxes, right? Wrong.

2. Throw a bunch of stuff out. If I could, I would throw it all out and start a new. I hate packing THAT MUCH.

3. Decide that you will use EVERY SINGLE THING in your apartment before moving day, so you can't possibly put them away in boxes.

4. Buy MORE STUFF. That way you'll have more things to pack.

5. Have your stuff everywhere. It makes things chaotic and then you won't want to pack because everything is disorganized.

6. Get more boxes, but make sure they are really small so that only 2 or 3 books will fit in each one.

7. Once you finally get appropriately sized boxes, have them all around you while you watch a superstar hair challenge marathon on TV instead of packing.

8. Find lots of other things to do instead of packing THREE DAYS BEFORE MOVING DAY. Suggestions? Make smoothies for your friend who just had her tonsils out, help set up for the stampede, go drinking with friends, go meet your mother and grandmother at the mall for lunch, go to IKEA, and write blog postings...

9. Make lots of appointments for the week before your move. You can't POSSIBLY pack the day of an appointment. You might lose track of time and MISS IT!

10. Practice putting in your new hair extensions 10 times a day. It's important that you get good at this so you have super nice hair in your new place.

As you can tell, I'm avoiding packing like the plague. I'm in trouble.

Ew?

There was just a bug crawling across my screen!!! I really need to clean and then MOVE. Seriously, I can NOT wait to move. I'm counting down the days (17) until I can get the f%$# out of here!

On a side note, it's a nice day out today. I think summer is here.

And then there was water...

My last two weeks were BUSY!

The half marathon was EXHAUSTING. Kristen gave a good depiction of it, you can read it here. I did well, but the mental and physical exhaustion that I went through made it hard to feel great about it. I cried at the end. But yay for us! And I'm so happy it's over!

I came home, worked right away for five days, then had one day off, where my apartment decided to flood again, and then worked again for five days. Fun stuff. Water came out from the sink and the washing machine. I freaked out, said "why me?" repeatedly, cried, almost slipped and fell a bunch of times while I was emptying out the storage room, called my landlord and father in tears, got rescued by the latter (who took me to his place, made me lunch, and did my laundry while I showered! He even hung up my work uniforms! That's what dads are for!) and eventually the problem got fixed. When my place flooded last year, I got a crazy voice mail from Linda who was dealing with it while I was in New Brunswick. I now completely understand the frantic tone that was in her voice on my phone, and don't blame her at all for saying "COME HOME NOW HELP!!!!!!" because that's all I could do when water was pouring non-stop from two places in my apartment. I'm pretty sure I sobbed "make it stop, please make it stop" several times while I was trying to find every single absorbent article in my place. I did quite well though, managed to save the dirty water from going into Linda's room (like last time) and the corner where a lot of Matt's boxes are stacked. I had this tiny mop with a sponge on it, and I stood in ankle deep water and sponged it into a big bucket. After the initial freak out, I snapped into action and sort of made things happen.

ANYWAY.

Now, time to pack, because I found an apartment! Yay! I'm so happy. It's in Mission and has two little balconies and a great view of the city. It even has a second smaller bedroom I can use as an office. I can't wait to move!

I'm finally off for a few days, so I'll have time to organize my life. I can't wait.

Happy Father's Day to all the poppas out there! I hope you get spoiled.

Ottawa!

So I'm in Ottawa... This is the third year in a row that I've been here for race weekend! This is by far the best weather. Not too hot (like the first year) and not rainy like last year. Quite comfortable. Matt and I came out on Friday after a whirlwind of a morning. We were rushing around like CRAZY to make an earlier flight so that we didn't have to get in and take transit to K & J's place at midnight, and on the way to the airport I got pulled over by the police! Matt was on the phone with the standby line booking our flights, and I was thinking "OK I have no idea what I've done here, I'm not speeding because duh there's a cop right there (and I have already gotten 2 photo radar tickets on that particular road so I've sort of learned my lesson, yes it took TWO times to learn) so I pull over, roll down my window, and the officer came RIGHT to my car... normally it takes them a while to come over I think.

Police: "License, registration and insurance", looks at it for one second, "so this is your car, yes?"

Me: I'm thinking "Holy hell does he think I stole it??" so I answer politely "yes, sir, it is" (I don't think I've ever said "sir" in my life)

Police: "So why haven't you gotten it registered?"

Me: "I have it registered"

Police: "No you don't. Would you read the date out on your registration?"

Me: "Sure, February 28, two thousand and oh right ok I see now"

Police: "So that was expired in February. Do you live at this address?"

Me: "No, that's my mum's address, but since I move around I keep that address so I don't lose track of my mail. My mum I guess didn't give me the renewal."

Police: "Correction, you didn't go and get it from your mother."

Me: "Right, I didn't go and get it. You see, when I got this new car, I paid extra to register it for longer instead of paying the transfer fee."

Police: "Right, that was in 2006."

Me: "Yes, I see that now. I obviously lost track of the time."

Anyway, he hummed and hawed and finally said something about working for the company I work for, because even though I know it's completely dorky, I have a license place border thingy that I won in training on my car, and it says the company name. He writes down a name of an other flight attendant and tells me that the next time I see her I should buy her a coffee and let me off!!!! So everyone who makes fun of my for that license plate thing can eat their words, because I knew it would come in handy!

Meanwhile we were on our way to the airport and my car is unregistered. So Kristen helpfully gave me the numbers for the registries that I called on the bus form the crew parking lot to the airport and I figured out how to get it registered through Matt so that he can use my car for the trip he had planned to Banff next weekend with his friend from Ontario. Big kaffuffle that is *hopefully* solved through some quick photocopies and fancy letters.

The race went well for Jordan, though at one point I was going through my first aid training trying to figure out what I know that would help him. As we were walking home, Jordan kept putting on more coats while the rest of us were wearing tank tops. He pushed it to the limit I think but he made his goal and ended up relatively unscathed. Kristen and I cheered so loudly when we saw him, madly screaming his name and snapping pictures! Hopefully next weekend will go as well for Kristen and I (without the cold shakes after perhaps). I'm really excited to run the half marathon. Matt and I are considering doing one in September in Toronto which would be great for me since I completely stopped running after the race last year.

Matt left for Calgary yesterday and I'm here all week! I'm trying to figure out what I will do with myself. So far it's 1:00 and I'm still in my pyjamas, so things are looking productive so far. I did give myself a mani-pedi, so that's one thing to check off the list. My mum wants me to go to the museum of natural history (I think that's what it's called anyway, though it doesn't sound right...), but I'm open to suggestions!

I hope I hope I hope I hope

I'm going to look at the PERFECT apartment tonight. It's incredible (from what I see on the internet) and I MUST have it. So think happy apartment thoughts!!!