Random Tuesday Things

A smattering of the random running through my mind this morning...

• I weighed myself this morning, exactly one week to the day of my last weigh-in, and guess what?  I lost... wait for it... 0.3 ozs.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..... fml.
• Honestly, it wasn't a big surprise.  I had way too many treats and big meals last week to see any real results.  The positive I'll take from it is at least the number didn't go up.  I haven't been weighing myself for months, but it's quite obvious that number had been creeping up and up and up for a long time.  So for one week, it stayed the same. A small victory.
• Yesterday, I was struggling to come up with "new goals" for my healthy lifestyle focus, and I think the reason is it basically comes down to this:  STOP EATING LIKE A 300 LB. MAN.  Basically.
• You know who I love?  Mindy Kaling.  I have a girl crush on Mindy Kaling right now.  She made me laugh out loud when I was watching The Mindy Project, and now that I'm reading her first book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?", I've discovered that I think we're more alike than I could have ever imagined.  Except for the fact that I'm not a famous comedian working and living in NYC, of course.  In the chapter I read last night, she talked about how she used to baby-sit, and after the kids went to bed, she raided the cupboards for the good snacks, and ate so much it was noticeable to the parents of the kids she was baby-sitting (they were trying to figure out where all their food was going.)  I soooo used to do that.  It's just one small example of how I find myself relating to her and her stories from her growing up years.  I feel like Mindy and I could be BFF's.
  
• The clock in the office isn't working this morning and it's throwing me WAY off. 
• It is flipping cold out there today.  Like, I wore my spring fleece coat this morning and I was wishing I'd worn my winter coat, toque and mitts.  Even a winter-lover like me is getting a little sick of the cold right now.
• Truth be told, though?  The mention of possible flurries still sets my heart a-flutter...
• This past weekend, I played in the Canada Day Committee's annual poker tournament.  I have played in this tournament every year (it's been going on for quite a while - 8 or 10 years, something like that?), and even though I'm probably the least-experienced/intelligent/strategic poker player in the world, I always have fun and usually make it further than I expected.  This year wasn't one of those years.  For one thing, I started out very nervous.  There were a lot of new faces at this year's tourney, and I felt very intimidated right off the bat.  Like, my hands were shaking and I had knots in my stomach I was so nervous. I ended up at a table with only one other guy that I knew, and I never really felt comfortable.  The hands I won were small, and the few times I thought I had a really good hand, I was beaten by someone who had better. And there was one guy at my table who I felt was purposely trying to intimidate me. It was one of the worst poker days of my life.  I was actually so relieved to be out and sitting back with friends just chatting and joking around and watching the kids play.
• Our neighbour here at work just brought over a bag of amazing looking homemade cookies, that look so much like kinds my Grandma used to make... and I'm sitting here eating an Activia yogurt with bran cereal. *sigh*
• I finally got some pictures uploaded last night and here are a few of my favourites:
  
   I was amazed by this beautiful sky one night last week driving home from Aylmer... first time I've ever stopped on the side of the highway to snap a pic... and so glad I did!!
  
   The Ragged Chute is roaring again
  
   A sure sign of spring... the geese are flying!
  
   This pic cracks me up... Danica hates the flash on my camera, it makes her blink, so I told her to shut her eyes and on the count of 3, open them and I'd snap the picture.  I think she got mixed up. lol
  
   Rylie and Maddy at the poker tournament on Saturday
  
   A few weeks ago on the shoreline in my hometown
  
• Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles for Mom :)
• I'm in Season 4 of Suits, and I'm not really enjoying it as much as the first three... I don't like this business of Mike and Harvey working against each other, there's no development in my hopes for Harvey and Donna getting together...and even though Harvey is a hottie, I'm almost looking forward to being done so I can move on to something else.  I'm still in the early stages of Season 4, though, so I'm hopeful I'll get back in my Suits groove again.
  
• I've been thinking a lot about my options in life these days... my desire to have children, the fact that I'm not getting any younger, the worry that I'm not cut out to be in a relationship, the hope that there might still be a guy out there who will fit into my weird and whacky world... I've been weighing a lot of pros and cons, and wondering about re-opening doors that I thought were pretty much closed... cryptic enough for you?

OK... I think that's enough for my Tuesday randoms!  Hope you're all having a good week.

Checking In...

Well, it would appear that the crazy busy days of spring have officially hit... evidenced by my lack of posting last week!  Whoops!  I had actually made a vow to do my blogging in the evenings and schedule posts ahead of time to avoid a big lapse like that, but I just couldn't motivate myself to do so last week... After busy days at the office, coming home to do some exercising and eat supper, after that all I wanted to do was veg on the couch and watch Netflix.  I haven't even uploaded pics for my 366 Photo Challenge in over 2 weeks! eep!!  Busy spring takes a while to adjust to!

I did want to check in quickly though, since today marks one week since I vowed to focus more on returning to a healthy lifestyle.  Let's look back on my goals last week and see how I did:

• Continue exercising for 30 mins every morning (Walk at Home, 21 Day Fix, Jillian Michaels, etc. DVDs) + 10 min walk at lunch, but ADD IN at least 20 mins of exercise at night (walk, or 20 min Ab DVD) = 1 hour exercise per day, 6 days a week. - Accomplished!  For the most part, anyways.  I did my 30 mins every morning, and 10 minute walk every work day at lunch.  The only night I didn't get in an extra 20 mins was the night I had shopping and dinner plans after work.  I also didn't get in any extra exercise on the weekend, just my half-hour workout on Saturday and Sunday is my rest day. But overall, I give this one a big CHECK!
• Set a healthy meal plan for the week and stick to it - don't allow my arm to be twisted with unplanned treats!  I'm still struggling with this one.  I did set a meal plan for last week, but I forgot that we had our company Team Meeting on Tuesday, which meant pizza for lunch, so that was one unscheduled treat that I "gave in to" (and over-indulged in...3 pieces of pizza and 3 cookies...ugh Jillian!!!).  Also Friday was a bit of a bust... my meal plan that day went right out the window, breakfast, lunch, and supper.
• Plan the treats ahead of time and enjoy them:  this week, it will be dinner out Wednesday night, 1 ice cream treat this weekend, and lunch at the Poker tourney on Saturday.  Otherwise, stick to the meal plan, or have small portions/healthy options (ie, Friday lunch, if they decide to order out at work, brunch at the restaurant after church Sunday, etc.).  Well, this kind of ties in to the above goal, so I can't say I did very well at accomplishing it.  I did enjoy my dinner out on Wednesday night as a full-on planned treat, and I did have lunch at the poker tourney on Saturday (but didn't over-do it, so that was good).  I wasn't tempted by ice cream on the weekend because it was so chilly out, but my mom's homemade banana cake more than made up for that!  And then of course I didn't do well with small portions or healthy options in the cases of work lunches - Pizza & cookies on Tuesday, Club Sandwich platter on Friday... I guess I'm a work in progress in this department for sure!
• Continue drinking tons of water.  2 glasses of water first thing in the AM, 1 glass of water per hour at work, plus extra in the evening = 12 glasses of water/day.  Easy-peasey.  I drink water like it's going outta style, one of the few "healthy habits" I have stuck with.
• No alcohol at Poker tourney on Saturday.  Check!  I drank water for the most part, along with a few Diet Pepsi's.  Didn't drink enough water though, because I came home with parched, dry lips.  I spent the rest of the night re-hydrating lol.
• Cut out sugar and sweets as much as possible.  Start using fruit and Yonanas again as a "sweet treat".  Semi-accomplished... I did re-introduce fruit as my dessert after supper, I quit having a mid-afternoon chocolate break in the office, and I didn't get into any of the other chocolate and sweets I have stashed away at my house.  But as I mentioned, there were cookies on Tuesday... dessert after dinner on Wednesday... and Mom's homemade banana cake that I just couldn't resist!  Oh, and also, I bought two boxes of Girl Guide Cookies from Maddy on the weekend.  I haven't opened them yet, though, so that's good, right? ;)
• No more evening snacking.  Make a cup of herbal tea if the snack cravings hit.  If I did one thing right last week, this was it!  I was successful in avoiding in the evening snack cravings.  Didn't even have to make the herbal tea to help curb them!  This was a big one for me, because evening snacks had become the norm again.  It was tough but I hung in there.
• Try to cut the habit of falling asleep on the couch watching TV in the evening.  Keep moving to avoid falling asleep, and go to bed earlier if I discover I am falling asleep on the couch.  I was OK with this one...at least during the week.  If I noticed I was starting to feel sleepy on the couch, I'd move to my bed... even if it was only 9 pm.  I did end up falling asleep on the couch Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday evening, but I'm not too concerned about weekends.  It's week nights that I want to keep busy and avoid becoming an evening sloth!!
• Read 10 pages a day of a book (I know, this has nothing to do with losing weight and getting healthy, but I'm disappointed in myself for not reading more lately.  We'll consider this a "personal development goal".)  Yay!  I did this one!  Well, actually, no... I missed two days...but on the following days, I read 20 pages.  This allowed me to FINALLY finish "Everything Must Go" by Elizabeth Flock, a book that I had been reading for over a month and should have finished long ago.  So glad I'm done it!  And now I'm flying through Mindy Kaling's first book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" ...loving it! Hopefully my desire to read has been re-discovered. :)
• Only weigh myself once per week.  Check!  I weighed myself last Tuesday morning.  I hated the number on the scales, and resisted the temptation to weigh again several times.  I'll check it again tomorrow and I doubt I'll see much difference (see, all the above mis-steps with eating healthy...) But at least I didn't weigh myself obsessively each day.

The goals for this week are much the same.  Here they are:

• Exercise 30 minutes each morning, 10 minute walk at lunch, 20 minutes in the evening. Try to also fit in a walk on both Saturday and Sunday.
• Make a healthy meal plan for the week and stick to it.  Remember...no arm twisting!!
• The planned treats this week should be Soup & Sandwich lunch on Wednesday, lunch on Friday, and a brunch shower I'm going to on Saturday.  Continue to be mindful of portion sizes and make healthy choices whenever possible.
• Continue using fruit and Yonanas as a "sweet treat".
• Hang tough on not having snacks in the evening.  
• Keep it up with reading at least 10 pages a day, and also keeping busy in the evenings to avoid falling asleep on the couch.
• Boil eggs ahead of time to have for healthy lunches (veggies and dip, boiled egg, crackers and cheese) - also make some healthy homemade carrot muffins for afternoon snacks.
• Only weigh myself once per week.

So yeah...they are pretty much the same goals as last week, but I really need to continue to focus on these ones and try to be better.  Here's hoping I can improve upon last week!

Happy Monday!!

Time to Re-focus...

Well, folks... it's been a long time since I've talked about this seriously, and that's because I wasn't ready to be serious about it again.

But it's time.

I need to get back on track with a healthy lifestyle.  I need to get my eating habits back under control.

Same old song & dance.  I know you've all heard this before.  But I've been on a slippery slope heading the wrong direction since last fall, and it is alarming how quickly I've slid back into my old ways.  Eating junk food all the time, chips and treats on a regular basis, eating out several times a week... clothes getting tighter, sizes going up, and it's starting to scare me.

During these recent months of stress-and-comfort-eating, I have said many times that I knew the day would come when I would decide to smarten up.  I would have a "moment".  That moment came last week when a clothing order had placed on line arrived in the mail, and I was very disappointed in how the items fit.  Pants that I thought were a slam-dunk were too tight.  A sweater that was too snug.  A tank top that showed off flabby arms and made me want to cry.

It opened my eyes in alarming fashion to the fact that none of my summer clothes are going to fit.  I have jumped two sizes since last summer, and this past winter I packed up and gave away bags of clothing in the size I will probably need, because I swore I wouldn't ever go back to them again.

You guys, I don't need to be stick thin.  In fact, I don't want to be obsessed with working out and calorie counting the way I was two years ago.  I want to find a healthy balance.  I have maintained working out for the most part (albeit less intense exercising), but it's time to bring the healthy eating back into the program and get things leveled out again.  I am a living, breathing example of how all the exercising in the world won't do a lick of good if you aren't combining it with healthy eating habits.

I decided to set a few small-ish goals to stick to this week. My plan is to re-visit this list and hopefully be able to check most - if not all - of my goals off as a success, and then come up with a new set of goals, or expand upon this list, next week.

My goals this week:

• Continue exercising for 30 mins every morning (Walk at Home, 21 Day Fix, Jillian Michaels, etc. DVDs) + 10 min walk at lunch, but ADD IN at least 20 mins of exercise at night (walk, or 20 min Ab DVD) = 1 hour exercise per day, 6 days a week.
• Set a healthy meal plan for the week and stick to it - don't allow my arm to be twisted with unplanned treats!
• Plan the treats ahead of time and enjoy them:  this week, it will be dinner out Wednesday night, 1 ice cream treat this weekend, and lunch at the Poker tourney on Saturday.  Otherwise, stick to the meal plan, or have small portions/healthy options (ie, Friday lunch, if they decide to order out at work, brunch at the restaurant after church Sunday, etc.).
• Continue drinking tons of water.  2 glasses of water first thing in the AM, 1 glass of water per hour at work, plus extra in the evening = 12 glasses of water/day.
• No alcohol at Poker tourney on Saturday.
• Cut out sugar and sweets as much as possible.  Start using fruit and Yonanas again as a "sweet treat".
• No more evening snacking.  Make a cup of herbal tea if the snack cravings hit.
• Try to cut the habit of falling asleep on the couch watching TV in the evening.  Keep moving to avoid falling asleep, and go to bed earlier if I discover I am falling asleep on the couch.
• Read 10 pages a day of a book (I know, this has nothing to do with losing weight and getting healthy, but I'm disappointed in myself for not reading more lately.  We'll consider this a "personal development goal".)
• Only weigh myself once per week.

Like I said, the MAIN goal is to find a healthy balance and avoid obsessing on every minute detail... a lot of healthy habits are still common practice for me - I have a good base to work with - but the main falter in my course was losing control of eating healthy foods and portions.  I think if I can get that back in check, I'll be OK.

It's time to take charge of my own personal well-being again.  It's too easy to fall into the trap of making excuses, letting things I have no control over affect me, losing focus.

If all goes well, I should be feeling much better in a few weeks.  I hate feeling discouraged, sluggish, out of shape, tired, and all-around blue.  I can change that with a few simple actions and a little self-control and willpower.

Here we go again...!!

Some Thursday Rambling

• I'm feeling tired and a little on the crusty side today.  I have realized now that I'm back to full work weeks that waking up at 5:35 every morning to exercise really sucks after a few days.  Monday and Tuesday I'm usually pretty gung-ho, Wednesday I'm OK with it, but by Thursday, I'm cranky.  I miss waking up at a slightly later hour on Mondays and Fridays...
• Also adding to my lacklustre effort this morning is the fact that I have very sore inner thighs.  I added a new Leslie Sansone walking DVD to my collection this week, and this one contains two 30 minute workouts - one is a walking workout, the other a firming workout.  I did the firming one on Tuesday morning, and I didn't find it too hard at all, but all the squats and lunges apparently took a toll.  It hurts to walk, climb stairs, sit, stand, and of course, exercise... ugh.  It really opened my eyes to how far out of shape I have let myself go apparently.  yikes!
  
• I think the exercising I'm doing, though less intense than the programs I used to do, would be sufficient, if I could just get my eating habits back under control.  I keep saying this, but I'm all talk, no action.  I swore this week I'd be better behaved, but Monday night I had a big plate of nachos, Tuesday night was dinner at my aunt's and I definitely over-indulged, and last night Mom and I had Chinese to celebrate her birthday... I should be trying to think of something healthy and light for tonight, but I'm craving pancakes.  I'll try again next week I guess... *sigh*
  
• Despite my cranky disgruntled mood, it is nice to see a bright sunny day out there, and the good news is that warmer temperatures are finally upon us.  It's going up to +10 today, and should be creeping close to +20 over the weekend.  Woo hoo!
• The problem with +20 sunny weather, if there is one at all, is that I don't fit in any of my summer clothes anymore.  I have no idea what I'm going to wear this weekend.  I miss my fleece-lined leggings and over-sized sweaters already...
• Something I am loving about this time of year is the return of Blue Jays baseball.  We're a week into the new season, and I know there's a lot of ball to play over the coming months, but it's exciting to watch Jays games again.  I'm a smidge jealous of my friends Lindsay and Ryan who have been in TO this week and got to catch last night's game live!  I'm hoping I can talk my mom and/or sister's family into getting tickets to a game this summer at some point.  I would love to take a little weekend trip with them and catch a ball game.
  
• Lately, I've been mentally spending a lot of time at "my happy place" - my aunt & uncle's camp on the Ottawa  River.  We go for a few days every summer, and it's always so nice to get there and just "switch off" - turn off the cell phone, no electricity, and the only thing to do is just play in the water, sit in the sand, read, relax, and enjoy.  I'm craving that little get-away right now.
  
• I'm looking forward to a low-key weekend coming up... my plans include some Netflix bingeing, reading, shopping with my ma on Saturday, dinner at my sister's place on Saturday night, and the usual Sunday routine of church and brunch and resting.  Sounds like the weather might even be nice enough to allow me to read outside, which is one of my favourite things to do. C'moooon weekend...

Hope you're all having a good week!  Have a great Thursday :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Cheers to the one I'm lucky enough to call "Mom"!!

Today is my mom's birthday, and so, I am celebrating her!!

Last night, we had a wonderful kick-off to her birthday celebrations, as we were invited to my Aunt Marion & Uncle Eric's for dinner.  It was my cousin David's birthday yesterday, and there have been many times over the years that Mom and Dave have shared birthday cake.  Here are a few of the pictures from a fabulous evening of delicious food, cake (of many makes, shapes & sizes!), and visiting with family and friends. :)

 Sweet little Grace :)

 The question of the evening:  "Do you like my tights?!"

 David getting some help from Dillon and Lane blowing out his candles

 Anxious for cupcakes!!!

 Singing happy birthday again... I think this was Round 3 ;)

 Miss Lila and her daddy

 The Birthday Boy & Girl

 Say "Cheese" Dillon!

 Aunt Marion slicing into the homemade ice cream cake

 My little buddy Lila - she snuggled up on my shoulder later in the evening and it totally made my day!

Dave heading out into the night with his new lantern "to find the car"

Like I said... a wonderful evening of celebrating, and I'm looking forward to the party continuing on for the next few days. ;)  

Happy Birthday Mom! LOVE YA!! xoxox

"Normal" weekends are too short.

As I mentioned in a post last week, I am back to a "normal" work week.  Which means I'm back to working five days a week, 8 am-5 pm.  Having "winter hours" is a nice perk of working at a seasonal business, and I've so enjoyed my long weekends for the past three months.  But they can't last forever.

And boy, let me tell you, re-adjusting to a five day work week is tough.  Even after doing it for 12 years, the first few weeks back in the ol' saddle are an adjustment.  It's almost shocking how fast a normal two-day weekend can fly by.  To the average working joe, I think my weekend probably looked nice and relaxing.  For me... well, I think I tried to jam too much in on my first "normal" weekend!!

Friday night was book club hosted by my friend Sharon, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the evening chatting with friends and enjoying delicious snacks, staying up til almost midnight set me back big time.  I know... I'm 32 years old, I'm single, staying up til midnight on a Friday should be NO BIG DEAL.  I'm well aware of that, trust me.

Let's use the excuse that I had an awful head cold, OK?  I needed rest.

In any case, I had a great time at book club discussing Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth, and visiting with my friends.  Honestly, it was exactly what I needed.  It had been too long since I'd last had a girls night gab session!

It wasn't til my alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning that I was kind of regretting staying up past my bedtime.  And why did my alarm go off at 6:30 am on a Saturday, you ask?  Well, I had to do my morning workout, of course, and then I wanted to get my house cleaned as quickly as possible.  Getting the house cleaned is so much easier when you have Fridays and Mondays off! ;)  It was in desperate need of a dusting and vacuuming, so I flew around doing that for a few hours.  Then I showered and got ready in a hurry, as I was going over to my neighbour Shannon's for a paint day.  As most of you know, paint days have become one of my favourite things in the whole wide world, so I was glad to be back in my "happy place".  I had been going through painting withdrawals! Sharon's little girl was having her birthday party there that day, so she and I were doing our own painting while Shannon worked with the girls.  I arrived shortly after 11, and enjoyed painting as well as watching the little girls work on their cute cupcakes.

I stole this photo from Shannon's Facebook of the little girls with their paintings - so cute!

I was home around 4 (my painting didn't get finished, so I have to go back), and discovered my friend Brenda had texted and called a few times, inviting me to join them and a few friends to play cards that night.  I was planning to go, but suddenly the little headache I'd developed over the course of the afternoon became a pounder.  I was disappointed to miss out, but opted instead for Advil, magic bag on the back of my neck, and watching Suits on the couch.

Sunday morning I was up, headache-free, and enjoyed my usual Sunday morning of leisurely sipping coffee and watching SNL before getting ready for church.  The furnace wasn't working at the church, so it was a chilly service!  Spring hasn't really sprung very well around here, and it was a cold day, despite being well into April.  I'm a tough winter-lovin' chick and I don't let the cold bother me (I'm Elsa, remember?), but I had a hard time getting warmed up for the rest of the day.  After brunch at the restaurant, I cozied up in a blanket on Mom's couch.  We watched the Blue Jays game, and eventually I fell asleep.  And I napped hard.  Unfortunately, when I woke up, the headache was back again.  *sigh*  I loathe waking up with a headache, I always feel like I haven't done anything to deserve it.  I've just been sleeping!

Mom and I had food from the chipstand for supper, but shortly after, I was regretting it.  It may have been the sore head, I don't know, but I spent the rest of the evening feeling like I had an upset tummy.  I was never actually sick, but felt like it might happen a few times. Feeling cruddy, I hunkered down for another Suits marathon, but quickly fell asleep, again.

I guess I was just outta sorts during my first "real" 2-day weekend, and that's why it disappeared before I knew it.  Between having a cold and two stupid headaches, it felt like I was either rushing around or sleeping it away.  Either way, it felt like it was gone too quickly.  There were a hundred little things I wanted to get done - like uploading pictures, for one - but it just didn't work out.

Ah, routine.  It's great once you're in one, but a bitch to get back on track when you aren't!

Friiiiiiiiiday!!

I'm back to full work weeks again... this is my first full 5 day week since before Christmas.  Which means I now appreciate Fridays so much more again!!!

How about a few confessions to kick off the weekend?

I confess... that I didn't watch the big American Idol finale last night.  In fact, I didn't even know it happened until I heard them play a clip of Seacrest signing off in emotional fashion on the radio this morning.  Kind of sad, even though I haven't followed the show in years.  The end of an era that produced some pretty amazing talent... I think my faves would have to be Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry!

I confess... my plugged nose yesterday meant I couldn't taste, and that is such a devastating realization for a food lover like me.  Good news is, even though I'm still very snuffly today, it seems my taste buds are back in action.

I confess... that even in April, watching snow fall makes my heart flutter with joy. (and yes, it is snowing again.)

I confess... that I'm still kind of regretting not going to Garth Brooks, even now, almost a week later.  I think the video of Mike Fisher singing with him that I posted yesterday stirred those feelings up even more.

I confess... that I think about Harvey from Suits probably way too much during the course of the day.  I really want him and Donna to get together.  Someone please tell me that eventually happens? (no, don't really tell me, I need to just wait and find out myself lol)

I confess... that I'm off the reading train right now.  Netflix has killed my relationship with books.  I've been reading the same book for over a month, and still not even half-way through it.  It's a book I think I would normally fly through, but there is just no time for reading right now when I have to watch 4 episodes of Suits every night...

I confess... that despite that last confession, I'm very excited for Book Club tonight.  I need a night of sitting back and chatting with friends.  And I did read that book before Netflix and Harvey came into my life.

I confess... that I kind of went crazy buying snack foods when I did groceries last night.  Way too many bags of Doritos, Chicago Mix, Nachos, etc. in my kitchen right now. For someone he keeps talking about getting back on track with eating healthy, my grocery bills sure don't back me up.

I confess... I need to seriously start saving money.  The Canada Day Committee's online auction closed last night, and I was the winning bidder on a taxi service to the city for a day of shopping for 4.  Which is great, except I have no money to go for a day of shopping in the city right now!!! ;)

Happy Friday everyone!  Have a great weekend!!

Some Random Thursday Things

• It snowed!!  IT SNOWED!!  *insert big cheesy grin here* 
• Oh, relax.  I'm just joking about being excited about it.  Sort of.  I mean, it's April, and nobody actually wants 6 inches of snow on April 6th.  But I do love watching snow fall... It was a fun evening for me.  The white stuff started falling hard right after lunch, and continued on well into the night.  When I got home, I ran into my backyard to take a snow selfie.  Then I went in, changed into comfy clothes, settled in on the couch with a blanket, and watched it fall through the window blissfully... yes, even April snow makes my heart sing.  The best part about an April snowstorm is it doesn't get dark at 4:30 anymore, so I was able to sit and watch it for a long time before it got dark!
  
• The snow magic is over today, though.  It's pouring rain, the temperature is to warm up considerably, and I'd say this mess will be gone before we know it.  The magic has given way to dreariness... 
• As I mentioned yesterday (and many times before) one of my favourite comfort foods, and the food I most associate with a snow day, is macaroni, tomato soup, and cheez whiz.  I was planning to make it for supper last night, to celebrate what surely would be the last snow of the season, when it suddenly dawned on me that I'm out of cheez whiz.  So I was back to the drawing board.  Sometime during the day, I got a hankering for homemade pizza... I can't remember the last time I made a homemade pizza, and I knew I had everything at home to make it except for pizza sauce.  A quick stop at the store on my way home, and I was in business!  It was soooo good.
  
• If I ever got to create my own pizza for a restaurant - the "Jill's Special" - it would be pepperoni, bacon, green olives, onions, hot peppers, and extra cheese.  
• I'm glad I had it last night when my tastebuds were still working.  I've been fighting a head cold all week, and I woke up this morning with it finally gone full-blown.  I'm stuffed up and my head feels all fuzzy and I'm not tasting much today.  Otherwise I don't feel sick - I'm not tired or achy or anything - but my head is full.  Blech.
• I was sad yesterday to hear of Merle Haggard's passing.  My knowledge of country singers from that era isn't all that great, but Merle was definitely one of my favourites of the bunch.  Kind of depressing that so many of them are gone now.  I watched a few videos of his performances on Youtube last night, then dug out my Merle CD's out of my collection to keep the Haggard tribute going.  It's hard to pick just one all-time favourite, but I think mine would have to be "Sing Me Back Home":
• Speaking of all-time favourites... how about one of my all-time fave former Sens, dueting with Garth Brooks?  This video of Mike Fisher singing with GB made me smile when I saw it this morning:https://www.facebook.com/carrieunderwood/videos/10154087801139568/
• And Suits.  God, I'm loving Suits right now.  I think I watched 4 episodes last night.  I can't get enough.  I'm at the point in Season 2 where I just want Harvey and Donna to realize they love each other, I just want Mike and Rachel to realize they love each other, and I both love and hate Louis at the same time.  I am definitely addicted.
  

Wednesday Hodgepodge

I was drawing a mental block for a post today - even "What I'm Loving Wednesday" wasn't bringing anything new to the table, I think my list would look the exact same as last week, and mostly would've been about Harvey, which I rambled about yesterday - so I decided to answer the Wednesday Hodpodge questions!

1. What does retirement mean to you? Are you planning for it, not thinking about it, looking forward to it, or dreading it?

Retirement isn't something I think about much, even though I love the idea of it.  I mean, it's fun to daydream, but I'm only 32, and I know I have many years of work ahead of me.  Thinking about it would only make me sad that it's still so far away.  And until I get smart about saving money and planning seriously for retirement, I'm not even sure it's something I should daydream about.  No point in getting excited about it.

2. It’s International Guitar Month…do you play? Does anyone in your family play? What’s a song you especially like to hear played on the guitar or a favorite song featuring the guitar?

I do play guitar!  Well, I don't pick it up very often anymore, which is sad, but I can play, somewhat.  We have a few guitar players in the family.  I always loved it when my dad played, which was a rare and special occasion. My cousin Troy was the one who inspired me to pick it up; I idolized him when it came to playing guitar and singing.  I don't even hold a candle to how good he was.  (He passed away the summer of 2010.)  I'd give anything to hear Troy play "Free Fallin'" again. Or hear Dad sing "The Green Green Grass of Home".

3. What’s your comfort food?

I have a lot of comfort foods. lol  One of the main ones is macaroni, tomato soup & cheez whiz.  When I want to feel cozy and comforted, I will make it.  It's a warm reminder of childhood.  And any kind of pasta-type, cheesey casserole is comfort to me, really.

4. What’s one activity or area of your life where you absolutely never procrastinate?

I guess I would have to agree with incognitus scriptor's answer and say that I don't procrastinate on getting somewhere when I'm supposed to.  I don't like being late.  If anything, I try to be early.  Even if it's for something I'm not excited about.  Everything else... well, I'm a procrastinator, so while I do like to stick to my routine, sometimes things just don't happen when they're supposed to!

5. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? Does your local store bag the groceries for you or is it a do-it-yourself kind of place? Do you like someone packing your groceries?

I live alone, so I do all my own grocery shopping obviously.  The grocery stores I go to in our area usually do bag them for me.  Sometimes, if they're busy, I'll help.  And I do also try to sort things out on the conveyor belt in the order I want them to be packed in.

6. What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen in nature?

Hmm... I have to give this some thought!  The only thing I can think of at the moment was back in December, right before the holidays- it was unseasonably (and depressingly) warm here, and just a few days before Christmas, I saw a frog hopping down the road near my workplace when I went for my walk at noon. My jaw literally dropped and I stopped to watch him.  Wished I had my camera.  Frogs are usually long gone by December...

7. Share a favorite quote about home.

I looked up some quotes, but the first thought that came to mind were the lyrics to Bon Jovi's "Who Says You Can't Go Home", so I'll go with that - and yes, I changed it to "girl" so that it applies to me!!:

With every step I take I know that I'm not alone.
You take the home from the girl, but not the girl from her home.
These are my streets, the only life I've ever known.
Who says you can't go home?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My Keurig decided to go wackadoodle on me this morning, and it did not make me happy.  My Keurig rarely causes me any kind of trouble, but I think this morning I had a faulty K-Cup.  My travel mug is too big to fit into the machine, so I filled a regular coffee cup, then poured it into the travel mug, and discovered a thick sludge of coffee grounds had come out.  Blech.  And the machine showed it was "Brewing" long after it had stopped.  I had to shut the machine off, turn it back on, run a cycle of water through it, before finally getting my cup of joe.  Such a pain.  And my morning schedule is set right to the minute, so this little set-back held me up about five minutes.  I made a decision not to let it set the tone for my day, though.  Sometimes when hiccups like that happen, they can ruin a whole day, but I'm not letting that happen!!

The Crush du Jour

It's been a long time since I've had a serious celebrity crush, apart from Jimmy Fallon.  Jimmy's pretty much been my main man for the past two years or so, and while I enjoy seeing any kind of handsome dude on screen, either on a TV show or a movie, it has been a long time since I've found myself crushing hard on an actor like I do with Jimmy.  I was starting to think maybe I had become a one-man kind of woman.

Then I got Netflix, and then I started watching The Mindy Project, and then I met Danny Castellano (aka actor Chris Messina).  It was very early on in that show that I got hung up on Danny, and started wishing for him and Mindy to become a couple.  I binged on that show big time, and all too soon, it was over.  (Season 4 is picking up again on Hulu next week, but I don't know when those new episodes will make it to Netflix.)  I was sad that I didn't have Danny in my life anymore.

Ever since I started talking about getting Netflix, a billion people recommended the show Suits as one that was a must-watch.  I had prioritized Fuller House and Making a Murderer as the first shows I wanted to watch (Mindy was a bit of a fluke, I hadn't planned on getting sucked in to that one so early), but then after that, I knew Suits was a top contender as the next show I'd watch.  I took a poll with my Facebook friends - Suits or Scandal - and Suits won by a landslide, so that's the one I went with.

Unfortunately, I wasn't hooked right off the bat like everyone promised I would be.  I struggled through the first few episodes, and even once I did get more interested in what was happening, I still didn't find it binge-worthy.  Yeah, Harvey and Mike were attractive guys, but I wasn't really interested in what was going on in their lawyer world.  I just wasn't getting that magnetic pull that I've had with other shows.

But I stuck with it.  And now, well into Season 2, I'm so glad I did.

Like I said, I thought the actors that play Harvey Specter and Mike Ross - Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams (a fellow Canadian, boom!) - were both very handsome.  Initially, I'd have probably given the edge to Mike as my favourite, but now in midst of Season 2, I have to go with Harvey.  I mean hell, a girl doesn't have to choose when it comes to sexy TV characters, and Mike and Harvey are on the same team, so it's not like I feel compelled to choose, either.  But as the show develops, Harvey's manly, take-charge, cocky swagger is growing on me.  And now I'm finally starting to see the sensitive side of him emerge, and that just pushes me over the edge... Mike's still adorbs, but he's like a cute little puppy dog.

I'm 32 now.  The cute little puppies just don't cut it anymore.

So yeah.  Harvey.  Harvey's my new dog.  I mean, man.

I was actually familiar with this actor before starting Suits.  I love the movie "Because I Said So" starring Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton, and Gabriel Macht plays Moore's love interest in that flick.  And yes, I quite enjoyed him in that movie. But his role on Suits is so different than the one he played in "Because I Said So".  It's kind of like comparing apples to oranges.

But I like both.  And the more I watch Suits, the more I like... It has finally reached the point where I can't wait to get home at night to watch more.  I've got a Harvey addiction brewing, and I need my fix!

So tell me... have you watched Suits?  Are you a Harvey fan or a Mike fan?  Or do you refuse to choose?

If my friend Brenda is out there reading this, I know she'll be thinking "BUT WHAT ABOUT LOUIS?!?"

Brenda, you can have him all to yourself. ;)  I'll be busy with this one...

I Survived Garth Brooks Weekend 2016

From the title of this post, you might assume that I was caught up in the Garth Brooks fever that swept through our area this past weekend.  The legendary country singer and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, brought their World Tour to the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa for four shows this past weekend, and judging by my Facebook newsfeed, I think literally everbody in the world went to one or more of the concerts this weekend.

But no.  I was not one of them.

I remember back in January, when the first concert was announced, thinking, "Meh.  I'm good."  I mean, I like Garth Brooks.  I remember sitting in our basement as a kid with my sister and her friends as they played GB CD's, and loving them.  I pretty much wore out a cassette tape of his greatest hits back then.  "The River" was one of the first songs I ever learned to play on guitar.

But I wasn't a superfan like so many of the people I know.  I wasn't at his Ottawa concert 19 years ago, so I don't have those memories of "the best show ever" like so many others do.  And I have different priorities right now. I've been kind of trying to save my pennies better than I have in the past, trying to pay off the last of my line of credit, trying to keep my credit card paid off, maybe trying to get a little savings going instead of always owing.

One of the sacrifices I've had to make is giving up my title of "Queen of the Concerts".

In my 20's, I went to literally every show I could get tickets to.  And there were some good ones.  Many that I don't regret, even though I blew a lot of cash on concerts.

But I feel like that era of my life is over.  I honestly can't think of very many concerts I'd consider splurging on right now.  Ed Sheeran is really the only one that comes to mind - I regret not going when he was in town last year, and would probably jump on it the next time he does - but other than that, I think I'm good.

That is, until everybody and their dog starts posting on Facebook that they're heading to Garth Brooks, at Garth Brooks, going to Garth Brooks again, posting pictures and videos and calling it the best concert they've ever been to... for three straight frigging days.

Yeah.  It was kind of a lonely weekend, not being able to join in on the Garth hype.

I took solace in the fact that, while it did feel like all I saw on Facebook all weekend was Garth-related posts, most of my close friends were not actually in on the hype either.  We seem to be a select group, my inner circle and I - the non-Garth-type, apparently.

Still, it was this bizarre feeling I had all weekend of being left out.  And I did sort of regret not jumping at the chance to get tickets to one of the four shows.  I had ample opportunity to go, and everyone says GB tickets are reasonably priced... I coulda been there.  I wished I'd done it.

That being said, I made the most of my weekend, despite not having Garth on the agenda.  Friday after work, I headed to Shawville with my ma to get groceries and out for supper, then I spent the rest of the evening catching up on PVR'd shows and watching Suits on Netflix.  (I finally love Suits! Woo hoo!) On Saturday, I joined my little buddy Sam and his family for his 2nd birthday party brunch, as his momma Lindsay had asked me to come be the party photographer.  Then later that day, my mom and I joined my sister, as she had to take Danica to a party at Cosmic Adventures for 4:30, so we killed time by shopping and having dinner at the nearby St. Laurent Shopping Centre.  Sunday was Holy Humour Sunday at church, which was a lot of fun as the hymns were upbeat and jovial, and all throughout the service, people shared jokes and inspirational quips.  After brunch at the restaurant, we visited with my sister's family for a bit, I had a nap, and then Mom and I watched the Blue Jays opening game for the season.  (which they won!  another Woo hoo!)

So overall, it was a great weekend.  Relaxing, laid-back, and enjoyable.

Even if it didn't include Garth Brooks.

Friday Funny

I needed a good laugh this morning.  And thankfully, my co-worker and friend Lindsay provided me with one.

PS - Mom, you might not want to read this post.  It's a little on the "crude" side!!

Anyways, Lindsay excitedly brought me a "present" this morning that she saw while shopping yesterday and just had to get for me.  This is what she gave me:

Cue the hysterical giggles, am I right??

For the record:  It is a little fake pink CACTUS.  and it is also a HIGHLIGHTER.

Minds outta the gutter people!!!

But alas, when people see this thing, that's exactly where there minds do go:  the gutter.  My mind included!  Couldn't stop laughing.  Everyone in the office had a good laugh over it after I showed them my new, uh, desk decoration, and my boss even suggested I stow it away in my drawer because he's not sure it's appropriate to leave it sitting on my desk.  I think he might be right.

However, as another co-worker's wife pointed out when she came in for a little visit this morning, hiding it in the drawer makes it seem even more... errmmm... dirty.  And I think she's right.

That said, I think the best moment came when her 7-year-old daughter spotted it on my desk, and said, "oooh! oooh!  What is that?! Can I see it?!"

I tried to very calmly explain to her that is a cactus and a highlighter.  And then I tried to show her how to colour with it, but as it turns out, it doesn't work.

She twisted it and squeezed it (stifled giggles) and then tried again.  Still didn't work.  I sighed and said, "Oh darn, it doesn't work."

And she replied, "I think you just have to wet it a little bit."

Seriously.  I can't make this stuff up.

It's the gift that just keeps on giving...

Happy Friday, friends :)