Lazy Monday Morning

I don't remember the last time I had a monday off work. This is great! I'm so much happier with my new and much improved work schedule. This week I work Tues and Wed at the clinic, Fri in Calgary and Saturday at the clinic. Only 4 days of work and still full time hours! Fantastic. Much better than trying to fit in shifts at the hospital and working 6 days a week or 10 days straight like I did earlier this month. I think I mentioned that I picked up a 0.5 part time position on my unit at the Foothills?? Anyways, I did, and I start on Friday! It's a temporary position until September, 12 hr shifts, day and nights so it works out to anywhere between 1-3 shifts a week. Then I'll fill in the rest at the clinic to make up full time hours. It's perfect for me cause I qualify for full benefits for my much needed massages and it's only until September so I can do it over the summer, see how it goes and then decide what I want to do over the winter. I'm filling in for someone who's been off with a back injury for the last year so the position could likely be extended beyond September if I want. I think she'll retire before ever coming back to her job. The commute is going to be easy this summer. It's only 50 mins, less than some people have in the city, no snow and the sun will be up when I go to work and when I come home. In the winter it sucks because it's snowy and dark both ways. I'm really excited. I miss being at the hospital with my friends, the babies, the patients.....everything. I think I'll be much happier now.

Sesame Street Presonality Quiz

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

No kidding eh? I could have figured that out myself. I love cookies! I'm a natural Cookie Monster.

Trip to the Cape

I had a great 6 days visiting my Dad in Cape Cod. It was long overdue and I'm really glad I was able to get out there one last time before Dad and Candace relocate to California next week. We had a great day in Boston at the New England Aquarium and the IMAX. The aquarium was amazing. They have a huge tank in the middle, 26ft deep and 40 some odd ft across with 600 types of sea creatures. My favorite was Myrtle the 600lb sea turtle. They had 2 sharks in the tank too! Scuba divers go in 5 times a day and feed the fish. The penguins were pretty cool too. I love aquariums!


We went on a 3D African Safari at the IMAX. There were elephants, lions, rinos and leopards and it looked like they were coming right out of the screen at you. The little kids in the row ahead of us kept reaching out trying to touch them. On Sunday we went to Provincetown and had lunch and then to see the Da Vinci Code. I saw the strangest think in Provincetown. A 70 some odd year old man? woman? not sure,sitting on a chair, wearing nothing but a leopard print bikini, singing. It was quite a sight. I was disappointed with the movie. I think it was because I had just finished reading the book and of course, it was way better. They took out a lot of the history in the book and made it more for Hollywood entertainment. On Monday and Tuesday Dad had to work during the day so I spent the days at the mall and the beach. On Tuesday night Dad's co-workers at the college had a really nice going away party for him. Wednesday was a llllooooonnnnnggg day! Long flights and long hours spent in airports, it was good to be home at the end of the day. Overall, it was a great trip! Thanks Dad!

eBay Addiction

I never really understood what all the hype was about with eBay. I have friends who have bought and sold items on eBay and listened to them rave about how much money they made and how easy it was but I was never tempted to try it. Then Laura told me that she cleaned out her closet and sold all her old clothes on eBay and made $250. Well, if you've ever seen my closet you know that it's jam packed full of clothes and I only wear about half of them. It's pretty bad although I know some people, not mentioning any names Fiona, who have way more clothes than me! So I figured that I'd clean out my closet and see what I could get. Well I found 14 pairs of jeans that I no longer wear so I thought I'd start with them. So far I've only sold 6 pairs and ended up breaking even at the end of it all but it's all about creating more room in my closet so I can go out and buy more! All the jeans looked like they were brand new so I couldn't justify giving them away. Some of them I'd only worn a few times and decided I didn't like them anymore. So now I'm constantly looking around the house for more things that I can sell! Hmmm...how much do you think I'd get for Susan?! just kidding

So now that I've figured out selling I thought I'd see what I could buy. Well, never take me to a real auction cause it totally sucks me in and I can't stop. It's not even about if I want the item anymore it's about beating the other person betting against me! I do have my limits though. I'll never bid higher than what I could buy it for in the store. That would just be stupid. Currently I'm bidding on 3 really cute summer dresses and a hoodie. They're all brand new, tags still on, and super cheap! This eBay thing is great. Two of the auctions are ending tonight and I'm going to be at work so I'm a little concerned about people out bidding me in the last few minutes when there's nothing I can do about it! I have to win them! Since when did I get to be so competitive? it's so not like me! eBay is bringing out a whole other side of my personality

Wish me luck!

Bittersweet news....

It's been a bittersweet day for me. I spoke with my lawyer this morning and he's decided that it's finally time to file a claim against Melissa's restaurant for my accident. He had been waiting to hear from my docs that my neck isn't going to improve from what it is now and we have a pretty good idea what my future will look like. On the up side the ball is finally rolling on getting some compensation for my injuries, on the down side I'm not going to improve and need to get compensation because in the not to distant future I'm not going to be able to work full time anymore. I think I probably have about a year of full time work left in me. I'm working more than full time right now and I'm in pain everyday. I'm cutting back to 3 shifts a week at the clinic and I've applied for 6 part-time jobs in the Calgary Health Region (4 in Calgary and 2 in Canmore). So when it's time for me to go part-time at least I have a job within the health region with full benefit coverage. It is a little upsetting for me but I feel better knowing that something is being done about it.

It's been a month since I've had coffee! Actually, that's a lie, I had a coffee last weekend but poured half of it down the drain cause I couldn't finish it. I LOVE my matcha lattes now. I even bought some matcha so I can make them at home now! And they're healthy too! Yea me, no more coffee

I ran 5km yesterday and today. It's getting easier and easier every time I go. I think I need new shoes though cause my ankles get really sore, not to mention my knees. I love it though. Canmore has tons of trials all over town. I can go somewhere new each day. Gotta watch out for bears though. There's been warnings all over town. Cougars are what really scare me though cause you don't know they're there until they're on top of you. I havn't seen any wildlife yet. I'm taking my bike in tomorrow to get fixed up and my friend Laura and I are going to start biking home from work (Banff to Canmore) a few times a week.

Gotta go to bed. I'm addicted to the Da Vinci Code, again! I've read it once before and wanted to read it again before seeing the movie and once again, I can't put it down!

Running update...

I finally hit my stride today! It felt so good, I could have kept running forever but my calves started to cramp so I had to stop. I started at the top of the Three Sisters (the housing area, not the mountains) and followed the trails back down to the river, around the houses down there and then back UP the mountain. It was a brutal climb back up, my legs were BURNING! It was great. Hopefully I'll be able to walk tomorrow. I think I definately went over 5km but maybe not quite 10km. Ok, so I'm watching the news right now and they just did a story on how they're warning Canmore hikers about the increasing number of grizzly bears on the trails right now! YIKES! Apparently there's more grizzlys this year than last! Maybe I shouldn't have been out on the trials by myself today expecially with my IPod blaring. Hmmm. At least it was a fairly well populated area.

It's official...

I've decided to become a runner again. I used to be pretty good, back in the day, when I was 12, but my glorious running career was cut short by bad knees and too many other things to do. So I decided to give it another try. When I was a kid my Dad and I used to do 5km "fun runs" all the time and my mom would give me a dollar for every minute that I beat him. Well now my Dad is a marathon runner and oh how the tables have turned! So I went running twice last week and could barely walk after each time but getting started is the hardest part and the first 5 runs are bound to be brutal. I had good intentions to go more than twice last week but ended up going on a hike last Friday and then with my ear infection this week...I kind of fell off the running wagon. It was a gorgeous day today, not a single cloud in the sky, warm and sunny and it inspired me to go running. My knees were screaming at me for the first 5 mins but once they warmed up it was all good. I was only out for about 30 mins today but that was enough. I'm hoping that after the first 5 runs I won't feel like puking and having a heart attack after 30 mins. Haha. I can already feel my calves tightening up and my knees aching and I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow but I'm determined to keep at it until it stops hurting...here's hoping that one day it will!