Will my flight be cancelled or won't it? I'm about to head off to the airport to find out. It's been an interesting roll of the dice this morning as I got a call from a co-worker who lives up the street from me (and is also heading to this sales meeting in Atlanta today) and her flight has been cancelled. Thank god we're on different airlines. Heh. She's now scrambling and begging the airlines to get on my flight.

Yes, there is a giant storm brewing and I may be on one of the last flights out of Toronto.... keep your fingers crossed, and all going well I will be back home on Thursday. Have a great week everyone!

 
I spent an unspeakable amount of money on clothing and shoes today. I thought that my bank would freeze my card by the last purchase and check with me to make sure it hadn't been stolen by someone going on a spending spree. Yes, I spent *that* much.

This is highly unusual for me in many respects; first of all, I loathe shopping. I am not one of those girls who finds comfort in shopping when she feels the world has wronged her (unless it's buying a new computer, which always brings me joy). I shop like a man, and that is to say, that I shop with a purpose. I'm never one of those girls that likes to check out the stores on a regular basis to see what deals are going on. Nuh-unh, I go in because I need something. Period. And since I hate shopping I try to keep the instances of it to a minimum; that means if I actually find a pair of pants I like (which is NO easy feat, ladies and gentlemen!) I buy the damn things in every colour so that I can hopefully avoid pant-purchasing for at least a couple of years. Yes, I know how that sounds but I really don't care. Fashion is not exactly at the forefront of my mind, and given that I spend my work days traveling to various Home Depots, I don't exactly need to dress to impress.

After trying on pants after pants that I hated (read: hideous low-rise pants meant for scrawny girls of about 16 years old) I finally found pants that would not expose my underwear at the back, and not accentuate my belly flopping over the top at the front. I nearly wept for joy as they had the bonus feature of "stretchy" material embedded in there. I raised my eyes to the heavens and thanked the Gap gods for creating pants that met my needs. I then promptly bought 4 pairs.

I also went into Mexx to buy a sweet little pant suit number for this sales conference I have to go to on Sunday; there's an awards night and I need to dress it up a little. I have learned from awards nights-past that skirts and dresses equal freezing your butt off all night, ultimately ruining any chance of having fun. I am opting for a more comfortable yet fantastically adorable form fitting grey suit. Also picked up a satiny blue blouse to go underneath.... I'm lookin' like a hot mama! Always gotta go with the blue shirts..... brings out those blue peepers of mine and scores me the compliments without fail. Hey, if ya got it, flaunt it!

And to round out my atrocious spending I bought not one, but TWO, pairs of leather shoes.... suitable for business meetings and the like, while also being comfortable. One pair in brown, one in black, to suit all clothing choices. I never spend this much money on shoes, but I felt it was time for some big-girl shoes. Hopefully at this pricetag they will last a hundred years, furthering my goal of not having to shop again anytime soon. Did I mention how much I hate shopping?

I feel very accomplished. I even got the pants in the suit altered today so they fit my short little legs. So many birds with one stone! I am ready to rock the sales conference next week! Woot woot!

On a completely unrelated note, check out the bruise on my knee! I'm not even sure the picture does it justice (click the pic for a larger version) but let me just tell ya..... it HURT. I was leaping over a snow bank when my knee met with a metal pole (intended to secure bikes, if you need to lock it up) and made a stomach-turning *GONG* sound. The fellow I was with at the time had no idea what my problem was, thinking that sound was caused by my steel toed boots (which I was *not* wearing, but have been known to for work). Upon informing him it was actually my knee that struck the pole he realized the velocity with which I made impact and understood why I could barely string 2 words together (that would be the indescribable pain rendering me speechless). All I could do was bend over slightly and focus on not throwing my dinner up all over the streets of Toronto. Ever had a pain so bad you wanted to puke? It's unpleasant, to be sure.

When the pain subsided enough to stand upright again I limped on down the street to that bar where my brother and his band was playing, met up with a few of my friends, and had a great evening. The highlight had to be the drunken chap from England who kept coming over to our table and hanging off my friends while blathering on about everything from soccer to his divorce. Eventually we got the bar staff to remove him from the premises, as he became belligerent from time to time and we wanted no part of that.

Who wants to help me move next weekend? Any takers? Come on... .I'll supply food and drinks! Whatever ya like!

 
How do you like my dark sultry look? Oh so brooding.... oh so mysterious. Or grumpy, take your pick. I'm sick for the second time in as many weeks and I'm not altogether happy about it. In fact, I don't think I ever stopped being sick, I think my sinus infection just moved down into my chest. It's such a thrill to be coughing up nasty stuff instead of blowing it out my nose. Here's hoping the antibiotics I'm on will finally kill it. Saw the doctor tonight and she said to give it until Friday and if it was no better she'd put me on something else.

She also had my test results back from the nuclear scan they did on my liver and so far things are looking good, relatively speaking. It looks like the mass is benign but my doctor is still stumped as to what to do from here; should we do a biopsy? should we treat it? how? In other words, she's sending me off to a specialist now to decide what our next step is. *shrug*

Meanwhile I am still riding the high of having better than 20/20 vision (thought I'd put a happier picture of me up to illustrate the fact). Man alive, that laser correction was one of the best things I ever decided to do, and a month later I am still grateful every day for my newfound sight; I still have moments of awe in which I look around in amazement and appreciation for what I have now and what I can see. The world is a different place, and I am happy to see it in whole new way. I once again urge anyone considering it to go for it and do it. If you have any questions drop me a line and I will happily tell you how it went for me.

What else....?
I'm stressing about the next few weeks.... on Sunday I catch a flight to Atlanta for a week long sales meeting. I'd be excited about going somewhere warm (as there is a blizzard clobbering us right now as I type) but it's not like I see much outside of the hotel walls. Apparently we are going to see the world's largest aquarium there which is said to be beautiful, but not sure I'll get a chance to see much else. We shall see.

Anyway, I return on the Thursday and then need to more or less move out that weekend. Did I mention that I haven't started packing? *gulp* I mean, I technically have until noon on Feb 29th to move out, but that's a Friday, and anyone that I might hope to enlist to help move all my stuff will be at work.... so that leaves me the weekend before. And thus the stress. Did I mention I haven't started packing yet?? Arrrrrrghhhhh!!! I'd blame my cold/infection but that doesn't get my boxes packed, so.....

Before I go, can I just tell you how much I love technology? When I was in Israel for 3 months in 2005 my mother was happy that we were able to have webcams on while we typed away in MSN Messenger. She was happy she could see me "live" even if the video images were a little choppy. As she put it, she could at least count all my fingers and toes and see that I was in one piece. But tonight I had my first video call online with my good friend Craig, over in England. Hell, I didn't even know if my webcam HAD a microphone, and not only did it have one, but it worked too! I was thrilled to lay eyes on him for the first time in 2 years and we were able to talk through our webcams with very little lag time, both in audio AND video! No more expensive phone bills! *sigh* It was so great to see him again, and finally Messenger has proven itself to be a useful program on my computer. Linking friends across the globe, ladies and gentleman!

Ok, I leave you now with one last picture...... I took it this morning as the sun was coming up. Beautiful, non? As always, you can click on the picture for a larger image, so you may get the full appreciation..... enjoy!

 
I saw an ad on tv just now. It was all about illiteracy and how one can only go so far in life without the ability to read and write. Good stuff, I agree that it's important... but then the commercial ends with narrator saying : "when you're ready to take the next step, look under "learn" in the Yellow Pages".

*scratches head*

What now? You want someone who can't read and write to go into the phone book and look up a word? Hey, I have a heck of an idea.... how about providing a phone number instead. You know, some kind of 1-800 number where the person on the other end could perhaps direct the person to help in his/her area.
*shrug*

Anyway, yet another wicked storm goin' on in the Toronto area right now making me none too excited about heading out. I'm going for my liver test this morning, so cross your fingers for me. Nothing like being injected with a little radioactive dye in the morning to kick your day off right!

 


Ok, so you might not know my bestest friend Princess Blondie and her husband Bruno, but I think you may still find this video interesting. Technology has come a long way and now you can get a look at a baby, in utero, in 3D! It's amazing to watch and I felt privileged to be a part of it, as "Auntie" celestial blue. The baby will be arriving on April 9th and I will be there fighting my way to the front of the line to hold him!

P.S. anyone know why that second picture appears underneath? Blogger is doin' something funky there and I can't figure out why....

 
What's worse than snow? (see the snow storm from the other day in the post & picture prior)

When I went to bed last night I heard thunder and lightening.... the weather had been warming up. And today I woke up to this.... fog! And lots of it! You'll note in the snow storm picture from the last post that you can actually still see a bit down the street and the flag across the street. Not so much in the fog. Here's hoping it clears up before I hit the road...

 
1) I didn't go to work on Friday, I'll give you three guesses why. 2, if you use the clue on the left there (click for the larger image if it'll help *wink*. that was taken from my balcony). Yikes! This has been the craziest winter in the Toronto area, ever! I know the world thinks Canada is always under a foot of snow, but I'm telling you Toronto doesn't usually get it too bad... uh, until this winter it seems. I'm thinking mother nature is none too happy with what we're doing to the environment and now she's lettin' us have it. Consider us spanked this winter.




2) I am still upset about the news of Heath Ledger dying. I am in full denial and feel complete melancholy for him as if I knew him; I know it's absurd, but his movies made me laugh and cry and all those others emotions an actor hopes to invoke in you with a performance. He had a promising future and I mourn what we will never learn he was fully capable of.





3) Tomorrow I go for my 1 month follow up appointment after my corrective laser eye surgery on Jan 3rd. I am very excited to hear how the healing process is coming along. Once again, to anyone considering it I say GO for it. It's not nearly as scary as you think it will be and it is worth every penny. No more hiding my pretty blue peepers behind glasses! (I have had even MORE compliments on my eyes in the last month, than ever! I think it's because they are smiling now! :-)

4) While I was on "vacation" for a week and a half in January (getting my eyes fixed) I also went and had an ultrasound done. I have been complaining about abdominal pain for the longest time (and I mean years) and with my belly button giving me problems yet again (I had a hernia repaired about 7 years ago) the doctor sent me out for an ultrasound to investigate. A week ago I got a call from the doctor's office that she wanted to speak to me about the results. *gulp* I went in on Thursday and she informed me that there is a "mass of interest" on my liver about 4cm x 4cm x 2cm (1.5" x 1.5" x 1"). That's not exactly tiny and they would like to run all kinds of horrible tests to figure out what it is. Ask me how excited I am about this (not very, would be my answer). Interestingly, I recall someone mentioning seeing it while doing an ultrasound on me just before I got my appendix out, but they didn't seem concerned then, so neither was I. 10 years later it's apparently big enough to be of concern. Great.

I have not told my parents, as my mother would *freak* out (we've only lost most of our family to cancer, so she's pretty paranoid about such things). I'd rather get some answers before I cause her any worries, so we'll see what the first round of tests tell us and hopefully I won't need a biopsy. Keep your fingers crossed for me gang, I'll let you know how it goes.

UPDATE: My mother now knows (she asked about my ultrasound results and I'm not a very good liar) and my appointment for the first round of tests is set: Wed Feb 6, 9:45am (EST). Can hardly wait..... the concept of "nuclear medicine" doesn't sound troubling at all! lol Go ahead, inject me with radioactive fluid, I don't mind!

5) Lastly, it's worth noting that I will be moving out of my beloved apartment of 2 years at the end of the month, and back in with the parents. I have been toying with this idea for quite a while and have decided I am rather tired of paying nearly $1400 a month in rent and would rather be putting that towards a mortgage. So I am going to save up for a while and all going well, I will buy my own place by the end of the year. *fingers crossed* While I absolutely adore my parents and we are very close, it was still hard for me to agree to move back (they have been offering for ages now!). I like my independence and all, and even if there is an endgoal in mind it's still a pride issue for me..... feels like coming home is admitting defeat, or like I have my tail between my legs. I know it's not when I think about it rationally, but still.... I've been on my own a long time. A girl gets used to parading around her home nekkid. *wink*

Anyway, I'm getting excited about the idea now as I begin the process to get pre-approved for a mortgage and start the home search. I decided late last year that 2008 was going to be MY year... thus the eye surgery and my moving home with the parents. I have lofty goals and I intend on reaching them. This is going to be an interesting year......