Friday, July 27, 2007

Mornings Part Deux

Just arrived at work, fresh from the gym - yep, that's right Eleni and I are super stars now - but last night I had a thought.... As Ronnalie and I sat watching our movie - G.I. Jane - I started to feel quite scared... the last time I went to basic training my friends decided to have a movie night for me, turns out we watched G.I. Jane. Good movie, but if you are about to go through military training it scares you a bit. Granted, I am not going through SEAL training, I'm not sure that I could in fact do that, but I am doing Basic again which means pain, exhaustion, mental breakdown and the like. But here's my big secret - I am quite scared, I scared that



a) I'll get hurt again

b) I won't be mentally tough enough to stand Hell week again

c) I won't be physically ready to endure 9 weeks of hard labour, including swimming - because I don't know how...

and d) Because new situations are hard to deal with - and yes I am aware I put myself through this all the time every time I leave for Europe.



In any case, I know if I don't do it now I'll regret it forever and that is never good.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Mr. Potter

Ah yes, the fifth installment of our beloved Harry and the gang has arrived (in movie form that is). I went last night after hosting a study party chez moi - funny though I left them there as I took in a movie.... I don't think they minded, Eleni and Katherine seemed quite content to watch So You Think You Can Dance - looked like a good one actually....I kind of sad I missed the ending.



Anyhoo, went to see the late show, at the Imax in Chinook (ps - I highly recommend the Imax experience with HP5), and we even got 3D glasses for the last fight scene... very cool!! During the movie though I felt uber sick, stomach pain and the like.... needless to say HP5 wasn't as cool as it certainly could have been as my mind was somewhat preoccupied. Cam even asked me several times if we needed to leave - but in true HP stylle I perservered and got through it - and it was worth it, although I think the movie could have been about an hour longer....

This morning however wasn't nearly as fun as it was suppose to have been. I flaked out the gym with Eleni because I felt like garbage, but ended up feeling worse because I didn't go - tomorrow for sure though, I promise.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Mornings

The last two days my good buddy Eleni and I have been up bright and early (5 am to be exact) to better ourselves... by swimming... now, granted - we can't really swim, well I can't really swim, Eleni is pretty good at it in fact, but needless to say we are not the strongest in the pool.

Now, I've decided that I need to know how to swim - I am sure that there will be a swimming component to my reserve training, so I might as well start - not fun I tell you! I think my big problem is that fact that I cannot for the life of me keep my legs horizontal - they always seem to drop down so I am almost walking on the bottom of the pool with my torso horizontal - funny to picture I am sure. Anyone have some suggestions?

The very best part to these little escapades though - is - the fact that when I get home after work I can chill on the couch and I won't feel like a blob if I don't do very much... granted, that is if I had a free night to actually chill... last night when I could have become a couch parasite I in fact srubbed my kitchen down, re-arranged my shelves - including the growing mountain of Stabucks Coffee Packages that now inhabits my top shelf... cleaned out the fridge, cleaned up the recycling in my storage room (which I dropped off this morning after swimming), washed the floor, cleaned the bathroom and sorted out my piles of random papers, bills, letters, cards etc etc and flopped into bed at 10:30... wow, I feel so adult - yikes!

Anyhoo, I think it's Tea O'Clock, ta - ta for now!

Monday, July 23, 2007

End of an Era

Yep, it's that time, things have definately changed - in many ways.... Not quite sure that I can handle all of them just yet - but we'll see how it turns out....

Firstly, My last day at Job #2 was saturday - with a follow up farewell dinner at Tandoori Hut in Kensington - thanks again guys, it was fantastic... not just the dinner, but the 3 years.....

Secondly, Harry Potter - As I arrived home from my last time closing up the store, I ripped open the mailbox, joyfully took out the newly printed copy of The last adventures of Mr. Potter... and tore open the package as I entered my apartment.... I finished it late late in the evening and proceeded to go through Potter withdrawl - something I've experienced many times over - not fun at all!

I waaas going to say something about the book, but for those of you who have not finished it yet, I won't spoil it at all - that would just be mean!

As for other changes, well we all know, and we are all unhappy, but life is as such and I shall deal.

Friday, July 20, 2007

The Return

Aha I am back.... yeah, I know I suck, I have been quite lazy this last month. Not sure why, but not to fear, I am back and ready to entertain.

I suppose I should update you a bit, not too much to note, I quite Job #2 finally.... it had been a long time coming - I hadn't been to pleased with my environment, in addition to the fact that every saturday I awoke with a groan and seriously decided calling in sick...not my style to say the least, so I would go in purely to visit with my friends. Sooooo, in true Spencer style I quit, tomorrow being the last day, and have decided to perhaps give the reserves another shot. I mean , if I have been thinking about it every day for 8 years - maybe I should do something about it when I am still young enough and have spare time to kill - as we all know how bored I can get.

I had a great meeting with one of the recruiters at the Harry Hays Building and to be quite honest, I felt so enthused after my chat, now all that is left is to go wild at the gym for a good month and take my tests.. easy as pie!

What else... ummm, well my move to broker team isn't as fun as I thought it would be - I don't really work with anyone my age - save for Katherine, and she is great - but the others are older, always warm, and go out about 15 times a day to smoke... not to mention they use me as a secretary even though I might have more education than all of them combined... but whose keeping score?

Oh, I just remembered......I am completely addicted to a show called The Unit - again in true Spencer style it is military, special forces military, but it also has a family component - the wives... so in order to fuel my addiction I watched the whole first season in about 2 days... I am a freak, but I love it - and I desperately cannot wait until the second comes out (25 september) or the third one starts (also this fall)... In the meantime I am stuck watching the few choice episodes that CBS runs not on their regular night of tuesday, but rather saturday - which really quite messes me up... I am usually home tuesday nights, but almost never home saturday nights.... oh dear, what is a girl to do?

In any case, that will have to hold you all for the time being.... I'm off to clean the house....


Oh, oh, one more thing... my fav little person stopped by on tuesday night for a sleepover - accompanied of course by mom and dad - Cynthia and Aaron... it was great - thanks again for the visit....

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Top Ten Reasons to Live in Canada

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA…
1. 2010 Winter Olympics - champagne tastes on a beer belly budget.
2. Vancouver: 1.5 million people and two bridges.
3. The local Whistler hero is a pot-smoking snowboarder.
4. The local wine doesn't taste like malt vinegar.
5. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is just 5 hours from downtown.
6. A university with a nude beach.
7. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations.
8. Great place for avalanche training.
9. There's always some sort of deforestation protest going on.
10. A drunk driving premier - setting a good example for all British Columbians… a Ralph Klein wannabe.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA…
1. Big Rock between you and B.C.
2. Ottawa who?
3. Tax is 7 percent instead of approximately 200 percent for the rest of the country.
4. The Premier is a fat, alcoholic who is easy to make fun of.
5. Flames vs. Oilers.
6. Stamps vs. Eskies.
7. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of.
8. You live in the only province that could actually afford to be it's own country.
9. The Americans below you are all in anti-government militia groups.
10. You can attempt to murder your rich oil tycoon husband and get away with it.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN…
1. You never run out of wheat.
2.There are no curves or hills on the highway.
3. Cruise control takes on a whole new meaning.
4. Your province is really easy to draw.
5. You never have to worry about roll-back if you have a standard stick shift.
6. It takes you two weeks to walk to your neighbour's house.
7. YOUR Roughriders survived.
8. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours.
9. People will assume you live on a farm.
10. Buying a huge John Deere mower makes sense.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA…
1. You wake up one morning to find you suddenly have beachfront property.
2. Amusing town names like "Flin Flon" and "Winnipeg".
3. All your local bands make it big and move to Toronto.
4. The only province to ever violently rebel against the federal government.
5. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes.
6. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter.
7. You don't need a car - just take the canoe to work.
8. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood.
9. Because of your licence plate, you are still friendly even when you cut someone off.
10. Pass the time watching trucks and barns float by.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO…
1. You live in the center of the universe.
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump.
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election.
4. There's no such thing as an Ontario Separatist. Separate from what? You are the centre of the universe.
5. Your grandparents sold booze to the States during Prohibition.
6. Lots of tourists come to Toronto because they mistakenly believe it's a cool city.
7. The only province with hard-core American-style crime.
8. Much Music's Speaker's Corner - rant and rave on national TV for a dollar.
9. Baseball fans park on your front lawn and pee on the side of your house.
10. Mike Harris: basically a sober Ralph Klein.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC…
1. Everybody assumes you're from a different planet.
2. Racism is socially acceptable.
3. The only province to ever kidnap federal politicians.
4. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbour will move out next.
5. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada.
6. The FLQ.
7. Your hockey team is made up entirely of French guys who can't skate.
8. The province with the oldest, nastiest hookers.
9. NON-smokers are the outcasts.
10. You can blame all your problems on the "Anglo bastards".

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK…
1. You are sandwiched between French morons and drunken Celtic fiddlers.
2. One way or another, the government gets 98 percent of your income.
3. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies.
4. When listing the provinces, everyone forgets to mention yours.
5. The economy is based on fish, cows, and ferrying Ontario motorists to Boston.
6. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick.
7. You have French people, but they don't want to kill you.
8. Everybody has a Grandfather who runs a lighthouse.
9. Just as charming as Maine, but with more unemployed fishermen.
10. You probably live in a small seaside cottage with no television.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA…
1. The only place in North America to get bombed in the war by a moron who set ammunitions ship on fire. (Halifax Explosion).
2.The province is shaped like the male genetalia.
3. Everyone can play the fiddle. The ones who can't, think they can.
4. If someone asks if you're a Newfie, you are allowed to kick their butt.
5. The local hero is an insane, fiddle playing, sexual pervert.
6. The province that produced Rita MacNeil, the world's largest land mammal.
7 You are the "only" reason Anne Murray makes money.
8. You can pretend you have Scottish heritage as an excuse to get drunk and wear a kilt.
9. The economy is based on lobster and fiddle music.
10. Even though it smells like dead sea animals, Halifax is considered Canada's most beautiful city.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE ON PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND…
1. Even though more people live on Vancouver Island, you still got the big kick-ass bridge.
2. You can walk across the province in half an hour.
3. You were probably once an extra on "Road to Avonlea".
4. This is where all those tiny red potatoes come from.
5. The economy is based on fish, potatoes, and CBC TV shows.
6. Tourists arrive, see the "Anne of Green Gables" house, then promptly leave.
7. You can drive across the province in two minutes.
8. It doesn't matter to you if Quebec separates.
9. You don't share a border with the Americans, or with anyone for that matter.
10. You can confuse ships by turning your porch lights on and off at night.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NEWFOUNDLAND…
1. The poorest, drunkest province in Confederation.
2. If Quebec separates, you will float off to sea.
3. In the rare case when someone moves to the Rock, you can make them kiss a dead cod.
4. The economy is based on fish, seafood, and fish-related products.
5. If you do something stupid, you have a built-in excuse.
6. You & only you understand the meaning of Great Big Sea's lyrics.
7. The workday is about two hours long.
8. You are credited with many great inventions, like the solar-powered flashlight and the screen door for submarines.
9. CBC sets time in terms of you being on the half hour.
10. It is socially acceptable to wear your hip waders on your wedding day.