A Wednesday Morning Funny

WAL-MART SENIOR GREETER
 You just have to appreciate this one.  Young people forget that we old people had a career before we retired......
 

Charley, a new retiree-greeter at Wal-Mart, just couldn't seem to get to work on time. Every day he was 5, 10, 15 minutes late. But he was a good worker, really tidy, clean-shaven, sharp-minded and a real credit to the company and obviously demonstrating their "Older Person Friendly" policies.

  One day the boss called him into the office for a talk.

   "Charley, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang-up job when you finally get here; but your being late so often is quite bothersome."

   "Yes, I know boss, and I am working on it."

   "Well good, you are a team player. That's what I like to hear.  

  Yes sir, I understand your concern and I will try harder.

   Seeming puzzled, the manager went on to comment,  I know you're retired from the Armed Forces. What did they say to you there if you showed up in the morning late so often?"

   The old man looked down at the floor, then smiled.  He chuckled quietly, then said with a grin,

"They usually saluted and said, Good morning, Admiral, can I get your coffee, sir?
   

Recipe Success

When your husband emails you and asks you to make another 2000 of these for the freezer, so that he can eat them all the time.  You might have found a winner....   Thanks Jenna!

Photo Credit

Floor Tiles Stress

Tomorrow morning, we have the much anticipated Interior Designer appointment scheduled.  Since we decided to build this house, I've tried very hard to keep in mind kitchen and bath cabinets and back splash and floor tile colours when I watch anything on TV, go to anyone's house, peruse a magazine etc...  I've even asked nicely for Pete to drive several loops around the community to see all the different stone colours for the exterior of the house (I'm terrible at seeing the "big picture" from a small sample).  So far, Pete and I have been really good at agreeing on the cabinet colours and even the counter colours, but I am really worried about the floor tile situation.  Lucky for us, we aren't suppose to paint for a year so those decisions can wait!

Let's just hope I don't walk into my house and regret anything....  Thankfully we have a professional helping us to pick.

Kitchen colours... however, with more "warm caramel" tones in the counter

Bathroom cabinet colour... maybe with a white counter though

Giveaway Friday

Because everyone loves a good giveaway, especially when it involves something delicious :)

Spa....

This spa may have just saved my sanity.... They make all their own scrubs/masks/moisturizers from proper organic and natural ingredients and even have special treatments for preggos - how fantastic!

Thank you Peppermint Organic Spa!

If you happen to be in the Ottawa area, check them out.

Best of my life

We joined some friends for a Mother's Day Afternoon tea at the MacKenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park.  Besides being surrounded by the beauty of the Park, for the former PM had some lovely stone "ruins" erected for his enjoyment - and now ours...

The estate is also home to the most delicious scone I have ever had the chance to taste.  If you happen to be in the Ottawa area and are looking for a lovely afternoon in the woods, make sure you pop by for a cup of tea and the world's most delicous scone, you won't regret it!

Four things Friday

1. I desperately want a bike so that I can bike the canal all the way to Parliament and see the Tulips, Kath bikes all the time and rarely uses her car… I'm jealous - plus the price of gas is terrible these days….

2. I miss my friends in Calgary terribly… email is nice, Skype is better but they both pale in comparison to visiting face to face - and tea o'clock is beyond fantastic when you can share it with some pretty fantastic people.


3.  More on #2, my next visit to Calgary (7 July!) will be epic… It's Pete's first Stampede, my first in 3 years (Yahoo!), and the last time I'll be in town until next year… Newborns + a new house = Linda has to stay in Ottawa for a bit.

4. This is my first summer since 2007 where I won’t be elsewhere training… I was in Victoria in 2008 and Quebec City for 2009 & 2010 - I will forever miss the 400 stairs up to the plains of Abraham… perhaps I'll roadtrip it up and see some friends that will be there for a few weeks.

Royal Quiz

I am ashamed to admit that I am not doing very well on this quiz.... yikes!

Things I've noticed lately...

• Sliced tomatoes with salt sprinkled on them is an acceptable and delicious dinner
• I no longer crave chocolate :(
• Changing your uniform at work causes a lot of ruckus….I've had more people stop to talk to me today than ever
• Apparently afternoon tea is all the rage… when Pete and I lived in Victoria, we would partake once a month - haven't done tea in Ottawa yet, perhaps during the Tulip fest we'll find a cute tea house
• I love that my new city has a festival dedicated to Tulips
• After growing up in a very Conservative city, and having the PM as my MP, I think I've actually changed my tune for this next election
• Baby furniture / accessories are rather expensive
• My job is very Excel heavy - somehow this is really exciting to me.. I guess I'm a closet Excel geek

Epidemic

So it seems there is somewhat of an epidemic going on, first here, then here, also here, even here and a good number of my facebook friends are also signed up - so I thought what the heck, why not?

I'm speaking of course about babies…

I've been married for over a year now… lived in the same location as my husband for only 4 months (that would be thanks to different military postings) and am currently 3.5 months pregnant.  Yep, correcto-mundo - the Sands family is growing by one in October. 

The thought suddenly hit me on Wednesday when I was staring at the fuzzy black ultrasound screen watching a teeny tiny baby (8.8 cm long) move around, kick his/her legs, open and close their mouth and generally live it up inside me - what a bizarre concept.  I did have a few symptoms but nothing that really made it hit home until I saw that image, which is now of course up on the fridge and greets me every time I walk by.

I'm so lucky to have a husband that is beyond excited and has already begun chanting "Go Leafs Go" to my tummy (I had to marry a Leaf fan - ughhh).  Plus a fantastic family of in-laws who live close by and are ready to help in any way - it also helps to have a sister in law who is a soon-to be nurse and adores babies (jackpot!).  The plan however, so far is a bit off kilter when it comes to dates - Pete goes away on training Sept to Nov, Baby S comes in early Oct, and the house is ready mid Nov…. But hey, that’s how we roll apparently - never a dull moment for us.

Giveaway - Sony W series Walkman

Because everyone loves a good giveaway....Also, if you are into running (as most of you are I suspect) check Laura's running blog... full of all sorts of neato stuff.

Weekend Update - a day late...

Since my last post, life has been quite busy with the new, new job. My life
still has some "Devil Wears Prada" parts to it, I no longer fetch coffee
for people, and act on their every whim. However, I do work for another
"strong female personality" and everything that entails. Luckily, I
have others in the office to balance that out. My new job puts me back
in uniform - hallelujah for not picking out a "work outfit" every
morning, and goodbye to bad hair days. Plus, my health benefits are back and
my pay went up, and I wear combat boots to work everyday (except civie
Fridays of course).... I love being in the military.

In non-work life, Pete and I have been busy visiting friends - more
people swung through Ottawa these fast few months, and a few repeats!
As well as been busy visiting family - all the in-laws came up and we
went down - more visiting to come at Easter :) We also started the
"house building" process. We meet this evening with the builder to
finalize our floor plan changes and then later on, another meeting to
pick out the finishes inside. We've been told several times how
flexible the builder is regarding moving walls and changing parts of the
house - for free! As long as we don't change the "structure" we are
good to go. Hopefully we'll end up with a house that has all we need
and isn't as cookie cutter as the others in the neighbourhood of the
same model.

This past weekend Pete and I were able to sneak away for a mini holiday to Mt Tremblant. I had visited once before with a friend from Montreal,
but hadn't spent much time seeing what they had to offer. This time, Pete was able to find a great hotel located right on the main square (at the foot of the ski hill - check the view). When we got to our room - read: condo suite - our living room windows opened to the square where they had a big outdoor concert happening. I felt a bit badly for telling Pete that I thought the room was even nicer than our apartment- then even make you a gourmet hot breakfast in the morning! ! If only we could
bring it all home with us! After exploring the ski hill shops, we ventured down on the other side of the lake to the "village" for dinner. We opted for Italian (can't go wrong with Italian) and ended up having the best Spaghetti Carbonara of my life! If you do go to Mt Tremblant, try the Resto Ital Delli!

Back in Ottawa, and back to reality we are dealing with overcast skies and thundershowers.... At least April showers bring May flowers... or at the very least, Tulip festivals :)

Six Things Saturday

Because it's all the rage...

1. Microwaved Grapenuts cereal is delicious, and amazingly fast to make and eat, as in overnight oats with yogurt.
2. Rome and Spartacus are my newest TV addictions, also Rogers on demand is great for catching The Big Bang Theory when you are at work every Thursday night
3. Having your bestest military friends just happen to be attending conferences in your new city for a week and a half is amazing and I wish they could come back more often! (fingers crossed for February!)
4. Living along the Rideau Canal is fabulous and beautiful... my husband makes good housing choices in my absence
5. The Devil Wears Prada has now become my life
6. I actually do miss seeing my in-laws every week - good thing they are visiting this weekend!

Life as an Ottawan - Month 1

Things have progressively gotten better since moving here, meaning that we are finally on the homestretch to changing all our addresses, and my ID into my new married hyphen name (yes, I am one of those people... ) and my new province.  Truth be told, this was one of the most heinous things I could have done.  I have ended up swearing profusely at the Ontario government for their ridiculous procedures and rules, and becoming terribly depressed when I had to hand over my beloved and treasured Alberta licence to the evil women at the Ministry of Transportation.  I just wish that Ottawa could be it's own entity, like Washington DC - because honestly, it's better than Ontario and it really shouldn't have to be part of the craziness that this province is... pardon the Anti-Ontario sentiments... but I really, really miss Alberta.

In any case, it's Friday and I for one am THRILLED that I am *this* close to finishing the work week.  The new job (onto week 3 now!) has slowly become the norm, the office and it's people have become more familiar and I think I narrowly avoided a "Devil Wears Prada" moment with my boss and the other office ladies... fun, fun times.  Navy work has been interesting too... just got to the new unit, already was called out on parade to accept something for a department I didn't know I was in charge of, found out that the former Divisional Officer didn't do hardly any work, and I've inherited a mess - plus we have an inspection in 2 months - awesome!  Guess I get to put in some overtime after my day job to straighten out the mess.  But hey, extra money is always nice to have, and the experience is welcome.

Last week was a whirlwind of two jobs and friends in town and staying over.  Luckily, all roads lead to Ottawa when you are in the military, and for this reason we generally have friends in town every month.  This month many happened to come into town the same week.... so we were kept busy playing host and visiting with people each evening.  This week was much quieter on the visiting front but busier on the work front.  Tonight, however, the in-laws are arriving tonight for a quick weekend visit.  They are bringing up some armchairs for our living room (the blow up mattress just isn't cutting it anymore) and Pete's wonder road bike and a spinner so he can cycle indoors.  We plan on showing them the lot and the model house for our newest acquisition, delivery date to be November 2011!

Resolution Run

To kick start our 2011 fitness goals, Pete and I are heading out to do a quick 10 km down the gorgeous Rideau canal before celebrating with friends tonight..... and yes, we will be sporting these matching awesome orange jackets (exactly as shown) - What an awesome way to end off the year!  Happy New Years Everyone!

Note: After the super mild weather of late and the rain from last night, the snow has almost disappeared... makes for much easier running!

A Holiday Quiz

Thanks to Lu for the link on this one....

Pete and I scored 29/30 - but I think we need to re-watch a few of the films... good thing we are going to the In-laws for Christmas tomorrow!!

Life as an Ottawan - week 1

I am pretty confident in saying that week 1 as a resident of Ottawa is officially a success.  I've:

• had 3 job interviews;
• created a bedroom;
• set up the dining room;
• shopped at Ikea;
• got a free military gym membership at the YMCA;
• spent 6 glorious days with my husband hanging out in our first home together (a sort-of Honeymoon - just a year too late);  and to finish it off
• made several lovely dinners in my kitchen.  

Although, the apartment isn't quite as amazing as Kensington Palace, in fact, it is quite possibly one of the smallest kitchen's I've ever seen :(,  but at least it's a kitchen, and I can make my own food - that alone makes me happy.  The bathroom is now our "project" - it needs some serious caulking work, happily though, after my marathon cleaning session, I can now barefoot it on the floor.  My bedroom is the one awesome - no work needed room - we bought ourselves a lovely fancy tempurpedic bed and with it decked out in my flannel sheets and down comforter, we sleep like babies!  SO amazing... and warm!

We still have to get a couch and a tv - might not happen for a while though, neither one of us has a proper full time job yet, and really, the internet can function as a tv for a while.  Besides, isn't your first apartment suppose to be near empty?

The area where Pete found our place is quite awesome.  We have a Tim Hortons, Italian grocery store, BMO, Shopper's Drug Mart and MacDonald's across the street.... so far, the grocery store has been a god-sent, especially when the roads are awful and we can just pop across the street for dinner.  In the summer it will be even better - Moody's Bay is nearby and the canal has lovely running paths.

I was chatting with my mom the other day and she reminded me of a time, 9 years ago when I was living in Montreal and visited Ottawa.  She recalled that I told her " I LOVE Ottawa, I want to live there".  This prompted me to recall a plan that KQ and I had, once upon a time in University - we planned on moving to Ottawa to find government jobs.  That then led me to think of the visits to Ottawa over the years.... when I visited Pete for the first time in Aug of 2008, and the many many times we've returned to visit, to get engaged, to get married (one year ago on Sunday!), and finally move here for good.  Almost 10 years in the making - wow!

And now for some pictures of my best day in Ottawa...

Adult Truths

A colleague passed this onto me this morning and then I forwarded it on, and thought to share it here - really quite entertaining, so without further ado, I give you:

Adult Truths

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die. 
 
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong. 
 
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. 
 
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font. 
 
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? 
 
6. Was learning cursive really necessary? 
 
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood. 
 
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died. 
 
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired. 
 
10. Bad decisions make good stories. 
 
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day. 
 
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again. 
 
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to. 
 
14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. 
 
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well. 
 
16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay. 
 
17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option. 
 
18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. 
 
19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said? 
 
20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters! 
 
21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever. 
 
22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is. 
 
23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time. 
 
24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important. 

THE Question

More often than not (since Pete and I were married last year) the topic of having children comes up between a colleague and I.  At one point he even told me that he KNEW I was pregnant based on how I acted and looked (for the record I was training for a half marathon and thought I was looking quite svelte).  He thought himself the expert on the topic as he, himself has 7 children, and was able to predict the pregnancy of another co-worker before she knew!

Needless to say he was wrong, but has kept at the questioning and trying to impart child rearing wisdom upon me at least once a week.  Today was an examination of my age and a comparison with his life - apparently when he was my age, he already had 4.... I've tried to express my frustration at constantly being questioned but to no avail - thank goodness my last day is Friday.

I know this happens to a lot of women around my age, and especially newly married ones - but seriously,   who thinks this line of questioning is appropriate?  Has anyone else had this happen to them?

A connection at last!

I've been stuck on base for the last few weeks and haven't had any decent access (besides at work of course) to a reliable internet connection, or a decent Starbucks for that matter.  Being stuck though means that I haven't had the chance to post - until now.  Luckily, I ran into a friend in the hall who mentioned he found a connection to use - yay!  

The countdown has run its course, my post it note on my desk reads "1", this of course can only mean that my time in Borden is almost finished, my last day is on friday and then I'm off to Ottawa.  Pete has already found a nice apartment for us to live in while our home is being built.  To date we have a blow up mattress, a yoga mat, some dishes and a frying pan and pot - very minimalist.    Since I began my military career, I've moved around a bit and consequently have tried to pare down my belongings, carting around things that I don't have much of a need for it tiresome.   I've succeeded somewhat in riding myself of extra bits, but on my last trip home I went through my pile of belongings and realized that I still have a great deal of "stuff".  The sad thing is that most of it will remain in Calgary until we do have the house and can actually accommodate all the furniture that I've acquired.   Until then we are trying to be minimal in our purchases but some things are pretty essential.  A bed for one, was needed - neither one of us had anything close to a bed since we've been in military accommodations, and luckily Pete was able to come down for the weekend and we managed to find a bed and mattress.  It should be delivered on saturday, just in time for my arrival ;)

Next up, a table - this one really fills two billets, a desk and a place to eat dinner.  Ikea has a few inexpensive options that will transition into the house nicely.  Secondly, a couch would be lovely.  I know I have living room furniture in Calgary but we can't survive a whole year without somewhere comfortable to sit (and guests to sleep on).  And finally, a dresser - again, I have one in Calgary, but the house has more than one bedroom and it too can be used once we move from the apartment - Ikea has a few options to fit the bill.  I've said it once and I'll say it again, thank goodness for Ikea!  I should look into stock options for that company, heck, why don't I get a job there... blue and yellow really bring out my eyes ;)

In other news, what's up with this "lake effect" weather I ask you!?!?!?  Since Sunday afternoon, we've had almost a metre of snow - walking to work, albeit only a short jaunt in nice weather, has recently turned ugly. I stepped out of my building this morning and sank past my thighs into the snow drift - fun! Walking in that kind of snow is exhausting - but hey, it's a good workout.  I've been told though that apparently we are due for at least a good 40cm more tonight / tomorrow and then another storm on the weekend. At least is isn't -40, that would be heinous.

Alright, it's time to sign off, must get ready for another fun day with the recruits - Ciao!