Serena Ryder

A couple of weeks ago, the G-man and I met up with some of his old friends from Winnipeg ( he did a play there 7 or so years ago?) as they were in town to play back up for a new emerging singer - Serena Ryder.

I was all for meeting the friends but not too keen on enduring the emergence. I have a hard time getting behind music and singers that I'm not familiar with. Narrow minded I know but that's just the way I am. I've been disappointed and bored too many times not to be that way at this point.

From the FIRST moment this woman opened her mouth I was hooked. She is spectacular!!! A mix between Joni Mitchell and Janis Jopis (or the J ladies and I like to call them...). I know that combo sounds a little hinky but it really worked for this woman.

Here's a link to her site. She is truly going to be something, I"m sure of it. The recordings on the site aren't that great so when the CD comes out I'll post something for y'all to hear.

Monday Mornings.

My favourite part of Monday morning is checking out the PostSecret site. I find the people there so inspiring. Whether it's a good secret of a bad one, they're releasing them and I find that so brave.

My least favourite thing about Monday morning is realizing there are five full days before I get to sleep in again.

It's here!

Oh there's some good dirt over at Go Fug Yourself today. Make sure you take the time to check it out.

My phone's here! It's all very small and cute and two, count them two!!, different faceplates. I spent the majority of last evening programing and playing with it. At one point G actually said, "You love that new phone more than you love me don't you?" to which I replied "Of course not baby!" but we all know the truth don't we...wink wink!!

Here's a little pic of the new puppy!

I'll be sure to get the new # out ASAP!

Sidebar Stuff

I've added a new blog to the list to the right of "Other Blogs I Read...". Welcome to Jess from "Apropos of Something". Already I'm hooked as a daily reader. Check him out.

I've moved Ellen down the list because she's taking a sabatical from blogging right now. I hope she doesn't stay away too long. I miss her. I equally miss her beautiful pics of her daughter Anna! I hope all is well in Ellenland!

Some Exciting Tidbits

well...exciting to me at least.

I'm getting a new cell phone. I've had it with my current plan (currently shared with OAK, or KAK as I like to call her) and although originally I was going to leave Rogers on principle (they were Royal Jerks to us when my dad has his heart attack), I've signed up with them again only this time under my own contract.

The pluses in this situation are two...a)It's only $34 a month for 200 anytime minutes and free evenings and weekend. Work offers a "Employee Discount" that was too good to pass up considering that currently I'm paying close to $60 a month. I'm not even sure how many minutes my current plan has but it's $30 a month which isn't too bad but all the other "charges" are what gets me. System Access Fee?! WTF?!! ...B) I don't share a contract. This is the biggest plus in the never ending saga of my ongoing adventures with KAK.

I received confirmation that my phone has been sent so tomorrow I will happily inform both Rogers and KAK that, "I'm out!!". (not really with Rogers but you get my drift!)

Exciting Tidbit #2 - I'm back at the gym baby. A few reasons for this;

• Because I pay for it so I might as well go.
• It's good for me.
• We're in early negotiations for taking a trip somewhere hot & sunny in February and if I want to wear a bikini next to Rabs, I've got to get my ass to the gym.
• Finally, we're running a Biggest Loser competition at work to raise money for The United Way.

Participants buy into participation as well as collect pledges for every percentage point of weight loss they attain. I've gained about 15 lbs (closer to 21 but 15 looks better in writing) since the wedding so I'd like to get back to my toned and thinner hipped body so I don't feel so squishy on the Cuban / Mexican / Fijian shores.

The odd thing about this competition is that only people that stand to loose 20lbs MAX entered. There are some prime heart attack and stroke candidates on my team and none of them signed up. My boss thinks that it's because I'm the organizer and I'm "skinny". Could be. I was hoping that doing it in a group would make it more fun and easier to do. Oh well.

The Biggest Loser TV show inspires me so much that I can't help but do something with the lousy 20lbs that I want to loose. When I see people on that show losing hundreds of pounds I'm awe inspired and definitely motivated to get off the couch. (Well not right that moment of course cuz I'm watching the show but they next morning for sure!!)

Now I have two goals to keep me getting up in the morning and draggin my butt to the treadmill. Doing well in the competition AND a sunny beach bikini. The competition ends mid December and we're talking about taking the trip in February. So FIVE months baby! Let's see what we can do in five months.

New Format

Just a quick one to take note of the new format.

I switched over to Blogger beta and BOY are there lots of fun new things to do!

Let me know what you think!

J. O. B.

If those of you out there in blogland have been wondering (or even care) where I've gone, I'll tell ya...to work. Last Friday we did a calibration session for the team and I got to sit in, unlike at mid year when I was shut out in the cold. It was a peek into management's expectations of their teams. It was filled with terms like, "pushing the boundaries of their role", "thinking outside the box", "visible presence on the team", "changing the way we do business", etc and when I walked out of there, I felt like a bag of poop.

Since the end of July, I've been "just doing my job" and nothing extra. In fact there have been days that I really didn't even do my job, I just passed the time with point and click games. Because of this I felt incredibly guilty after the calibration session. Although they didn't talk about me specifically, every time they were talking about anyone, I was doing my own self assessment.

I was sure I was going to get a shitty year end review I was ready to take responsibility but promise a change going forward. Instead ...it went great. Really great. And the three things I am to work on aren't really things I don't already do well, their just things to continue to improve on. I'm pretty stoked and looking more and more on making a career out of this place. I started as a temp one year ago yesterday and I've got no intention of leaving. I'm evaluating where in the organization I see myself best fitting against whether I could learn what it takes to work in a "non-administrative" role somewhere on this team. Lots to consider and sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by the decisions I'm facing but I'm looking at the long term...the bigger picture here. I want a house. I want to own a house. Having this job will allow me to do that sooner rather than later. I'm back on the fence about having a family considering the events of the last year but having this job takes the "can we afford it" out of the equation at least.

So, if the posts aren't coming as often as you would like, I apologize. I'm over here working on my career!!!