So. A new plan have we. Erin is going to lose 10 lbs. Before I've said I would get in shape, but now I have a goal. Hopefully I can stick to this, unlike all my other promises.
Here's my complicated plan:
I am pretty confident on the food side of things, but I am concerned I won't do the workouts. With two contracts, plus the family, plus the move, I always feel like I don't have enough time. However my health is quite important so I simply must make the time.
I have a radical plan on how to manufacture some time...quit wasting it. Christine and I have realized that most of the shows on TV are crap. Most of the shows we watch we download anyway, so why even have cable? Therefore we are going to reduce our package to just the basics, plus sports. We will watch less TV and our kids will watch less TV, which are both good things. The non-TV time will be reading time, exercising time, stretching time or working time.
Let's see how I do!
]]>I am totally excited about our new house and we spend our free time on the computer looking at decorating ideas. We love Armstrong Flooring and Benjamin Moore sites that have interactive colour choosers where you can change the colours of walls, floors and cabinets and see how it looks in a room. I was planning to paint Elise and Daniella's room the same as it is here because I LOVE the colour scheme (white with a raspberry red accent wall) but Elise informs me that she wants a pink room. It's the Fairy Party vs Jaguar Party all over again. The room, I think, will be pink. sigh.
I had a dream last night that we took possession of the house but there was a computer glitch and the tenant hadn't been informed and was still living there. The funniest thing was that we walked in and started painting before we noticed all her furniture. I opened a closet and saw her coats in there (including a santa costume --WHAT???) then we looked around and all her furniture was there and everything. WHAT???? Too funny.
I'm looking forward to tearing down a few walls and gutting the two bathrooms. Erin had a great idea to make our small ensuite (not complaining about the size..it has a bathtub so it's not THAT small) into a wet room and I think that would be so a la mode! I had a funny idea when I woke up today (always get my best ideas in those first few minutes of peace) to have a 1980's themed house warming party. Everyone get out your leg warmers!
]]>We are going to see a house tomorrow afternoon that looks really nice; however its price just came down so we don't know if they are incented enough to come down to where we need them to. Assuming we like the place, we plan to tell them, this is the highest we can go, we have no subjects (well, just the inspection), can we deal? If they say no, we will buy our original house and move in on Dec. 1st.
Some exciting times indeed.
]]>I've been planning a fairy birthday party for Elise pretty much since the day she was born. I am a big believer in all things make-believe and fairies are right at the top of the list. I just love the idea of them...beautiful dainty creatures watching us from trees in the forest.
Anyway, I've been planning this party for three years and this was going to be the year. I got fairy wings from my dad's drama class, had great fairy tea planned with little fairy sandwiches, flower sushi (ah the advantage of making california rolls yourself), magic wands made of fruit. There was going to be a fairy make-over station where all the little girls could don their wings, have their nails painted with glitter nail polish and then they would go and make crowns and wands. The piece de resistance was to be a treasure hunt in the enchanted forest across the street from our house. I was going to use lots of twinkling fairy lights to set the mood. I made the invitations with a fairy on the front that looked like the fairy princess being invited to the party (nerdy, I know). Put fairy dust inside and mailed them in the post to our invitees. Elise even picked out the cupcakes in our cupcake book.
Then...woe is me...we were watching Diego and Baby Jaguar was to start the Jaguar party by growling. Elise turns to me and says "I want a jaguar party!" "Oh yeah," says I. Well, for the following couple of weeks I tried to get her back onto the fairy themed party. I even offered to do both parties since one of our invitees wasn't able to make the party and said we could do a Jaguar party with Bella the next day. Each time I mentioned the fairy party, without fail, Elise said "No mama. I'm having a jaguar party. I only want one party and I want a jaguar party."
Not wanting to be one of THOSE parents who lives vicariously through my children, I officially changed the theme and started searching out jungle party ideas.
Today was Jaguar Day. I used green crepe paper streamers and curling ribbon for vines on the ceiling in the entry way and dining room. Green tissue paper leaves on the light over the dining room table and the walls in the entry way as well as long brown paper with smaller leaves stuck on. In the corner of the living room was the Jaguar Spa, a long piece of blue wrapping paper hanging from one of our speakers with blue curling ribbon stuck to it and white and blue tissue paper crumpled at the bottom to create a water fall. Some green streamers and ribbon for more vines around the water fall as well. I must admit, the decorations looked pretty cool for $10 worth of paper and ribbon.
As the kids came in, we played The Lion Sleeps Tonight on the stereo and Elise greeted them all with a "Mrwawrwaaaaw!" They then proceeded to the Jaguar Spa to have their claws painted whatever colour they wanted, a pink nose, whiskers and spots with eyeliner pencils. I made them all ears out of paper and hair bands. We had a glueing and cutting project going at the table and they just all played for about an hour. Then we went to the "jungle" across the street, each armed with a map to follow to rescue a baby animal. Along the way they found envelopes that contained a couple of facts about the animals they were rescuing. The animals were beany babies and I got an ostrich, iguana, kiwi bird, beige bear (Kermode Bear!), and anteater. I bought a special jaguar stuffy for Elise but she insisted that she didn't want to look for a baby jaguar, she wanted to look for another animal so she got the anteater and Daniella got the jaguar which made everyone happy. The kids really enjoyed the animal rescue and were extra excited to learn they got to keep their rescued animal.
Then we came back to the house for lunch (california rolls, turkey sandwiches, Edamame beans, chips and cupcakes). I had bought some cool jungle animal cups, plates and cutlery at Walmart. I made cupcakes for dessert. Most of them were decorated green with bright candies on them but there were "Jaguars" hiding amongst them-one for each of the kids who, of course, all chose green ones!
Elise opened her presents (Aqua Doodle from Lydia, Jungle print pants and shirt from Samantha, Dora card games from Julian, Calico Critters bedroom set from Tess, and a croquet set from Grandma and Grandpa).
It was a great party and I'm writing this now because Elise is conked out having a nap.
Oh, P.S. Daniella is having a fairy party when she turns two--before she has an opinion!
]]>The past three years has been incredible for me as Elise's mother. I am so fortunate that I get to stay home with her and watch her grow into a beautiful girl. In my most positive mother moments I take credit for her good and happy nature. She has excellent manners, goes to bed easily and doesn't throw many tantrums. As many people tell me, she is an absolute delight.
In my "bad mother" moments, I chastise myself for losing my temper, nagging her to do as I've told her, or just saying the wrong thing. For example, threatening that they'll send her home from preschool if she doesn't stay dry only to have her repeat the same days later, long after I'd forgotten I had even said it. (well, in my defense I actually thought a little push like that might help her over that last potty training hurdle). Man, I stayed awake for hours that night feeling guilty about the effect my simplest words have on her. (incidentally, I told her I was wrong about the sending her home from preschool thing after I went to the parent night on Thursday! Whew! Crisis averted)
We are both really looking forward to preschool starting on Tuesday. Elise turned three yesterday and when I told her it was her birthday and she is now three she said "Three years don't use suckies anymore" as she put hers up on the counter (twinge...) "Now I get to go to preschool!"
Elise is still on the quiet side which I must admit works really well for me. She gets a bit overwhelmed by too many people and too much noise but likes small groups and is not shy by any means. She loves going to the park and picking berries on the path in the woods across the street from our house. At the park she loves to climb and balance. She likes Daniella ok but is a bit afraid of her since he tends to pinch and bite (who could blame her?) but they are starting to play together and enjoy making each other laugh. The other thing she is really into right now is playing with small things like the dollhouse furniture at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
She loves to do things by herself. We get through the day, especially at meltdown times, by giving her choices to get her to point B. For example, if I need her to get dressed I say "would you like to pick your clothes or shall I?" My favourite answer to that question, by the way, is "Shall you."
She doesn't like dogs or cats (though she doesn't mind looking at them she's just a bit afraid of them). She also doesn't like peppers.
Some of the funny things she says include: "I'm not coping very well" "I prefer..." "I fancy a snack" "I need nuuuuuvv" while pointing with her two little hands "I want some nittle bit milk"
I have absolutely loved Elise's two's and I certainly hope her threes are just as much fun (though I've heard that sometimes it's actually the terrible threes) We'll see but at least I know it will be an adventure every day!
I love you, Elise. Happy birthday my beautiful girl.
]]>
My career is taking an interesting turn also. When I got laid off, I got a "temporary" contract doing development for a former colleague of mine; not my ideal role, but one that allowed me some breathing space while we figured everything out. The intent was that I would look for full-time work while I was doing the contracting. Funny thing happened though...I started to like the working my own hours from home; I enjoy the flexibility and the freedom. Not sure I can go back to 9-5, especially if it involves a commute. That, on top of a slow job market, has meant my transition back to full time work has been slower than expected.
The upside has been I am well on to my way to getting a two more contracts, both of which will be doing thing I like much better, like sales, pre-sales and business analysis. I am continuing to look for full time work but I am not sure how it is going to turn out.
Anyhoo, back your regularly scheduled programming...
]]>At home, we played in the pool in the back yard for a while, then vegged on the couch watching tv and eating freezies. After dinner we all biked to the nearby water park and played for an hour. Elise the Adventurer finally got up the courage to run through an overhead sprinkler--amazing!
Needless to say, the girls went down pretty easy tonight!
]]>We didn't want to do much, so just wandered around doing what ever struck our fancy and ate WHENEVER WE WANTED!!
Day one was Pike Place Market, Belltown, Thai Ginger and The Dark Knight.
Day two started gloriously late and we didn't get going until near 11am! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. We started with lunch (suggested by some guy coming out of the building we were sitting on) in Pioneer Square, then went on a fabulous underground tour. From there we headed out for 3 great hours walking around the Museum of Flight. If you like planes at all, you owe it to yourself to go to this museum. We left after 3 hours, but could have stayed longer, if only our heads could hold more information. We finished the day at The Pink Door, a fabulous recommendation from our Underground Tour guide.
Our last day was a quick trip back to Pike Market for pictures and some food.
We had a great time, the kids had a great time. We simply must do this again!
]]>Answer: Buy a house!
Assuming we get what we want for our house, we will be moving in Oct/Nov into our new house!
This house has an amazing suite and a decent backyard. The inside is circa 1987, but we can fix that gradually as it is in great shape!
The best part is that it is about a 2 minute walk from our current house!
We must be nuts, eh?
]]>We are contemplating fixing up the back patio as well; it looks like the most cost effective solution will be to replace the crappy, ugly, broken, uneven paving stones with matching 10mm aggregate, remove the rotting wood spacers, acid washing the other two aggregate slabs, then sealing the whole lot of them. That will give us a nice, nearly new surface to work on and we plan on getting rid of the ugly awning and replacing it with something nicer and moving the awning to be over our sliding door. Then once we get rid of our patio set (we don't use it and it is hard to store) and get our new fancy, schmancy BBQ, we will have a calming place to admire our pretty garden and some space for the kids to play.
On the work front, both Christine and I are really enjoying me working at home. I am going to try to start work early and then take a break in the afternoon to spend time with the family (so Christine can take a break), then pick up work again in the evening once the girls go to sleep. I have also started working out again and plan on doing that two times a week. Working from home feels "right" to me and I really hope I can continue it when I become gainfully employed again. Regarding that, the contract I am on can be full time if I so choose, so we have no financial worries. It also gives me the ability to really find the perfect job (again), although I don't expect anything to happen until the fall as summer is slow and the American economy is lousy.
On top of all that, Christine's fitness business is starting to gain some traction and the girls are doing great, so life couldn't be much better!
]]>Wait there's more....
About a week after that we were at the park and Elise hurt her leg. She was tired so she was kind of whining about it for a while when I said "Aw sweetie is your leg still hurting?" and she said "Yeah...I have gas in it."
]]>Happiness is accepting all of the above
]]>I have many qualities that make me an excellent technical resource (to paraphrase a friend):
In addition, I keep up to date on all sorts of technical and industry news, which allows me to make quick and reasonable recommendations on a wide range of topics and issues.
I have a few questions about how to move forward with this:
1) do people need this? 2) if they do, who are "they"? 3) if I can find "them", are they willing to pay for it?
Sigh........
]]>And apropos of nothing, I put up our March pictures and I will work on getting April up tonight.
]]>1 11 21 1211 111221
What's the next line?
]]>First I got laid off last week. Then our car started to sound funny when accelerating and we may have coolant leak into the engine.
And tonight I think the 3rd thing happened...our kitchen freezer seemed to stop working. I hope that there was just something blocking the vents, but if not, then we need to get that fixed as well.
Sigh...
Update: fridge fixed in the morning...only $123. Next up, the car.
Update 2:Car needs a new engine...thankfully it will last a while longer
]]>As one might expect, I was a tad shocked at the sudden change...one day we are talking about my accounts and how we can move them forward, and the next I am given my walking papers! WTF?!?!?
I am quite disappointed on how this played out; I had great hopes for me at The Level. I have a million questions on how they let this happen, but none of that will help me now of course and it is time to move on.
Thankfully my social network came through, at least in the short term, so I have something that will keep me occupied for the next few weeks.
]]>Daniella has achieved all the milestones expected in the first year and is growing bigger and more beautiful each day. She is not walking yet but I expect that is due to the speed and efficiency of her crawling. Like her papa always says "that seems like a lot of work." I don't expect her upright anytime soon but I know when she does it, she will likely skip walking and move directly to running.
She is still waking once or twice a night which is frustrating but she just downs an 8 ounce bottle of formula whenever she wakes up so I know it's not just company she wants. Plus, she goes right back to sleep after a feed so as much as I'd love her to sleep through the night, at least she's not up for hours.
She has 12 teeth so only 8 more to go. She likes to use her teeth to eat anything that's going. She particularly likes avocado, yogurt, fruit and cheese but the latter causes her to become constipated so we have to refrain from giving it to her. She enjoys eating fruit in her safe feeder too.
To my delight, most people say she looks just like me and I have felt from the start that she and I are kindred spirits. In fact the other day I was at the drop-in gym and someone came up to me and said: "so I see you've succeeded in cloning yourself." Interestingly, we have a photo of my cousin Kimberley that bears a striking resemblance to Daniella as well. The Dencer is strong in her. Then again, people used to say Elise looked like me too and now she's looking more like Erin. They change so much.
She doesn't have any words yet but she has about 12 signs: food, milk, more, help, book, bath, diaper, bunny, dog, mouse, bird, and bug. When I'm reading to her she watches me to see what sign I'm going to do and she's at the stage where she can learn new signs really quickly.
What does she love?
What does she hate?
Anyway, this post is already getting way to long but ultimately it's for Daniella to read when she's older. I rewrote a song that I love from Rent in honour of her birthday. It's called Seasons of love and if you click on this link you can hear the tune on You Tube while you read what I wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj7LRuusFqo
525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In teeth cut, in haircuts, in feedings and poopy diapers
In inches, in pounds, in laughter, and smiles
In 525600 minutes-how do you measure a first year of life?
How about love? How about love? How about love?
Measure in love
Seasons of love.
525,600 minutes! 525,000 people to meet. 525,600 minutes - how can you measure the life of a baby girl so sweet?
In things that she learned, or in times that she cried. From rolling to crawling and the way that she tried.
It's time now to sing out,
tho the story’s just begun
let's celebrate Daniella who today has turned one.
Remember the love! Remember the love! Remember the love!
Measure in love
Seasons of love! Seasons of love.
A few friends I know have dreaded their 35th birthday. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I have everything I expected to have by this age: a happy marriage, a home that I own with my wonderful husband (well, I guess we share ownership with First National Bank), two beautiful children. I have a close relationship with my sisters, parents and in-laws and I have many good friends. How could I feel anything but great about this place in my life? I swear it just doesn't get any better than this (although I say that every year and every year just keeps getting better).
So what changes will I make this year? Well, it's actually an on-going project to be more present in the moment and be happy with what I have. I have always strived for more (more money, more responsibility at work, etc.) but it gets so tiring. We are down to one income and there will be many sacrifices over the next couple of years but I am glad to do it because I am the lucky one who gets to spend every day with my girls. Besides, for a while now I have wanted a new career and I am working towards that goal while I am staying home. I just completed my fitness instructor's course and next week I will be taking the written exam and getting evaluated as a group instructor so in about two weeks I'll be certified. I am already teaching a bootcamp and starting a mama's with toddlers bootcamp for some friends.
I also want to extend a happy birthday to three fellow March 31sters: Greg Fox, Jen Carley, and Silas Leske
]]>And so...we dawdle. I look again at Elise's big brown eyes and innocent little face that says "mama...what's the rush?" and thank my lucky stars she's with me and I'm with her.
]]>It turns out that at a "real" job, one must actually work all day! No longer can I work on my website or play Facebook Scrabble all day. Now I have to call people and research customers and write proposals and update my pipeline! Sheesh.
The good news is that I love, love LOVE my new job. I haven't enjoyed work this much since my days as a BA at Epic (early 2005). Jeff (the CEO) and the rest of the partners seem to make all the right decisions when it comes to running a company. Every time I ask a question about policy or the way things should be, I get an answer that I completely agree with. What a refreshing change. I am certain that something will come up that I disagree with, but for now I am still deep into the honeymoon phase.
Not only do I love the company, but I am truly enjoying my role. Sales at the The Level are at a very interesting stage right now. The sales group has gone from none (well the CEO) to two, we released a new website with some good messaging, and have some exciting stuff coming out soon. I am excited about the opportunities here; I really feel like I will succeed here!
All this work at work means that I have no time during the day to do errands and normal stuff and when I get home it is family time. Once the girls go to sleep (by 8:30) it is time to hang with the wife and attempt to do some household things. By 9 or 10 I am tired so I don't have time for anything that requires thinking. So I either just veg out or go to sleep.
So that's why I haven't been posting.
]]>So today I gratefully took my beautiful daughters to Charlie's park and wanted to take a moment to share this story with you as we should all be reminded once in a while to treasure even the trying times with our toddlers. They will outgrow this behaviour soon and we'll remember with longing the times that we watched our little ones playing at the park and simply wanting to be with us and to have our attention.
]]>I have been doing semi-regular backups, but the external drives was just sitting in our office. So, we have decided to change our process a little. Once a month I will do a full backup and store the hard drive in our safe deposit box. Then I am going to do daily backups either manually (which I will forget to do) or automatically via Time Capsule. I haven't yet convinced myself that the TC premium is worth it, but I am leaning that way.
What is your backup strategy?
]]>The quiet is lovely.
]]>She also went on our toilet which now has a flip up toddler seat on it so she can sit there without the threat of falling in.
]]>She earned five stickers on her potty poster by making it to the potty five times. She still didn't manage to get her panties off on time but she got there by herself and I haven't had to clean any messes off the carpet. Hooray!
The big "aha" moment came late in the afternoon when she hopped of the couch and sat down and lots of pee went in the potty (previously we had a lot of trickles) then when she was in the kitchen choosing her sticker, she suddenly bolted to the potty in the living room and landed a bunch more in her target. Way to go Elise!
But the best part of the day (besides all the hugs and smiles of pride on her face) was when she actually got a little poo in there too. She couldn't believe it and I've had a difficult time getting her to sit on the potty to do that (she makes a face so I can tell when she's going and offer her a seat each time which she has adamantly refused). Naturally this was cause for another great celebration.
]]>A trip to the pediatrician led to us having to supplement her diet with 800 ml a day of formula. I had a hard time emotionally with this. I felt like a bit of a failure that my breast feeding efforts were not helping her grow fast enough. I guess "breast is best"...except when it's not. Anyway I am getting over that and I am just happy that I can easily see that she is getting enough to eat. I'm looking forward to our follow up visit to find out that she is gaining enough weight.
The lack of weight gain hasn't caused any developmental delays. In fact, the pediatrician said she is quite advanced socially, very happy, bright and aware. She is crawling all over the place and learned to pull herself up to standing this month. Uh-oh! Time to lower the crib mattress! She also just started pointing. I have this little wave I do when I see my kids-I point my finger at them and bend it up and down like I'm waving with it. Now when Dee sees me, she points to me with this huge grin on her face. Besides pulling up to standing, her biggest milestone was learning her first sign: more.
Her favourite pastimes include: floor humping, playing with cables, putting things in (balls into the Fisher Price gum ball machine) taking things out, bugging Elise, getting "Smunched" (half smooch, half munch) under her chin, grabbing faces (ouch!), biting shoulders (ouch!), exploring the Tupperware cupboard, getting thrown on the bed by Papa, getting flipped by Papa.
The things I'll miss when she grows out of them: the way she scrunches her little nose and breathes in and out quickly-almost like snorting, the way she starts dancing (shaking her head from side to side) whenever she hears music especially the wiggle wiggle song, the way she lies on her stomach with her arms out to the sides like she's flying and kicks her feet together.
Daniella also had another first: her first plane ride when we went to California to visit the Daley's and Maclachlan's. She was a rock star. Didn't cry at all throughout the whole flight.
]]>So today I am trying in earnest to get her toilet trained using the method from Easypottytraining.com which requires that the you give them lots and lots to drink and wait for the action so you can catch them in the act and put them on the potty. Supposed to get the job done in 3 days but I expect that by having to deal with Daniella during all this it may take longer. My friend Charlotte wants to train her daughter too so we thought we'd gang up on them and trooped over here with her potty in tow so there'd be one each. Well, Bella had three accidents in the space of two hours and Elise didn't even pee once in that time. I didn't want to leave her side thinking the moment I leave the room is when she's going to pee then the learning moment is past. Anyway, eventually she did it but, to my surprise, caught herself in the act and came and sat on the potty herself (panties and all--oh well!) She had about three trickles in this manner over the next half hour or so so I think she was stopping herself from going completely but each time she started peeing she ran to sit on the potty. I consider this a huge success. Way to go Elise!!
That being said, while I was typing this, Elise got came out from her nap with her diaper on and pooped. sigh.
]]>Long time readers of this blog will remember that Christine and I have gone to see our good friends Nigel and Melody wherever they have lived. First we went to Boston in 2002, then France in 2005. Recently they moved to San Jose, CA, so to continue our tradition, we packed up the family and headed down to The Valley. As a bonus, our friends Dave & Jen live down there too, and we hadn't seen them in a while, so we hooked up with them as well.
It seems that every time we go see the Daleys our travel logistics get more complicated. The first time it was just Christine and I and we took the train from NY to Boston. The second time, we had a 7 month old and needed two flights to get there. This time, we had two kids (sheesh), but only needed one flight. Strangely, this last trip was the most complicated, mostly due to Elise. You see, when flying, a toddler must be in a car seat. Which means you have to bring one with you. In addition to the stroller. And the snacks. And books. And DVDs. And the diaper bag. Oh ya, and Daniella! It would have been easier to check the children and carry on the luggage!!!
Friday was a quiet day as Nige had to work and Claire went to her morning school. So we hung around at home until Mel had to go pick Claire up and then we went to the park beside the school and played on the playground and had a picnic.
Saturday we all (DLs, Daleys, MacLachlans) went to Happy Hollow for the day. Much fun was had by all.
We spent Sunday with the MacLachlans and Jen showed us her horse, Justice, and the ranch it lives on. Elise enjoyed the horses and the cow, Norman.
Monday was split into two, with the morning being a girls day out (they went shopping) and the evening being a boys night out (we went to dinner and played some pool). Not terribly exciting but it was fabulous just to catch up with everyone sans fiends.
Tuesday was the end of our grand adventure and we headed home with both children being rockstars again! Especially Molly, who endured many hours in the car taking Claire to school then coming back to get us, then driving us to the airport then going back to get Claire. Thanks Molly and chauffeur Mel!
And thanks to the Daleys for the their amazing hospitality and the MacLachlans for showing us a great time!
Where to next????
]]>I am nine months old now. I can't believe how fast the time is going. It seems like just yesterday that I was suddenly blinded by a bright light and pushed out of my warm little house into this big loud place. I've been spending these last few months of reconnaissance work exploring from the arms of the big people who inhabit this strange land. Now I have left the safety of my perch and am working my way around the joint on my belly arm over arm. It doesn't make me as dizzy as rolling although I still find rolling a lot faster to go greater distances. It's terrific because I can now go to see the nice pretty lady with the milk when she hides in the kitchen and I can get to the other little person to steal her sucky and anything else she has left lying about whenever I want. This amuses me.
Even though the local food is delicious, it's not terribly fattening. I got weighed today and discovered that I have now dropped to 5th percentile (still only 15 lbs 12 ounces) so I have to go and visit with a pediatrician in a couple of weeks. This has all the big people confused because I have chubby cheeks and rolls on my thighs so I LOOK normal. I come from a long line of small big people so I assume this is just genetics (including the rolls on my thighs--too bad about that.)
The entertainment around here is great. I enjoy music and can't help but bop to the beat whenever there is a catchy tune playing. My favourite is the Hokey Pokey but I like all sorts well enough. Not a big fan of rap though. I also enjoy being thrown on the bed by the hairy big person. He plays on the bed with me and the other little person every evening when he comes home. This pleases the nice pretty lady and the play time usually ends with everyone sitting down eating. I don't like riding around in the big silver box on wheels, especially after 4:00 p.m.
Speaking of eating, I do like the local cuisine as I mentioned before. My favourite dishes are chicken soup (made from scratch by the nice pretty lady), peaches, and cereal with prunes but I'll eat just about anything.
That's all for now. I'll keep you posted but for now it's Agent Daniella signing off.
]]>The groaning trencher there ye fill, Your hurdies like a distant hill, Your pin wad help to mend a mill In time o' need, While thro' your pores the dews distil Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dicht, An' cut you up wi' ready slicht, Trenching your gushing entrails bricht, Like ony ditch; And then, O what a glorious sicht, Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive: Deil tak the hindmaist! on they drive, Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve, Are bent like drums; Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive, "Bethankit" hums.
Is there that o're his French ragout Or olio that wad staw a sow, Or fricassee wad mak her spew Wi' perfect scunner, Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him ower his trash, As feckless as a wither'd rash, His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash, His nieve a nit; Thro' bloody flood or field to dash, O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis fed, The trembling earth resounds his tread. Clap in his wallie nieve a blade, He'll mak it whistle; An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned, Like taps o' thristle.
Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care, And dish them out their bill o' fare, Auld Scotland wants nae skinkin ware That jaups in luggies; But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer, Gie her a haggis!
]]>Quite the traveller, eh?
]]>However, I did not immediately begin to look for work. Instead I hooked up with a past acquaintance of mine, Emma Hamer, who had started up her own business. With her help, I went through an extensive personal and career analysis to help learn more about myself and figure out the types of companies and roles that suit my strengths and personality. During this time I explored several different industries and roles, including property development, law and retail sales. In the end, I determined that high-tech sales was the best fit for me at this time as it would require no additional education nor a large career change (which means a large risk).
We figured out that I prefer to work at small companies, where the roles are less defined and each person does what is needed to make the business succeed. I also need leading technology to maintain my interest, as I get bored really easy. And lastly, I wanted a sales role, not a pre-sales role. Once I determined all of that, I began to look for a fit. My main challenge was twofold: 1. I don't have much direct sales experience 2. I am unwilling to start at the bottom of the sales organization
You can see how this made things difficult, eh? I kept getting people say, "If only had more experience", or "Are you sure you don't want to start in an inside role?", or "I have this pre-sales role for you." Needless to say, finding a company that fit all those requirements AND one that would hire me for the role that I was looking was took some time. And in spite of all my contacts and networking, the company that I ended up with I found on a posting on T-Net! So much for, "It's who you know!"
I am extremely pleased to announce that as of Feb. 4th, I will be The Level's newest (and only!!) Account Executive! The Level is a young (3 years or so), small company with neat technology and a kick-ass customer list. They have a great view in Gastown and a great company culture, that includes the Tuesday Cook-off, where two people have to make lunch for the whole company, and Friday Beer Briefs.
I can't wait to get going!! I can't remember the last time I felt this good about a decision and this excited to start work!
]]>I am tempted not to fix anything for IE as it is a pain in the butt to code for a browser that doesn't support standards.
Anyhoo, I fixed it for now because it wasn't too much effort, but for all you IE users, I recommend a much better browser.
]]>First, how well I did last year with my predications? I got 3 out of 5 right, although those were the ones that would just happen, regardless of what we did; I did start at ACL, Christine did finish at TBC and Daniella did happen. The tiling didn't happen due to financial issues and we went to Kelowna instead of T.O. for our vacation.
So, what were the highlights of this year?
And my bold predictions for this year?
I wish everyone a great New Year and hope this year is even better than the previous one!
]]>I hope you are all enjoying time with your friends and family.
]]>Take a look around and let me know what you think.
]]>Well, on the 17th, I found out the Erin's main gift that I had ordered on-line (scrabble letter cufflinks--how cool is that?) was on back order and they didn't know when they would receive them. Since I had already had to tell him his birthday gift would be here in a few weeks (notice Erin's posting about his new Wii?), I didn't want to say the same on Christmas morning. So I had to come up with something else and quick!
I had a brain wave and found out that I could order it through London Drugs and it would be here later that day (5 sleeps). So I went to pick it up and it had a huge scratch so it had to be reordered and would be ready the next day in later afternoon (4 sleeps). I went to pick it up at 5:00 and it wasn't ready but the girl who did it would be doing it as soon as she got back from her break.
So today is Saturday (3 sleeps) really the day I wanted to avoid being at the shops and it is snowing!! Hard!! So unless it stops, I won't be going out.
Argh
But hey, the good news is that the Wii has arrived so I can pick that up today if we want it before Christmas!
]]>That's right, my wonderful wife managed to acquire a Wii!!! Woo HOO!!!!! Is she not the coolest wife ever?
The only game I know for sure that I want to play is Tiger Woods. After that some kind of driving game (Need for Speed maybe?) and I have been told Mario Galaxy is amazing. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
]]>This past year has, again, been a biggie: I started a new job and I got a daughter, amongst other things.
No big plans for tonight (unless Christine is throwing a surprise party for me...which is possible as she is quite devious, that little minx), just hanging out with the family and enjoying myself.
]]>The big news however, is the new photo gallery! I have switched the gallery software from Gallery to ExpressionEngine's built-in gallery module. The switch has allowed me to unify the look so that the gallery finally looks the same as the rest of the site. It will also allow me to turn on commenting so that my massive audience can comment on each photo. I haven't turned on commenting yet, but it will be soon.
Also, I have only tested this site in Safari and Firefox, so if it doesn't look good in IE, well, tough. Use a better browser if you want it to look good!
Let me know what you think and what is broken.
Thanks
]]>Everything should continue to work, but if it doesn't, please let me know.
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