25 Random Things

"Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself. Then, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you."

Hmmm, 25 things about me, tagged 3 times, lets see how I do....

1. My trip to Las Vegas in November was my first real vacation in 6 years. Saturday I will be leaving to Mexico for a week :)

2. I'm extremely competitive and for me to keep going, sometimes you have to let me win. But you'll have to do in a way that I don't know you're doing it, otherwise I'd be mad.

3. The events of 2006 have changed my life forever. I learned the most lessons in 2006/2007 than I ever have and am thankful for the wakeup call and experience

4. I love animals, big or small, hair or no hair. I even make Ryan escort spiders or bugs out of the condo without hurting them. ( Mosquitos are the only exception)

5. I never do one thing at a time, I'm always doing 5, sometimes it shows in my absentmindedness.

6. I have a real tough time sitting still, I need to be doing something I deem constructive at all times. 1 hour tv shows are torturous to me. Yet I can sit for 3 hours and play Fable 2....

7. I really enjoy volunteering. I'm doing the 24 Hour Relay again for Camp Easter Seals this year and am having a great time fundraising and planning for it. It's a great cause.

8. I donate to the local SPCA every month. It's a cause I feel strongly about and it's a way I can help.

9. I live with my 2 best friends, Ryan and Bunnyrat, I couldn't be happier.

10. I find technology interesting, but I've lost a little bit of my passion for it. I have a hard time doing it on my own after work. On the other hand, I do what I like at work now, that would be too much at home as well.

11. I'm goal driven. I had a list of things to accomplish before I was 25. I did all of them except for 1. Now I have a list of things to accomplish before I'm 30 and am glad to report I'm on the right track.

12. I'm very close to my family. I miss not seeing them as much as I used to.

13. I want to do lots of travelling and have found a perfect partner in crime to do that with, and a job that will allow it.

14. I don't really like shopping. It may seem like I do but I don't. I don't mind clothes shopping or window shopping, but any other type, I make a list and I get in and out as quick as possible. Sometimes I don't mind the thrill of the hunt for the best deal...

15. I love summer, beaches, pools and the lake. If I could combine those in some sort of way so I get paid, I would be overjoyed.

16. I love exercise. I can't sit still but if I go to the gym or for a swim or a bike etc, I can get myself to settle down for a bit after, like now.

17. Most of my friends are women now. A couple years ago I had way more guy friends than I did girl friends. I learned my lesson the hard way and am happy the way things turned out.

18. I love the CBC, I like the TV channel, I love the news website, I love Radio 3 and the Galaxie radio channels. I can't get enough.

19. I believe that everything happens for a reason and have no regrets for anything. It's all part of something bigger than me.

20. I sometimes forget to take care of myself. I put everyone before me. A good example is I've made sure Bunnyrat is fed in the morning, I make Ryan a sandwich for lunch in the morning and then I forget to make myself one, or I forget mine on the counter.

21. I have a celeb crush on Ben Affleck and have no idea why.

22. My right foot is bigger than my left foot. It's sometimes hard to buy shoes :S

23. My legs are insanely long for a person of my height and torso abnormally short. I usually have to go to a bigger center to buy pants.

24. I hate the radio. Or radio stations in Saskatoon anyways. I find it sexist and offensive most of the time. Yesterday one of our stations was playing "Which celebrity was breastfed" Come on! I prefer listening to Talk Radio.

25. I love music. All different kinds. I'm not a huge fan of the Top 40, but I love rock music.

Puerto Vallarta!

It's +28 in Mexico right now, I added the weather to my google desktop. I can see that it's -33 here and +28 in Mexico side by side now. 5 more days!!!!!!

Deep Freeze

It's cold out! It was nice for a little while, I was walking to work, but now it's just frigid!

At work we had to write a 3 sentence biography for ourselves and then get our pics professionally taken. We had the photos yesterday, I'm curious to see how they turn out. Bunnyrat is in mine :) Ha, ha, ha. Well some people brought their dogs to have in theirs, I thought there was nothing wrong with having a rabbit in mine. Bunnyrat was so good for the photos too! She sat still for a good 15 minutes, just let out a couple huge sighs, but that was about it. She got lots of treats last night.

Ryan and I decided to try Keo's in it's new location. We both loved the Phad Thai at their old location. We went we ordered the same thing. When we got the food, they only brought one dish. I called the waitress back over and had to explain that yes we both wanted our own dish of the same thing, as in 2 of them. It took her a while to understand. We're doomed at restaurants, I swear. But the food was still good, even though they charge $6 more for a dish now than they did in their old location :S (50% rate increase, really!)

I'm looking forward to the weekend. It'll be a nice break, I've been working my butt off a little too hard lately.

At Peace

Sorry I haven't updated lately. Everything is so calm and peaceful that there's not too much to write about.

I'm counting the days to Mexico, I'm going to Puerto Vallarta with my Mom and Aunts and Uncles and cousins. I've never been anywhere tropical, I'm looking forward to it.

It's been super cold here, I have a little bit of cabin fever. Today was the first nice day in a long time, I took a walk etc. It was nice to see the sun and get a good stretch.

I messed up my shoulder good. I might have to go to the chiropractor. I thought it might loosen itself but it's not happening. I'm on a "get fit for Mexico" rampage and maybe I overdid it a little. I'm swimming every Tues and Thurs evening. I really look forward to it all day. I love the pool, it doesn't feel like work and my times improve phenomenally every time I go. I'm waiting to hit a plateau but it's not coming. Which is cool, but probably bad for my shoulder :( I'm also running 3 miles 3 times a week. I've found a cool audio book which is entertaining. "Getting Past No and Negotiating in Difficult Situations" I don't know why I get so enthralled with these for runs. It's entertaining and takes my mind off the running part. Treadmills are boring after the first 5 minutes.

Work has some pretty cool projects that I'm excited about. I stayed late almost everyday this week and barely noticed it as work. How many people can say that? I was integrating payment gateways into our e-commerce solutions. They were all fun and man, can I go on a rant about paypal. Paypal is not your pal.

Ryan's got hockey this weekend. I like how we have our separate activities. It's really nice and keeps everything interesting. I dunno what we'd do if we were like those couples that do absolutely everything together. That'd get kinda boring wouldn't it? Don't get me wrong, we do lots together, it's just nice to have some time with friends.

I was thinking about going to Regina, but I have too much to keep me busy this weekend. I started the Twilight Series and I really really need to do laundry. I know, I know, not much of an excuse, but seriously, I'm on my last pair of underwear.

Shannon and I started doing Sat morning coffee which I enjoy, it gets me up and out and about early! Also nice because now that I don't work at Vecima we don't chat as much and I miss that.

I also started Fable 2 for Xbox 360. As much as I have a hate on for RPGs, I really really enjoyed it. It's fun. I had to laugh that my purchases at the mall today were Fable 2 and New Moon, the 2nd book in the twilight series. Once a nerd always a nerd?

I could go on a rant about the Twilight series too. I like vampires and I like teen novels. But this one is a little different. I don't necessary like the characters and I think the premise is quite weak, but I can 't stop reading them, if not just to complain! I guess it's fairly well written and an easy read, and some part of me must enjoy it to continue on in the series. Maybe if I were 12? I dunno, but it's an interesting journey anyways :)

That's all from me, same old same old :)

The Reflective one

I've been trying to sit down to write a reflective post but am having troubles.

2008 was an incredible year with everything that happened. Bunnyrat, new job, new boyfriend, new job, travel, vacation planning. It truly was fantastic. I don't know how far I can get into it.

I finally feel comfortable in life and comfortable in my own skin and I think it shows to others and through my accomplishments. My home continues to feel more like home, it's so cozy. Ryan kinda informally moved in this year. One day we were talking about moving in, I said it was too soon, and then he just never went home. It kinda happened, ha, ha. I enjoy it though, we help eachother. It's a new concept to me. I'm used of being the caretaker, but it's nice to see it in return and I can continue to do it without become bitter about it. It's nice. My place is getting a little small for 2 and all our stuff though.
That will be a challenge for 2009. A house would be hard to take care of if you want to travel yet condos are cramped. The 2009 challenge!

I'm impressed with how I've done with work. I was thrown into management and it was a little 'sink or swim'. I think I'm treading quite nicely now. I've made some big mistakes, but I think I'm making up for them. It doesn't help that the personalities of programmers are a little different than most people, but I think I'm doing okay and continuing to improve. I actually kinda miss work when I've been away for a while, which means I don't hate it, I must enjoy it. Plus everyone at the company is a great person, that helps lots.

Vacation, my first vacation since 2002 or 2003? Ryan and I went to Las Vegas. It was awesome. I like travelling with him. Well except for the part where he told me I could bring more goods across the border than I had and it being the opposite! I was a little nervous about that. But I look like an honest person, right?

I finally saw the Foo Fighters this year. I've wanted to see them since I was 14. They lived up to all the hype, it was absolutely amazing for the show and the company included. I'll never forget it.

Bunnyrat has been a great addition to my family this year. I have her trained pretty well, she's litter trained and doesn't really shed. She's super excited when I come home and if I'm chilling out, she's right here, either thumping her foot at me for attention, or stretched straight out, resting, and thinking I'm staring at her. Just don't leave her out of her cage while you're at work. Lesson learned.

In the new year I want to continue my swiming and the gym, save up for a trip to Europe, fix my living space problem, celebrate Toni's bday in Vegas, challenge myself at work, eat better, you know same old same old. I've surrounded myself with positive people who support me and care about me, anything is possible this year :)

New Year's Quiz

1) Where did you begin 2008?:
A small party at my place playing wii.

2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?:
Newly single and mad at boys. Toni and Enobong were my Valentine's last year.

3) Were you in school anytime this year?:
No way! I'm done with that.

4) How did you earn your money?:
Many a way, I was a software developer at Vecima, then I was a Senior Software Developer at St Solo, and now I'm the Manager of Software development at St Solo.

5) Did you have to go to the hospital?:
Once and I didn't even get to see the Dr! I waited for 6 hours at night in emergency with a bladder infection. Finally I went home drugged myself to sleep and went to minor emerg in the morning.

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?:
Yeah, there was a drunk guy trying to get into my condo one night, I had to phone the police. I phoned Ryan to come over too, I wondered why both were taking so long. Apparently Ryan knew the police and they were visiting in the lobby.

7) Where did you go on holiday?:
Christopher Lake, Pasqua Lake and Las Vegas.

8) What did you purchase that was over $1000?:
Nothing, taxes and insurance and a vacation for next month.

9) Do you know anybody who got married?:
Too many to name! It was the year of weddings.

10) Do you know anybody who passed away?:
not this year I don't think.

11) Did you move anywhere?:
Nope I stayed put, and someone moved in.

12) What concerts/shows did you go to?:
The Foo Fighters! OMG, they were so amazing! I love Dave Grohl. We also saw Cirque Du Soleil in Vegas and lots of free shows there.

13) Are you registered to vote?:
Yuppers, you can't complain about the gov't if you don't vote!

14) Who did you want to win Big Brother?:
That's still on?

15) Where do you live now?:
Downtown Saskatoon by the river. I love it so much.

16) Describe your birthday:
Lake party of course! Dave wrapped a hotdog in beef jerky, professor Barb attended, it was good times.

17) What's one thing you thought you'd never do but did in 2008?:
Go to Vegas

18) What has been your favourite moment?:
There are too many. This year has been full of favorites, best year ever.

19) What's something you learned about yourself?:
I need a pet! Bunnyrat has been one of the best additions this year. I should of done it sooner.

20) Any new additions to your family?:
Bunnyrat!

21) What was your best month?:
March was the best month I think. They were all good

22) What music will you remember 2008 by?:
I don't know there wasn't really an album that grabbed me this year.

23) Who has been your best drinking buddy?:
Ryan, ha, ha

24) Made new friends?:
Lots with a new job and the frisbee and ball teams.

25) Best NEW friend?:
They're all great

26) Favourite night out?:
The night at the Overdrive in June with the girls was fun. Well Ryan, Brant and Steve were there too. Ask Brant for his rendition of "I kissed a Girl"

27) Three people you've dated?:
Darrell, I went on some dates with some people I met online and then Ryan.

28) Have you kissed any of the three from #27?:
Only 2

29) Did you kiss anyone of the same sex?:
Not this year

30) Something you're looking forward to before 2009?:
2008 is gone now, I'm too late

31) Where will you start 2009?:?
In Toni's trailer with my wonderful boyfriend, friends and drinks :)