11 randoms

i just realized that i was tagged by kristen at inspired by dooce and it is perfect timing as i am sitting in a hotel lobby in accra waiting for a driver to collect me to transfer to another hotel (because as much as i love Villa Monticello where i have spent the last two nights, it is a bit pricey for me to stay for the next 3 nights i have in ghana and this was a birthday gift, a most wonderful birthday gift!)


i am not going to tag other people because as a Bad Blogger, it would be a bit rude of me to expect others to complete this, but i love lists, i love reading random things about other people, and i like answering them.  so if you do answer any of kristen's (or nicole's, who i don't even know) questions, leave a link as i'd love to read them!


11 Random Things about Me
 1. i have really big feet for being only 5'2"
2. my sneezes are loud.  so loud that people often comment on them.
3. i love taking long haul flights alone, i find it is a great time to think, catch up on reading, listen to music, be alone.  i hope they never introduce wireless to the flights i take as i think it would ruin it for me as i like being disconnected.
4. i live with a general level of anxiety that would probably surprise most people.
5. i am not very good at watching tv, i have to be doing something else at the same time, reading a magazine, looking at the internet, or talking (which apparently annoys some people!).
6. i love running outdoors, but sometimes struggle to motivate myself to do it.  but i don't like running races as there are too many people and too much pressure for me (which could be linked to #4 above).
7. i live in monrovia, the capital city of liberia.  i suppose that isn't too random to most people that i know as i have been here for 4 months now, but i suppose it could be considered random because what is a canadian girl doing living in a small west african country??  i moved here to live with my boyfriend is the answer. 
8. i don't know what i want to be when i grow up and i wonder if i will ever know.  instead of trying to figure it out, i think i will try and focus on accepting it and seeing it as a positive rather than a negative.
9. i would like to do a phd one day.  and recently, i may have come up with an idea for a research topic.
10. i went on a solo vacation to spain about 7 months ago to figure out my life.  apparently that meant starting a relationship with someone i already knew who came from the uk for a mini break and moving to liberia a few months later.
11. i have spent 4 birthdays and 3 christmases in africa. 


Nicole's Questions
1. How many languages do you speak? What are they?
english and spanish and that could likely use some refreshing.  i wish i spoke french and have tried to learn it, but never consistently and regularly.

2. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
the side that is closest to the wall currently, but if i had it my way, i would sleep diagonally and take up the entire bed with 4 pillows arranged in a 'v' around my head.  yes, i have given this some thought and have developed a system that i prefer.

3. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
i would like to think a bit of both.  i like to get a start on my day, but i also love sleeping until about 9 if i can.  i tend to be rather productive in the evenings if i am not too tired from waking up too early.  what i do know is that i need my sleep so if i am up early, i am down early and vice versa.

4. What's your biggest time waster?
the internet and tv when i have it


5. Mac or PC?
mac. i converted about a year and a half ago and love it (and my ipad and iphone!)


6. Can you drive a standard transmission car?
you bet and i have never owned a car that wasn't manual, i prefer it.


7. Where did you go on your last trip?
i am on right now in accra, ghana.  and before this one, it was to dar es salaam, tanzania.


8. What's your favourite game (board or video)?
i like all board games that i have played (but i have 2 rules when playing: if you are not playing the game (mom!) then don't help anyone playing and if you start a game, you should finish it!), but i really like scrabble and anything that involves groups of people and lots of laughs.


9. Did you play any sports growing up?
when i was wee, i played soccer then i figure skated.


10. What's your favourite number and why?
22 and i am not sure why.  i like things that are even and i like that 22 divided is 11 and 1 + 1 = 2 and so on.


11. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
i would like to live in london, bangkok, cape town, berlin, dar es salaam, nairobi...  i think the more interesting part is where i will end up living in a year's time.



Kristen's Questions
1- When you're in a job interview, what do you use as your "weakness"? (you know, the weakness that you can turn into a positive somehow)
i don't like to delegate things to other people and i like to have control over all aspects of the work that i am involved in.  to be honest, i am not sure i would ever phrase it like that in a job interview, but if i did, i would say that it is because i have high expectations that my work will be delivered to a high standard of quality and on time.

2- What is your favourite food?
i am not sure.  i love macaroni and canned tomatoes because it is a comfort food from when i was kid, same with a roast beef dinner.  i would like to say that i have a favourite food place and that is san sebastian, spain. so if something can come with the quality and deliciousness of san sebastian, i will love it.

3- Why did you start blogging?
i was living in the uk studying my masters degree and it was a good way to keep in touch with friends and family back home without sending out the mass emails that were all about me, which is obnoxious.  i guess a blog is somewhere people can visit to see what i am up to.

4- If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?
i've always wanted to visit brazil, argentina, and india.

5- If you're a runner, biker, triathlete, or any other sort of racer, what race is tops on your bucket list?
i don't like races.

6- What is your dream job? (pretending that it pays well)
ha, i answered the question above about how i don't know what i want to be when i grow up.  but i would like to be a professor or an advisor to a private company or a donor on how to spend their money and which projects are worth supporting.

7- Who is your celebrity crush?
apart from David Suzuki in his younger years?!  i think that Mike Rowe, Gabriel Garcia Bernal, Hugh Jackman, and Taye Diggs are all quite dreamy.

8- Did you or do you play an instrument?
no, but i think the drums could be fun.

9- What is your favourite "guilty pleasure" movie? (you know, the one that you like to pretend you didn't love)
Love Actually and i watch it every christmas!  i just can't get enough.

10- If you had to pick a last meal, what would you pick?
macaroni and tomatoes

11- Ben and Jerry's or Haagen Dazs?
neither as ice cream gives me a stomach ache (coincidentally, this is also the google search that leads to this blog most often so i am obviously not alone)

early (temporary) retirement

i was guilty of asking friends who were not working at home 'what do you do all day?' as though it would be a struggle to fill your days with activities that had to be done and those you wanted to do.  i figured that it must be boring not to be busy, a daytimer full of appointments and to do lists, and a social calendar with other people working full time, regular hours.

and now when people ask me if i get bored without having a full time job or what i do with myself all day, i am sort of surprised because the answer seems so obvious.  i read, i lay by the pool, i grocery shop, i visit with our housekeeper, i cook, i play angry birds, i check facebook and twitter, i send emails, i apply for jobs, i go for walks, i edit photos, i go for lunch, i do yoga, i watch tv series i've always wanted to see, i work out, i get massages and pedicures at home.  but only for a few moments this past month have i felt bored.

i have felt some pangs of guilt that i am not working, not being productive, and not building the years and breadth of experience on my cv.  but then i reminded myself that people generally spend their entire careers waiting to retire and live the life i am living right now.

and it won't last.  come march, i will likely have to get a job either in liberia or wherever someone will hire me and then i remember what it feels like to squeeze in a run after rushing home from the office or wake up to an alarm everyday or not having time to fit all my friends and family in.  i am in no hurry to get back into the regular workforce and a crammed schedule so i am genuinely enjoying my time.  i just wish that people understood that when they ask me what i possibly DO all day!

now if you'll excuse me, i have another episode of Mad Men, the next chapter of The Hunger Games, and a swimming pool all calling my name.

medium thumb

i saw Black Swan!  another movie on my Movies To See 2010 spreadsheet that i created over the holidays (no, i am not kidding).  and i did it on the comfort of my own couch (maybe i shouldn't be announcing this on the intertubes, but i just heard on a ted talk that about a bazillion (or maybe something like 15,000?) blogs are started everyday so i am sure my corner of the www is relatively safe from bill gates or whoever it is that patrols the internet looking for people who admit they download and watch pirated movies.

besides, i used to buy this shit at the market in nairobi, which i never saw as being wrong as i was all the way over there in africa (the country), you know.

anywho, back to the movie.

it was ok.  it was not fabulous.  but i sense that everyone is going to go on and on about how fabulous it is simply because it is raw, interesting to watch, a little bizaare at times, and has a famous actress playing a dark role.  and sometimes, that is what art is all about (isn't it?).

the acting is good, i suppose.  the costumes and dancing are fun to watch for someone who is addicted to So You Think You Can Dance (but finds the acronym SYTYCD a little cumbersome).  the story is lame and never gathers enough steam.  and the sex is vulgar and not particularly entertaining.

but the ending is good, so if that is any reason to watch it, there you have it.

i had high hopes and let me just say that i am glad i didn't pay to see it, but that i am glad that i saw it.

cringe ready

i am mildly dreading the series premier of abc's new show Off The Map.  i anticipate it being full of assumptions about americans living abroad doing meaningful, heartwarming, humanitarian work in a "third world country," as their trailer describes.

its claim is to be about a group of young, dynamic doctors who set up a clinic in a non-descript, generic south american jungle village where they are going to practice medicine in a resource constrained environment.

i will watch it, but i expect to be cringing a lot.  at the anticipated flippant remarks about development and aid and the stereotypes of the heroic foreigners swooping in to solve the problems that locals have had for years, but were hopeless and helpless to do anything for themselves (obviously).

but maybe, just maybe i will be proven wrong and the show will dive deep into the complexities of an expat's life, why american doctors choose to follow that career path, and the moral and ethical dilemmas that the doctors will encounter.

or maybe it will be some more bubble gum for the brain where a bunch of doctors, played by attractive actors in an ensemble cast, all date one another incestuous season after incestuous season.

then again, i shouldn't expect too much from abc, the network that just sent arizona to "africa" to save the tiny (and no doubt, poor and dirty) humans.

just another monday

reasons why today was great:

• it was housekeeper day (formally called maid day)
• my book club book arrived!  now i have to hurry up and get reading When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin
• a pvr'ed episode of Weeds
• a new recipe, that i only chose because of the photo that accompanied it as it is not something i would normally pick:

noodles and peanut sauce salad bowl

• 8 oz uncooked whole wheat linguine, broken in half
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1 cup julienne carrots (mine were more like slices)
• 1 medium bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces (mine were more like slices)
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp canola oil (except i used sesame oil0
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce 
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (but i misread this and put in more than 2 tsp of freshly grated ginger, which likely increased the deliciousness)
• 1/8 ground red pepper
• 3 medium green onions, chopped
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

• 1 - cook linguine, adding broccoli, carrots and bell pepper during last minute of cooking (but i added mine about halfway through the cooking); drain.  rinse with cool water.
•  2 - in small bowl, gradually beat water and oil into peanut butter with sire whisk until smooth.  beat in vinegar, soy sauce, and ground red pepper.
• 3 - in large serving bowl, stir together pasta mixture, peanut sauce, onions, and cilantro until well mixed.

i'll have more of the same

finally, it seems that 2010 has cleaned up its act and has decided to stop being such a jerk.

as mondays go, this one was pretty stellar.  and why?

• not waking up to an alarm
• still smiling from the high of getting together with my new book club full of wonderful, dynamic women
• a new outfit of a skirt on the sale at the gap and a shirt that fits perfectly from my sister paired with a bold necklace with a giant flower and my favourite italian boots purchased in ireland
• checking off and throwing away my To Do list at work
• an hour long presentation to the most notorious of the law enforcement agencies in canada (you just try breaking into our borders!) met with positive feedback
• won ton soup
• proofing the text for an ad that i will appear in
• setting up a meeting with someone who wants to learn more about my 'consulting services'
• an invitation for a south african wine drinking and luggage packing date
• a raise.  a totally unsolicited raise!  a potentially retroactive raise!!
• a meeting with my volunteers who continue to inspire me, challenge me, and humour me
• purchase of a wall hanging off etsy to bring a little feng shui into my nest
• a new episode of weeds
• a glass of dry red wine

long may it last.

going to the experts

i can't decide if the best part about Maid Days is the folded triangles on my toilet paper rolls or that all my crap is neatly piled, but i love it.  and especially on a day like today where i woke up looking forward to crawling back into my bed in the evening.

and i would be there now if the fire alarm wasn't screaming (and it screams something fierce and likely unsafe for human ears).  instead, i have opened a bottle of velvet fog and am waiting it out.  shame it is getting darker earlier now or i could enjoy my beer on my balcony and admire the uniformed firemen that come when this happens once each month.

but instead, i am watching the television show that my mom has me hooked on, come dine with me, a channel 4 programme from the uk that is kitschy, hilarious, and real.  which is much more than i can say for american reality tv shows and reminds me of life in england when i had dinner parties for my international friends and had to balance halal, vegetarian, south african meat eaters, and 5 flatmates in a shared kitchen.

and on the topic of food, i made my very own meatballs last night!  all by myself!  for the first time!  and they are delicious.

29+5

it's goal update time again!  i am officially 29 and a half tomorrow.  and i have a few bones to pick with 29, but i have faith that it will smarten up for its final half.


1 - conquer my anxiety, or at least win a few battles against it.  i am not feeling anxious lately, which is a good thing.  more of a general frustration and without a lot of direction of what the eff i am doing.  some days, i feel confident, sure that i am on the right path, and something is just around the corner.  but then other days, i am lethargic and melancholy and resemble pig pen surrounded by a cloud of gloom.

2 - be more thoughtful of others, especially around special occasions.  i am doing ok.  not fantastically well, but ok.  and if facebook messages count, then i am on top of my game!  but sadly, that wasn't really the intention of this goal so i am not totally on the ball.  september is a big birthday month in my family though and i am already a little bit ahead of that game, so there's that.

3 - continue making visiting family and friends a priority.  south africa is certainly in the works and i have sent messages to friends in cape town to see if i can visit with them.  and lucky for me, i have two friends coming to me in august and both are friends i knew in nairobi, one who now lives in east timor and the other in darfur, so it will be grand to catch up with them.


i will also get a visit in with my dad while i am in victoria this weekend (and a ride to the trailhead, yippee!) and am planning on spending more time at my family's cabin in the month of august and even though this is not technically what i had in mind with this goal, i am looking forward to it.

4 - nail down some sort of short-term career goals.  um, yeah.  i feel as though this year so far has been the year of opportunities that were not to be, but were so damn close!  there are a few more irons in the fire that could materialise into something, but no word yet on my dream job...

5 - lay a nest egg to accompany my nest.  apparently 4 day hiking trips can be expensive.  but other than that, i am saving my pennies and will do until i have to fork out the dollars for my plane ticket to cape town.  until then though, my nest egg is coming along.  my new laptop took a chunk out of it, but full time hours, an increase in my billing rates, and freelance writing work are adding up.

6 - eat more balanced, regular meals.  i didn't even eat dinner last night.  in fact, i ate lunch and that was it.  today i didn't eat until 1 and will hopefully remember to eat dinner too.  honestly, living alone in the summer means that i a) eat out a lot or b) don't eat unless i am starving and then just open the fridge and make a meal out of whatever combination of food hasn't gone bad.  the other night it was spinach pasta with gorgonzola cheese and asparagus on the side.  that is one of the better combos i have come up with, normally they include pretzels and dill pickles.  eesh.

7 - sleep an appropriate amount.  i am sleeping well, even with some of the hot evenings we have had, and have made a point a few nights this month to get to bed early enough to read some of my book before sleeping.  this might sound like something a Normal Person who do Regularly, but i don't and typically end up watching crappy tv (go chris go!) until i am exhausted and haul my behind to my bed. 


oh, this is sort of funny and involves sleeping...  i wanted to try out my new sleeping bag and was lying in it watching more bad tv and i fell asleep only to wake up in a pool of sweat because, hey, guess what?!   my sleeping bag is good up to 10 degrees and it was hot as balls in there when i woke up.  good to know that it will keep me warm this weekend!

8 - maintain my priorities.  i think i am doing well and especially after a spring where i felt pulled in all directions simultaneously, i am approaching a state of balance where i feel i am on top of most things, including my contract positions and my health and fitness (well, apart from the sore hoof).  this applies to all parts of my life except the state of my nest...  and because of the disaster i now find myself living in and because i seem to be able to work my buns off and save my pennies, i figure a good use of those pennies would be to hire someone to keep my nest in a presentable state.  hence, i am going to hire a housekeeper.  da da dun!


i feel slightly like a glutton for this decision, but it makes sense and it will allow me to continue to find balance by being outside to enjoy the summer weather and socialising with my networks while also getting paid work done while i am at home rather than feeling guilty about watching my bad tv when i should be dusting shelves, cleaning fridges, and sweeping floors.  

9 - keep asking for what i want.  i am keeping up with this one.  i haven't asked for anything monumental lately, but i have been giving some deep thought to what it is i do want and putting that out to the universe.  i suspect that when i see something i want, i will have all the confidence to ask for it like i deserve it and that is good enough for the midpoint of 29 as far as i am concerned.

icy cold on a hot summer's eve

here i am again, sunday evening.  home alone.  and thrilled.  honestly.

one of my recent issues that has contributed to the wobbly moment has been the pressure i have felt to make the most of the summer months in calgary.  to take advantage of every opportunity to get outside and socialise.

and like last weekend, i feel as though i have managed quite fine.  a solid run followed by beers on the patio of one of the city's best pubs with far too many laughs between friends, a luxurious morning sitting on my own patio with coffee and a smoothie while reading my book, a saturday afternoon at the calgary folk fest listening to adorable boys play their guitars from the big rock beer gardens, and a sunday of huevos rancheros at my local breakfast spot with some mountain equipment co-op shopping in preparation for the juan de fuca trail next week and a walk in my community with an iced coffee.

but (and this is a rather large but that could alter the course of my next few weeks), i am currently sitting on my couch watching pvr'ed tv and am not cleaning my house or going for a run because i am icing my foot and ankle.  i have no idea what i have specifically done to it, but i know that it is a recurring injury that i normally keep in check with good running shoes, but wearing cowboy boots last weekend seems to have exacerbated the situation.  and standing in rubber flip flops yesterday was exceptionally painful and i am my worries continue to grow that this will not be cleared up by this friday, which is when i fly out to vancouver island.  eek.

sunday evening

normally, i detest sunday evenings.  call it a case of the sundays, but lately the thought of having to face another week while hanging out at home alone watching pvr'ed tv has made me cringe.

but this evening, i am feeling quite content with my weekend after a rather lame week.  a solid 7km run followed by drinks with an old friend on friday night accompanied by encouragement to go to law school.  breakfast and great chats on saturday morning and then my posse and i hauled ourselves to the nashville north tent at the stampede where i lasted until the wee hours and only left when my feet were too sore for anymore dancing.  then a sunday morning hike with a lovely lady and an afternoon with tours of my mom's garden and a vietnamese sub (because i have no food in my house!).

my wobbly moment continues, however, and i had to give myself permission to opt out of a work stampede party last friday without any guilt or remorse because i just was not in the mood to make merry and pretend that i was happy to be at a bar.  there is not one thing i wish i could change and if there was, i would be working my arse off to change it.

i have yet to hear back about my most perfect job and part of me just wants to the universe to show me where i need to be and what i should be doing.

but in the meantime, i continue to prepare for my hiking adventure and that means soaking my poor cowboy boot feet tonight and finding time to get my buns back up those stairs, hopefully this time without stopping.  menu planning, airport pickups, and a little mountain equipment co-op shopping and i should be ready to go.  it is nice to have something to look forward to!

turning a corner on pop culture?

my newest guilty pleasure, and i am truly embarrassed to be admitting this, is watching the bachelorette.  some girlfriends were talking about it a few weeks ago and i decided to check it out during my wobbly moment.  and i sort of like it.  i don't like the melodrama and the heart-to-hearts onscreen, but i do like watching the different relationships develop (although, how are those men not strangling one another each time they return from a date??).

my pick is chris and although i didn't come close to winning my world cup pool, i will be shocked if i don't win this one (not that i am in a pool, but i would join one next time around as i am afraid i am slightly addicted to this ridiculous show).

this is all a little hilarious to me as i didn't have tv for years and was so out of the pop cultural loop for ages!

as i do when i get lazy

here are some interesting things that i came across, did, or thought today:

• asian soup should not be attempted in my nest.  i made some, did not enjoy it, and ended up putting the whole pot down the garburator, shame.  the seaweed disintegrated in the broth and it made my house smell.  now what do i do with an entire package of seaweed?
• i saw a police officer just hanging out in his car outside of the superstore and i am sure it is connected to the recent incidents of food tampering in the city.  here is my question, why aren't the people who are caught (or person, as they've only caught one and suspect there are other copy cats) charged with terrorism?  i must acknowledge my ignorance of laws covering terrorism in canada and alberta, but they are essentially causing terror of a certain degree amongst the million people in the city considering the majority of us buy our food at the major grocery stores.  not cool.
• i bought m&m's to put in my friend's care package that will be sent to east timor and then i opened them and am now eating them on the couch while watching american idol.  talk about taking the life of luxury for granted!
• i had 'the canadian' at frilly lilly today and had a giggle when i made my appointment.
• i watched a documentary on the mormons that was broadcast on pbs in 2007.  fascinating stuff!  the whole thing can be seen on the pbs website and if you are at all interested in how the church of jesus christ of latter day saints came to be or what the hell it is all about, watch this.  it explains it without bias or judgement or without trying to sell you on to their (crazy) stories.  i guess i am not as unbiased and nonjudgemental.  but really, watch the 4 hours of it and are sure to learn a lot.
• i bought a new dress.  did i need a new dress?  absolutely not.  but it was 40% off!  and that peachy-orange colour that i love right now!  and it is a petite size!  and now that i look it up on the american website, i realise that i could've saved even more money if i bought it south of the 49th with this crazy exhange rate we have going on right now.
• i returned a book that i wasn't enjoying.  i had never done that before.  i had a pang of guilt, but it passed.
• i am having some anxiety about not being prepared to go on a week long vacation.  i think i have more stress when going to an all-inclusive resort on a beach than i do adventuring around a foreign place.  so much pressure, i tell ya.

what a week!

monday - pretty average day, a decently productive smattering of work at my day job and a nice evening hanging out with a friend in town from overseas.  who is sort of in love with me.  but only just sort of.  i think.

tuesday - chair a monthly meeting on trafficking.  pick up a package at the post office of leg warmers and fingerless mitts from the lovely lady over at Yarn is My Metier, beautiful and so comfortable.  every girl needs a pair of leg warmers.  american idol watching with my neighbour/guy i dated a year ago.  a failed hill run - 8 hills turned into 4 miserable hills.

wednesday - teaching high school for the morning, which is almost as exhausting as teaching junior high school, but not quite.  the first screening of the film What Are We Doing Here? that went really well, including the panel discussion on aid to africa that i participated in.  i was proud to have addressed people's questions with intelligent answers.

thursday - drafting of a project proposal for funding to do my own research in the province.  the second screening of the documentary followed by another panel discussion, where i wasn't nearly as articulate as wednesday night's event.  beer and nachos with my ever supportive friends afterwards.

friday - a half day workshop on temporary foreign workers in alberta and the challenges and successes of the programme.  met the nephew of my nairobi chemist by chance in calgary.  handed out tonnes of my cards, networking, networking, networking.  running around the city getting wedding gifts and cards.  a gorgeous wedding with great people that ended with me and the best man shooting tequila at the bar.

saturday - a touch of the hang over.  catching up on adminstrative work for my evening/weekend job.  watching ufc fights, which i swore i would never do and will never do again - boring and disgusting at the same time.  an early night.

sunday - a good 12km run, but with frozen hands.  a hot bath.  some shopping.  sushi.  roast dinner with my parents and one bro (my other bro is in tanzania!).  traffic fines paid.

things are looking up

here are some thoughts to prove that i am not just a big grumpy guts lately.

• i had an awesome run tonight at quite the clip, making me feel as though i am really improving and that my lungs are in great shape.  during this time round training for a 1/2 marathon, my calves are not growing at an exponential rate and looking huge (as they did last time i increased my distances like this).  i think i must have adjusted my gait in the past few years because i am not having the calf pain and subsequent cramps, which could have been behind those enormous calves (and ladies, enormous calves are not the easiest to dress...)
• sometimes i need to be forced to take a break and often, this comes in the form of a sickness that forces me to STOP.  but not this time.  this time i have planned a trip to mexico to stay at this lovely place with my most favourite people in the world, my fam.  i know we are going to have a blast and the countdown is on for the best family vacation ever!
• as an aside, the guys on american idol are really kicking the girls arses this season.  i love the kid with the mullet.  any 16 year old that loves ray lamontagne as much as i do (and has a shameless mullet), gets my vote.  if i lived in the u.s of a.  and voted for american idol contestants.
• i am now trained to conduct audits (specifically on environmental management systems, but the principles translate to other areas that i have some knowledge) and i think that i would be a really good auditor.  anal retentive?  yes.  keen attention to detail?  yes.  sort of nosy?  yes.  blunt and tells it like it is?  yes.  see?  totally up my alley.  i think there is a lot of overlap between auditing and monitoring and evaluation (in un speak) so here's hoping i will be able to apply what i have learned over the last 3 days during future career steps.
• going back to tv again for a momento, glee's new episodes will be starting soon, yippee.
• this weekend, i have plans to head to a movie with one of my girlfriends who i haven't seen in awhile and i have a date with another friend to go hiking or for a nice walk. 

things are looking up.

totally ill informed

before i even begin, let me fully disclose that the opinion herein are largely ill informed and just my reactions after seeing that the duggar family had their 19th baby prematurely at  less than 2 pounds.

i am not sure why i just learned about this news (is it news??), but i figure driving around england and ireland is excuse enough.

i have spent the last few minutes going through their tlc website (because i have said it here before i compare their reality show to a car accident and i can't seem to turn away once i stop...) and it amazes me that this little 'bundle of joy' is being celebrated without acknowledgement that the older a mother is and the more pregnancies she has had, the risks of complications there are.  and i would say that a premature baby is a pretty damn large complication.

and this is also the problem with reality television.  it is all fine and dandy when everything is going the way that you want it and your life is 'picture perfect,' but as soon as problems arise and a wrench is thrown in the plans of life (which, come on, that almost never happens!), i am sure having a reality show is no longer the dream that it once was.  as well, the network has to spin everything that is presented on the show as some sort of miracle or gift or bundle of joy, when the reality is that although that child is certainly wanted, her early birth has brought a host of difficulties and challenges into the lives of a family of 18 other people.  and this is not a statement that premature babies are not 'worth the trouble' or anything like that, but that all families who have had to go through what the duggars are likely going through now will likely be misrepresented by the newly 'elected' poster family for premies.

like i said, these opinions might not be informed and i am not quite sure why i even care about a family that could be as fictional as any other that i watch or read about as far as i am concerned.  but it really is a car crash.  and everyone has an opinion on who was at fault in a car crash.

commit, already!

have i mentioned that i have a cold?  a cold that won't commit and comes and goes and sometimes, like this morning, i wake up with a stuffed up nose, constant sneezes, and a nose that needs to be blown at regular intervals.  it has been here for 2 weeks now and i really wish it would either knock me on my ass or go away already.

but it hasn't stopped me from having a lovely saturday morning.

i have caught up on pvr'ed episodes of my television boyfriend's show, dirty jobs.

i have used my new egg poaching pan that was a christmas gift to make eggs benedict (but without hollandaise because i was not that organised to have the proper ingredients).

i have hung hangers for my aprons so they have a space in my nest.

i have done my ironing.

i have spoken to a local theatre about hosting a film screening.

i have had a chat with an old high school friend who wants to get into international development work.

pretty productive so far, even with a kleenex permanently attached to my nose...

oversized thoughts

my trip to windsor and toronto, ontario was an interesting one.  at the same time that i was attempting to wrap my head around the challenges of protecting victims of human trafficking within canada's system, the first charges of human trafficking were laid in calgary, making me the woman of the hour in terms of media interviews.  radio, print, and television, i did them all.  and loved it.

after all that thinking, articulating, and networking, i was ready for a rest and some excitement of a different kind in toronto.

but i was in a strange headspace the entire time i was there.  i am sure trying unsuccessfully to make a scheduled dinner happen didn't help, but i felt as though i didn't belong in toronto.  and yet, when i thought about where i am in calgary, i haven't been sure that this is where i belong either.  i feel in some ways like i have more to offer the world than what it is getting from me right now. 

sitting around and talking policy, human rights, and international conventions felt more right than what i do at my desk monday-friday.  and yet, i don't think i have it in me for another bug change at the moment or the near future.  i think all this back and forth and this and that was exhausting so when i arrived in toronto, my head was full of thoughts that still have no answer and i had visiting to do.  which is tiring itself.

it was a good trip and i am not complaining in the slightest, but it filled my heads with lots of thoughts that will take some time to think through.  good thing i have some long-haul flights in my near future!

oh snuffy!

my sister sent me this link that shows the 101 muppets of sesame street and it made me smile on a monday morning.

snuffleupagus was my favourite (but i thought it was spelled snuffalupugus), who was yours?

q: what makes a good day?

a: dinner with my family, who are funnier than anyone i know.  really.

a: praise and recognition from not one, but two, of my bosses.

a: two of my orders from etsy arrived in the mail today.

a: my mama's roast beef dinner.

a: so you think you can dance AND glee on tv in the same night (and i didn't even need to pvr them!).

a: a cheque arrived in the mail.  and who doesn't love cheques arriving?

a: two requests for dates.

it will revolutionize your life

what will revolutionize your life, you ask? the PVR, i tell you!

the ability to save television programmes for later viewing with the push of a button is really fantastic and is totally changing the way i live. really. and for the better. instead of watching more tv, like some people suggested, i tend to watch the stuff that i actually want to watch rather than the crap that is on when i feel like sitting on the couch and relaxing.

for instance, i caught up on So You Think You Can Dance Canada and Oprah on sunday when i felt like doing little else than napping on the couch under a warm blanket.

and with the beauty of the PVR, i can now watch my newest television crush, Mike Rowe and his Dirty Jobs. he is hilarious and i love his off the cuff humour along with his honest reactions to doing some of the grossest things i can imagine!

it also makes it a lot easier to watch Grey's Anatomy. not that i am too thrilled with this season... i knew they would get rid of Izzie, but this newest plot twist of her taking off on Karev just seems way too easy and i don't buy it. i am not buying many of the storylines apart from Callie and Arizona right now, come to think of it.