Wow, I have really been slacking. Mostly because no real progress has been made. My weight has pretty much been holding steady. I took a basic shift management course for work for the past two weekends. I also took a first aid course that I also needed for work. This means that my actual work schedule has been thrown off a bit. It also meant that I was able to go to a show last week on a night that I would normally be working. I was happy I had the night off. It also mean that my gym schedule has been thrown off. I went to the gym once last week and once the week before. That's about it. As for updating the blog, well, since this is the first post in four weeks, you can see how well I did there. As far as dance is concerned, apart from the class I missed at the beginning of the month because I was sick, i have been going every week. I still don't know the dance I am supposed to be performing in two weeks, so that's a bit of an issue.

Tonight, I am heading to Montreal with a friend to see a show. I was really hoping to see a different show in Boston today, but the logistics just didn't work out (as well as the fact that I am broke). Traveling twelve hours each way to see a show just seemed insane. Hopefully, I will have another opportunity in the near future. I have seen a bunch of videos from the various shows they've done on YouTube, so it seemed like it would be an awesome experience, but alas it was not to be.

My birthday is next week, so I got myself a birthday present online. I got pink sunglasses, a T-shirt that says 'Keep Calm It's Going to be Totally Awesome" and the Starship DVD. I was so happy when it came nut the shirt is way too big.

So that's what's been happening. Have a great week. Hopefully I'll actually remember to update again in the near future.

Who knew Robert Munsch was so popular?

Wow, like wow, wow. I can't believe it's Friday and I haven't updated about last week yet. It was a different week last week. I was taking a food safety course two days. I thought it was supposed to be Monday and Tuesday but it was actually Tuesday and Wednesday. I did quite well...95% on the exam, so I now have a food safety certification. Yay!! I didn't actually make it to the gym last week, at all. My schedule was so screwed up, it just didn't happen. I did, however, make it to dance practice on Tuesday. That's about it, as far as resolution "progress" goes.

Being that it was Hallowe'en on Monday, I went to a couple of parties last weekend. On Friday, I dressed as Medusa - which meant cajoling Colette into putting a bunch of snakes in my hair. On Saturday, I was feeling a bit lazy, so I just went as a belly dancer. Unfortunately, when you go as a belly dancer to a party, they actually expect you to belly dance. After a couple of drinks, it probably wasn't pretty, but I had a lot of fun.

Side note: For a while now, I've been saying that I want to dress up as the Paperbag Princess for Hallowe'en one year. At the party on Friday, there was someone there that was dressed up as the Paperbag Prince. Yeah... Also, when I left the party, I stopped by the McDonald's. A girl came up to me while I was there and she started talking to me about my Medusa costume. She wanted to know where I got the snakes, because apparently, she was going to dress up as Medusa the next night. Her costume on Friday?? The Paperbag Princess. It was all very weird, but pretty cool.

Short and sweet

Wow. I am really getting late. I am just going to say what I actually did rather than go through them all. So I updated the blog. I calibrated the scale so it now looks like I lost a crazy amount of weight. I should have weighed myself before hand because I don't know the actual progress. I only made it to the gym once. I also went to dance practice. That's about it. Wow this post was really perfunctory. But when it's this late, what can you do.

Side note: The final season premiere of Chuck is tonight....sad it's ending but happy it's finally back.

Hope you all had a good week.

Wow this one is crazy late. But here I am. How did I do? Not really all that good. But here goes.

1. Updating the blog. Super duper late but here I am. 42 down, 10 to go. Wow!
2. New job. Yeah, I still haven't really caught up with my Peter's New Jobs emails. I will try again this week. 
3. Room cleaning. Not much happened in this area this week.
4. Lose weight. I am pretty much where I was last week.
5. Going to the gym. I went twice again this week. Yay me!!
6. Old clothes and books. So um...moving on.
7. Swear less. I certainly haven't been swearing more. I actually did pretty good I think.
8. Dance practice. Dance classes started this week. So yay! Actual structured classes. FTW. I might be performing at a show in December so will start learning a choreography in the next couple weeks. Yay!

Anyway, not much else is new. Colette made a 'Black Forest Cake' for her friend's birthday last weekend. It was soooo good. I pretty much devoured the half of the cake that was leftover over the next couple days. Man it was good. Anyway, that's really about it.

Wow, I am doubtful that these posts will ever be on time again. One can dream, I guess. I really just want to sleep but I am going to do this before I do. Anyway, here's how I did this week.

1. Update this blog. 41 down, 11 to go. Holy crap..
2. Get a new job. No forward momentum on this front. The task for this week will be to actually read the Peter's New Jobs emails I get everyday rather than just let them sit there.
3. Room cleaning. Yay, I have walls again. They somehow didn't fit together the way they did before, but they are up. So, progress!!
4. Lose weight. I am a few pounds down this week so Yay!!
5. Going to the gym. I went twice this week, so that's good.
6. Old books and clothes. Moving on...nothing to see here.
7. Swear less. Still swearing but I don't think it was any worse than any other week.
8. Dance practice. I did put on music and just danced around a couple times. It wasn't practice really but I had fun, and it was more than I did many other weeks. 

Anyway, this week I finished the book 'Everything I know about love, I learned from Romance Novels' by Sarah Wendell, of the website 'Smart Bitches, Trashy Books'. I really enjoyed the book. It was quite amusing and it actually got me thinking. It also got me to read a book by an author I had never read anything by. There was an excerpt from the book 'Bet Me' by Jennifer Crusie which intrigued me. I ended up reading that book  and I really enjoyed it as well. So it was a good book reading weekend. Yay!

Wow, the last few months have just flown by. It's already October...crazy!! Anyway, let's see what happened this week, shall we?

1. Update the blog. Here I am again. 40 posts. Wow...
2. New job. So last week was my first week as the only manager on the overnight. It went okay. There was one not so good day, but over all it was good. No news about the job I had the the telephone interview for, so that's slightly disappointing.
3. Room cleaning. Didn't happen. Will really try to get the walls put up this week. Fingers crossed.
4. Lose weight. I am the around same as I was last week so that's good.
5. Going to the gym. I only made it there once this week. I will try to do better next week.
6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
7. Swear less. Probably a bit more than the week before. I definitely started swearing more again once I started back on overnights. 
8. Dance practice. I stopped holding the dance practices. It was not really well attended and people would commit and then wouldn't show. It ended up being more of a hassle than I really wanted it to be. My teacher will be back soon so that will help with the practice situation. Though I probably should practice on my own.

Not much else has happened this week. I went to see the movie "50/50" which I enjoyed. It's about a guy who finds out he has cancer and his journey. 

Anyway, have a good week!!

Another week with little to no progress. I pretty much just need to focus at this point and do something. That being said, here's another account of my complete lack of progress.

1. Update the blog. Late as usual, but here I am.
2. Get the new job. Back on overnights again this week. It's been okay, other than the fact that the other overnight manager quit my first night. Nothing else too notable happened on that front.
3. Room cleaning. Still laughable. Hopefully I'll find the time to put my walls back up this week. No promises though.
4. Lose weight. Right around where I was last week.
5. Going to the gym. Wow, twice in one week... that's better than I've done for awhile.
6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
7. Swear less. I don't think I did too bad this week. 
8. Dance practice. Well, I went to dance practice. No one showed up which was disappointing. Two people had said they would attend, but then one cancelled and the other person thought it was off because the other person had cancelled. Of course, I didn't actually check my email between find out two people were coming and actually leaving for dance. Lesson learned.

Not much else is new, other than the fact that I am super happy that TV is back.

Now, it seems like posting videos at the end has become a bit of a theme. I really wanted to post 'It's not unusual' from Glee because I've watched it numerous times but I actually can't find a good version of it on YouTube. Instead, I will post a performance of what is becoming my favourite song.

Sorry Colette, couldn't resist....

Wow, I left this one really late. Not much new happened this week. Oh, season premieres, yay!! Anyway, without further ado, here's how it went...spoiler alert: no real progress was made.

1. Update this blog. Almost didn't happen, but here I am. 38 weeks down, 14 to go.
2. New job. Not much to report, just more manager training. I also went to my first manager meeting.
3. Room cleaning. Ok, this is getting laughable.
4. Lose weight. I am back down 5 pounds. It may have something to do with me not eating a whole lot of food right before I weigh myself though.
5. Going to the gym. Heh, heh, heh. Didn't happen this week either, whoops!
6. Old books and clothes. No news here either.
7. Swear less. I think I was better on this front at least.
8. Dance practice. Didn't happen this week. Only one person would have been able to go, and there was a storm. 

See, I told you there was not real progress.

Let's see, this week I watched my season two 'Community' DVDs. I still love this video.

This week has been a bit of a change. I have been working day shifts all week, which I haven't actually done in a few years. In fact, Tuesday was the first day in two years that I started work before noon. It was pretty busy all week too. Next week, it's back to overnights again. Yippee!!

Let's see how I did this week with the whole resolution thing.

1. Updating this blog. Late again, but here I am. 37 down, 15 to go.
2. New job. So as I mentioned before, I am working during the day right now because I am training to be a manager. So that's happening. I also had a phone interview on Friday with an airline company for a Customer Service type position. I should know more in a week or two.
3. Room cleaning. Not so much.
4. Lose weight. About the same as last time.
5. Going to the gym. With the mixed up schedule, I actually didn't make it last week. I will try to do better about it this week.
6. Old books and clothes. Yeah, that didn't happen either.
7. Swear less. I don't think I've been swearing as much. I know that I am more careful of what I say at work when I am working during the day.
8. Dance practice. I had dance practice last week. It went okay I think. Not a big turn out. 

So not a great week for resolutions, hopefully this week will be better.

In other news, I thought I would share one of the songs I have not been able to get out of my head for the last week. A version of it is in the Harry Potter musical I was going on about last week. Darren Criss also sings his own version of it (he wrote it). Anyway, I really like it. So here it is, it's called 'Not Alone'.

Woohoo!!

Happy Labour Day long weekend everyone!! This week was pretty uneventful, in general, apart from me finding a new obsession. I get more into it after I relate my progress. So how did I do? Let's see...

1. Updating this blog. 36 out of 36. Yay!!
2. Get a new job. Well, I got  a promotion at work. I start training to be a manager on Tuesday. I actually have to work during the day, so that will be a change.
3. Room cleaning. Same ol', same ol'. My wall is still pretty much down. Plan on putting it back up soon. Haven't really determined the source of the leak though.
4. Lose weight. Pretty much the same as it was last week. 
5. Going to the gym. I went to the gym twice last week. So, the same as usual. I have to figure out when I want to go this week since my work schedule is all mixed up.
6. Old books and clothes. No progress there.
7. Swear less. I don't think I swore more, but I don't think I necessarily swore less either.
8. Dance practice. I led practice last week. I think it went well, though I do have to work on how to teach moves to other people.

So, this week I watched 'A Very Potter Musical' on YouTube. It's a college musical starring Darren Criss, who joined the cast of 'Glee' in Season 2. I also ended up watching some of the other plays done by the same theatre company, 'Starkid'. They also did 'A Very Potter Sequel' and an unrelated musical called 'Starship'. I've really enjoyed them all. I've pretty much had the songs in my head for the last week. Anyway, here's part one of 'A Very Potter Musical'.

Wow, I am actually getting to this blog relatively on time this week. The first time in a few months, I think. Let's see...on Friday, Colette and I went to a Roller Derby open house. Being that it was the first time on roller skates in years, it took a while to get used to. Halfway through my first lap at the beginning, my legs were begging me to stop. I managed to keep going though. My hamstrings are still pretty sore today - Colette laughs at me when I try going up the stairs, because I say 'Ow' every second step. I fell on my butt a couple times which kinda hurt. I am debating whether I want to keep at it. It was a fun night though.

Other than that, how did I do this week?

1. Updating this blog. Here I am - on time,even. 35 out of 35.
2. New job. My boss was supposed to let me know by Friday what was happening with the promotion, but I haven't heard anything yet. I haven't really done much in terms of looking for other jobs this week.
3. Room cleaning. Room is pretty much in the same state it was in last week. Pieces of wall and foam lying about, etc, etc.
4. Lose weight. Pretty much the same as last time, although this time there was no lasagna involved at all. There may have been a couple pieces of lemon pie though.
5. Going to the gym. I went twice this week, yay! The roller skating was a workout and a half too.
6. Old books and clothes. Same ol', same ol'. Nothing to report.
7. Swear less. Not so much. In fact, my vocabulary is expanding. Newest addition: 'douchecanoe' which I may have called someone that passed me by going in the bus lane (the word comes from sb-tb.com). Another word, which isn't a swear, that Colette questioned my use of this week is 'banoodles', which I totally stole from thetvtalkpodcast.com. 
8. Dance practice. Totally didn't happen this week. Nobody else was able to make it. Probably should have done something on my own, but that didn't happen.

Also this week, I started reading the Mythos Academy young adult series by Jennifer Estep. So far there is one book, 'Touch of Frost', and an ebook prequel, 'First Frost'. It's about a gypsy girl named Gwen Frost, who has the gift of psychometry - the ability to know an objects history just by touching it. She attends Mythos Academy. The stories reference various mythologies including Norse, Greek and Roman. I really enjoyed the first book and the prequel a lot. The next book, 'Kiss of Frost'. comes out, conveniently enough, on my birthday. Happy Birthday to me!!

Anyway, that's all for this week.

Have a great week!!

Blah blah late again blah.I really need to get my motivation back. Without further ado, here's how I did last week.

1. Updating the blog. Here I am again, later than ever. 34 post down, 18 to go.
2. Get a new job. This week I talked to my boss about getting a promotion at work. I am still looking at other options though.
3. Room cleaning. Well I don't know if 'cleaning is the correct word for it, but we tore down part of the wall in my bedroom to get to the bottom of the leaking problem. 
   
    The beige parts are the outer wall panels, the white parts are insulation or styrofoam or something and the brown/black parts are the paper that covers the walls.
   
   
   The next picture is actually sideways:
   
   
    
4. Lose weight. Unfortunately this week I gained some weight back. Though it may have something to do with the 3 pieces of lasagna I ate right before I weighed myself. 
5. Going to the gym. I was actually sick this past week, so I didn't end up going at all. 
6. Old clothes and books. Not so much.
7. Swear less. I think the levels of cussitude were about par with the week before.
8. Dance practice. I had my first practice session that people actually came to this week. I think it went well. We started off practicing some moves we had been working on in class. Towards the end of the session, I showed them some combos from when I danced back home. It was a pretty fun time.

In other news, last summer I started reading the 'Vampire Academy'  young adult book series by Richelle Mead. There are six books in the series and I really enjoyed them all. The author has started another series based the same world but focused on another character (who was introduced in the Vampire Academy series.) The first book in the series, 'Bloodlines', came out yesterday and I am enjoying it so far. Lots of characters from the other series have shown up already and I am only on Chapter 3 or 4.

Richelle Mead also writes a series about a Succubus which I am enjoying, although it is decidedly not young adult (which surprised me somehow when I started reading it even though it is about a succubus so...)

Well, after the busy, busy week last week, this week has been rather mellow. Partly because I haven't been feeling all that great. I was also dealing with a crazy bad sunburn. It has finished peeling but one part of it is still bright red. Not fun. I had to leave work a bit early on Wednesday night because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I no longer squirm around like a crazy person, so that is improvement. So how did I do this week? Not too well I don't think, but let's see.

1. Updating this blog. Super late but here I am. 33 weeks down, 19 to go.
2. Get a new job. Nothing new to report here.
3. Room cleaning. No progress has been made since Mom left, but it has yet to go back to the pre-Mom-cleaning-it state. So yay!!
4. Lose weight. I think I am actually a couple pounds up this week.
5. Going to the gym. I made it to the gym twice last week.
6. Old clothes and books. No progress here either.
7. Swear less. I don't think I did too bad this week. There were some slip ups but all in all, not too bad.
8. Dance practice. So last week I held the first practice session at the studio. Unfortunately, no one showed up. I did stay for an entire hour and managed to practice on my own. It wasn't a complete waste of time. I just have to figure out a structure for these sessions now.

Anyway, that was my week. Not too bad, but I wish I felt better.

Anyway, have a good week!

Bella and Mom are on their way back home so I finally decided to update this here blog. I had a really good week with them. They arrived last Wednesday. On Friday, we took the train to Montreal and saw the Biodome and Old Montreal. On Saturday, we visited some cousins. On Sunday, we saw the Lion King at the National Arts Centre. Yesterday, we spent the day at the Calypso Waterpark and I got very sun burnt. It was a pretty good week, but how did I do with my New Year's resolutions?

1. Updating this blog. Late again, but here I am. 32 of 32.
2. New job. Nothing new to report this week.
3. Room cleaning. The key to a clean room is having your mom visit, I believe. Not because it gives you a reason to clean, but because she takes one look at your room and starts to clean it for you. Not that that was my plan or anything. There is still some work that needs to be done on it but it is much, much, much better. Thank you, Mom!!! I love you!! (To be clear, I worked on it before she got here too)
4. Lose weight. I am still where I have been the last few weeks.
5. Going to the gym. I did not make it to the gym this past week at all, sadly.
6. Old books and clothes. No progress here either.
7. Swear less. I really had to watch my language this week with my niece around, but some not so good words still slipped out. In fact, by the time they left, Miss B had started saying 'crap on a cracker'. I've already apologized to her mother.
8. Dance practice. No one actually knew that I was planning on running the practice sessions yet last Tuesday so I decided to stay home and get some cleaning done on my room. But now that I am in charge of the practices, I have a new reason to go out and dance and practice for myself. 

So, overall, I had a pretty good week. I think Colette, Bella and Mom had a good time as well.

Have a good week everyone!!

Not a whole is new this week in Wandaland. I am pretty excited that my mom and my niece are coming to visit from Wednesday to Tuesday. We have lots of stuff planned to do while they are here, including taking the train to Montreal for the day and going to see the Lion King at the NAC. Until they get here, I do have a bunch of stuff to do to get ready. So are my resolutions going? Let's see...

1. Update the blog. Here I am...late again, but here. 31 out of 31.
2. Getting a new job. Nothing really new on that front.
3. Room cleaning. No real progress but I do have to work on getting it better before Mom and Miss B get here. That's pretty much my plan for Tuesday and Wednesday.
4. Lose weight. I think I am pretty much where I was last week.
5. Going to the gym. I went twice last week again, no Zumba though.
6. Old clothes and books. No progress there.
7. Swear less. I don't know if less is the word I would use to describe my use of curse words this week.
8. Dance practice. There was no class last Tuesday, so not much happened on that front either. On a related note, my teacher is going to be out of town for couple of months and asked me if I wanted to lead some dance practices while she was gone. There was some confusion about getting me the studio key, but I am now kinda excited. I don't know how the practice sessions are going to work yet but it will give me a boost for my own practice.

So, this week I read the book 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett. I really enjoyed it. I heard about the book because I saw the trailer for the movie a bunch of times and it looked really interesting.

Anyway, not much else it new. Have a good week!

So, yeah. Apparently I have given up on titles. Lately, they have all just been lamenting the fact that the blog is late again and were getting a bit redundant. So how did I do this week?

1. Updating this blog. 30 out of 30. Not bad.
2. Get a new job. I applied for one job this week. In other news, I now have more of a definitive end date for my temporary government job. It may end sooner than that though, depending on how much work there is left to do.
3. Room cleaning. It definitely needs work. I also need to get all of my stuff that is scattered throughout the house and bring it to my room.
4. Lose weight. I think I am down a couple pounds at least.
5. Going to the gym. I went twice last week. I also did a lot of walking.
6. Old books and clothes. Not much to report there.
7. Swear less. About the same amount as normal I think this week.
8. Dance practice. I went to practice on Tuesday but I don't think I did much else this week.

So that was my week. Nothing super interesting happened. Although, based on all of the reports from Comic Con this week, I have decided that I would really like to go sometime. It seems like a really cool experience.

It's getting harder and harder to motivate myself to update this blog. I need to get back to a regular schedule for updating. At least I remembered though. Lets see how I did this week.

1. Updating the blog. 29 out of 29. I am doing well despite the whole forgetting until it's a bit late thing.
2. Get a new job. Well, I applied for a job but not much else happened on that front this week.
3. Room cleaning, Well, I put away the suitcase from camping, as well as the therma rest. I also gathered much  of my belly dance stuff and it is in the vicinity of being away. I now need to get rid of the assorted papers that are on the floor.
4. Lose weight. I am still around where I was last week.
5. Going to the gym. I went twice last week again, but missed Zumba. Again...
6. Old books and clothes. Nothing really to report here.
7. Swear less. I don't think I did too badly this week, but it wasn't exactly good.
8. Dance practice. I went to class on Tuesday and did some random practicing throughout the week.

In other news, I went to see the new Harry Potter movie on Friday. I really enjoyed it. I got to the theatre at 12:59pm, and decided to go to the 1pm show. I was able to go to the bathroom and get popcorn before the previews were even over.  I actually wouldn't mind seeing it again.

This is getting ridiculous

Ok, I know, I know. I am late again. Really late this time. But really, who's actually paying attention? I am just happy that I remembered to do it all. So how'd I do this week? Let's see:

1. Updating the blog. 28 for 28. Better late than never I guess.
2. Get a new job. Not much news on that front. I am thinking of calling different placement agencies to see what I need to do to get on their list. 
3. Room cleaning. I am half unpacked from my camping trip. That's something I guess. Need to work on it more.
4. Lose weight. I haven't really lost anything since last week, but I haven't gained anything, so yay!
5. Going to the gym. I went to the gym twice this week again. I was out of town on Saturday, so I didn't go to Zumba yet again.
6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
7.  Swear less. I was camping this weekend with my sister, her friends, and her friends' kids so I really had to watch my language. 
8. Dance practice. I went to dance class on Tuesday but didn't really do much else in terms of dance practice this week.

So, as I mentioned before I went camping. I had a good time but I couldn't really sleep that well on Friday night. I ended up sleeping most of Saturday so I missed a lot of stuff. Other than that and the massive headache I had on Sunday, I had a good time. I was exhausted most of the time though.

Ok, now it's really late...

I don't really have a lot to say today so I am just going to go right to it.

1. Updating the blog. 27 for 27.
2. Get a new job. I applied for a job this week. Nothing much. I didn't work as much as I should have, I guess.
3. Room cleaning. Yeah, not much progress there.
4. Lose weight. I am still about 5 pounds down from where I was at the beginning of the year.
5. Going to the gym. I went to the gym twice last week. No Zumba though, yet again.
6. Old books and clothes. Not much new on that front this week.
7. Swear less. I haven't been swearing that much this week, that I can think of anyway.
8. Dance practice. I skipped dance class this week because Colette had the car and there was a big storm right when I was about to go to catch the bus. I ended up wishing I had gone because the power went out and I was super bored.

When the power went out last Tuesday, I decided to read one of the books that was on my Kobo and had been sitting there for a while. I ended up being so caught up in in that I was very hopeful that my Kobo wasn't about to die since I had no way of charging it with the power being out and all. The book I read was the 'The Hunger Games' which I highly recommend. I ended up finishing the trilogy by Saturday. 
I also went downtown on Friday to see some Canada Day festivities. I didn't ending up seeing Will and Kate, just part of their motorcade. It was a madhouse downtown. I ended up only being downtown for about an hour.
Anyway, I hope you all had a good week.

Almost forgot...

So apparently, Mondays are my updating days now. I am just happy I remembered I did eventually remember to do it. So, how'd I do? Let's see:

1. Updating. Yay! I am half way there! 26 down, 26 to go!
2. Get a new job. I am getting about 20 hours a week at the new job. I am getting paid every week from there but it really doesn't seem like that much. I worked two shifts last week and three the week before. I put myself on call to work at the old job Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights. With the rain we got last week, I have been finding it hard to get motivated to do the new job. But it has to be done, I guess.
3. Room cleaning. Bellydance stuff is still out. I did get rid of the plastic bags, though I now have to put away the stuff that was in them. I also have to clean around my bed and move stuff away from the wall. I will then have to take off the baseboards and panels. There is water getting into my room, and I am not sure where it is coming from. The wall that it is by doesn't even have a window so I am puzzled.
4. Lose weight. I am five pounds down from where I was at the beginning of the year, so yay!. Here's hoping it continues in a downward direction.
5. Going to the gym. I went to the gym twice last week. I didn't make it to Zumba though. I will have to check out the gym class schedule to see if there are any other classes I might make it to.'
6. Old clothes and books. Colette took some of her things in to Salvation Army today so I added some of my old books to her pile. They were just the books I had ready, I will probably have to go through the books again in the near future.
7. Swear less. I think I am pretty much on par with where I was last week.
8. Dance practice. I am going to class on Tuesdays for the next month or so. At the gym last Wednesday, it was deserted so I practiced some moves by the mirror. I also practiced at home a few times as well.

Hope everyone had a good week!!

Lateness is becoming a theme

So, I am getting later and later with the updating thing. I just have to make a point to do it. Anyway, let's see how I did...

1. Updating the blog. Here I am - 25 for 25. Almost at the halfway mark.
2. Getting a new job. The new job is going okay. Still not getting too many hours. When I am not working on it though, I feel like I should be. I have been working more at my other job, which is good because on my last paycheque from it, I had $65 which doesn't really go to far. I am trying to work 3 4hr shifts a week there, which isn't a whole lot but it'll get me some money. Considering, I am still not entirely sure whether or not I have been paid from the new job yet. 
3. Room cleaning. I put away the DVDs and the pop cans. I didn't get to the bellydance stuff. So that's for this week, as well as getting rid of all the plastic bags on my floor and general tidying.
4. Lose weight. I do think that a few pounds have come off. I just need to watch what I am eating and eat real food rather than ice cream and Toffifee and popcorn twists.
5. Going to the gym. I went to the gym between 2 and 2:30am twice this week. No Zumba this week either (I went with a friend to get pedicures instead). I am planning to go this week. Seriously this time.
6. Old books and clothes. Moving on.....nothing to see here....
7. Swear less. I swore under my breath more than I should have this week, especially when I realized I had dropped my $20 bill and bus tickets, and had to go home to get my debit card and bus fare. I was not happy.
8. Dance practice. Well, the show went well. My timing was a bit off but overall I think it well. I didn't forget the dance or look to my left the entire dance, like I usually do. I also think I had some sort of facial expression that wasn't confusion, so yay!!

After dance practice last Monday, I realized that I sort of did my costume wrong (I hemmed the wrong end of the pant legs). So I undid it on Tuesday, and hemmed the right part and got both legs somewhat the same length. All while my sister was at work, so ! I did it all by myself!! I was impressed with myself. I also had to sew some ribbons to the legs in order to keep them up.

So anyway, that was my week. Have a good week everyone!!

Agh. Late again

I guess the new job is kinda messing with my updating schedule. Or I should remember to update before I go into my older job at 10pm. I really don't feel like updating when I get in at 2am. The new job is going okay though. I like that it's something I can mostly do at my own pace. Hopefully I can get more hours with it, than I am currently.

1. Updating this blog. It almost didn't happen this week but here I am. 24 for 24.
2. Getting a new job. As I mentioned before, the new job is going okay. I may have to look into something else too. I do have more time now that I am not working overnight five days a week and thus not sleeping during the day all the time. I am not used to being in the sun this much!!! So I picked up an application from Sephora - which is an odd choice considering I know nothing about makeup, but with performing I do need to learn. A friend of mine that works there suggested it. My sister also sent me a link about a different job that I should look into. 
3. Room cleaning. It's not clean exactly by any stretch of the imagination. But I can see the floor. My job for this week is putting the DVDs that have migrated away back into the shelf, getting rid of the pop cans, and actually putting my dance stuff back in my under bed bin.
4. Lose weight. I actually think I did lose some weight this week - which makes sense, I've been walking enough.
5. Going to the gym. No Zumba this week - work happened instead. I did go to the gym twice thought. It turns out that going to the gym between 11 and 12 at night is enjoyable. It's a little busy but not too bad. I can use whatever machines I want. I can use the locker that I like. AND I can use the mats. 
6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
7. Swear less. I think I am getting better at the Mario Brothers game - I don't think I swore at it too much this week. 
8. Dance practice. I had dance practice on Monday, dance class on Tuesday and then I met one of the other girls for costuming stuff and to run through the dance a couple times on Saturday. I also practiced the dance a few times on my own. The show is on Tuesday so I should practice a bit more over the next couple days.

So costuming...One of the other girls I am dancing with took the costuming aspect into her own hands, which..THANK JEBUS. The costuming aspect of dance is the part that gives me panic attacks. I much prefer leaving it to other people to figure out. She did give me some pant legs  that I was supposed to fit to my leg and hem. Luckily, I found the trick to sewing at my house. What I do is I take so long and mess up so much that Colette decides that if she ever wants to play the Mario Brothers game again it would be better for her to do it for me. She is a lifesaver. Thanks, Colette.
So anyway, hopefully the costumes work out and the performance goes well.
Wish me luck!!

Better late than never

So, yes, I am late again. I really have no excuse other than sheer laziness. The good news is I got my new computer on Tuesday so I now have a computer in my room again. It is much more relaxing than upstairs. Anyway, on with how I did this week.

1. Updating this blog. Yup, finally. 23 for 23.
2. Get a new job. So I started training on Monday. I started the actual job on Wednesday. It's not bad but it's not very many hours. I am averaging probably 2 hours a day which really is nothing. I worked at my other job from 10pm to 2am on Thursday to get a few more hours. I will probably continue to work the other job 10pm - 2am a few days a week.
3. Room cleaning. Well I finally got my suitcase away. I also managed to finally put the box from my computer in a  less troublesome place. Other than that, not much is new there. 
4. Lose weight. The scale still claims that I am like 5 pounds less than I was at the start of the year. I'll take it. It's not a lot of progress but I'm getting there.
5. Going to the gym. I went to the gym after my 10-2 shift on Thursday. It was the first time I had ever been to the gym at 2 am, so it was a bit different. Very quiet but kinda cool. I may start doing that after all my 10-2 shifts (except Sunday nights, when the gym isn't open). I also wanted to go to Zumba on Saturday but was still doing some admin work for my new job.
6. Old books and clothes. Not much to report there.
7. Swear less. I think I actually swore more than I did last week. 
8. Dance practice. I went to the scheduled practice on Monday and class on Tuesday. I also practiced a few times this week on my own. 

So that's how I did this week. In other news, I read the book 'Spoiled' by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan this weekend. The authors are the people behind the website 'Go Fug Yourself' where they review celebrity fashion. Both the book and the website are hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The website 'Smart Bitches, Trashy Books' reviewed it much better than I am able to.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a good week.

Home again...

I am back in Ottawa again. I got home on Tuesday afternoon. It was an interesting flight. I finally figured out that the flights from Ottawa to Toronto and back offer free beer and wine all the time (probably to compete with Porter). When we landed in Ottawa everyone got up and started gathering their items to get off when there was an announcement from the pilot saying that there was no power at the airport so they can't get the bridge to us so we can deplane. A few minutes later there was another announcement saying that the outtage was indefinite so they were going to see about getting stairs brought over to the plane. I don't know when the outtage started but the entire airport was shutdown. Luckily the power came back on a few minutes later and we were able to get off the plane (and get our luggage).

On Wednesday, I woke up to find that the processor in the computer had died. I was not a happy camper. I tried turning it on a few times and nothing happened. I ended up buying a new one yesterday. Luckily Staples has a deal where they do a data transfer for free, so that's good. I am pretty sure it was just the processor that went because we just got a new hard drive for it last year. So, now I am using my really slow laptop.

Other than that, it's been a pretty uneventful week.

How did I do with my resolutions this week? Let's see:

1. Updating my blog. Here I am. 22 for 22.
2. Get a new job. Training starts tomorrow which means I actually have to wake up at a decent time (not the 2pm that I slept into today.
3. Room cleaning. Yeah, the room is a mess. My goal for the week is to clean the computer desk and finish unpacking. I did my laundry yesterday, so all that's really left in the suitcase is the clean stuff and some DVDs.
4. Lose weight. The scale says I am lighter but I am not so sure I believe it.
5. Going to the gym. I went to the gym after work on Wednesday and Thursday. I had planned to go to Zumba yesterday but I really didn't feel good most of the day.
6. Old clothes and books. Well, the books at Mom's house are separated into books I want, and books I don't want. The same cannot be said for the books here.
7. Swear less. Apart from when I die for the 7 millionth time on the Mario brothers game, I don't think I have been swearing a whole lot.
8. Dance practice. I went to dance practice on Tuesday, but I haven't really been too good about practicing. I think part of it has to do with my computer being gone. I blasted the song through my computer before. I am upstairs a lot more now.

Not much else is new for me. I am hoping the next two days of training go well. Have a good week!!!

Greetings from Saskatchewan

So I've been in Regina since Wednesday. I had a good flight. On the leg from Ottawa to Toronto, the crew was giving out free beer and wine for some reason, so I had a beer (because really, when does that ever happen?). My mom and niece were waiting for me at the airport. Thursday night we had a barbecue with my uncle's family. It was nice seeing everyone. Friday, I went to the candy store to get lemon drops. We went swimming Friday night. Saturday, we went out to my cousin's farm so I saw even more family. Today, I went for coffee with an old friend from dance. Then, I went to the 4th anniversary party for the RCMP Heritage Museum. Here is Miss B. by one of the old RCMP cruisers:

Anyway, here's how I did on this rather unusual week:

1. Updating this blog. Yay, I actually remembered. 21 for 21.
2. Get a new job. Not much to report other than that I now know where to go for my training and when it actually is. I am going to keep looking at other jobs for when it's done.
3. Room cleaning. I really don't have much to say about this considering I am not currently there. 
4. Lose weight. I think I gained a couple of pounds back, actually.
5. Going to the gym. I did end up going to the gym on Tuesday morning. I also went swimming Friday night and took my niece's dog for a couple of walks. 
6. Old clothes and books.  I am actually going through my old college books that I left at my mom's house. Other than that, not much to report.
7. Swear less. I definitely notice what I am saying more now that I have people here correcting me when I use more off-colour language. 
8. Dance practice. We had an official dance practice on Monday night that I found really helpful. We also had class Tuesday night. Other than one arm movement, I haven't really been practicing much on my own though.

So, I am having a good time on this trip. One more day, then I am heading back early Tuesday morning. Hope you're all having a good long weekend!!

Good news....

My ankle and knees are getting better but I didn't want to tax them too much so I took it easy this week. This coming week, I am only working tonight and tomorrow night, then I am going back home to Saskatchewan for a few days. I am really looking forward to that.

But first, how did I do this week?

1. Updating this blog. Well, here I am. 20 for 20.
2. Getting a new job. Well, I did a temporary job with the government, so I am quite happy. Unfortunately, as I said, it's just a temporary job and the hours aren't consistent so I am also planning on keeping my current job. In what capacity, I don't know. 
3. Room cleaning. Could definitely be better.
4. Lose weight. Amazingly enough, I only gained a pound or two from what I was last week. 
5. Going to the gym. I didn't get there this week. I wanted to give my ankle some recuperation time. If I go at all this week, it will be Tuesday morning.
6. Old books and clothes. Nothing new to report.
7. Swearing. Yup, I've been swearing. Probably more than last week. 
8. Dance practice. I went to dance class Tuesday. Sadly, by Wednesday morning I had forgotten what I had learned Tuesday night. I tried practising what I did remember but there are definitely some gaps.

So that's what happened this week. In other news, I went to see the movie 'Bridesmaids' last night, which I quite enjoyed. I also found out that my favourite show 'Chuck' was renewed for one more season, so I was quite happy. I also got a pedicure on Friday night, so every time I see my nice purple toes, my mood instantly brightens!!

Anyway, have a good week everyone!!

My ongoing war with stairs....

Not a really eventful week. Other than me falling down another set of stairs. This time there were two of them. I did manage to hurt myself this time though. I was walking out of the house to go to work on Thursday night, carrying my work backpack, my gym bag and the recycling to put at the curb when I stumbled and fell down the two steps leading to the driveway. Pretty sure this leaves only two sets of stairs on my property that I haven't fallen down. This time I sprained my ankle and skinned both knees. My right knee is also a bit inflamed so I can't put any pressure on it. I went into anyway but they sent me home since I was quite obviously in pain. I went to the doctor on Friday morning and he sent me for X-rays just to make sure that there wasn't a fracture. I went to the doctor again today to get my knee checked out. Yes, this does mean that I've fallen down 3 different sets of stairs in a month and a half. Hopefully, I won't fall down anymore stairs for awhile.

Anyway, how did I do with my resolutions this week? Let's see:

1. Updating the blog. Here I am. 19 for 19.
2. Getting a new job. Nothing new to report here. Sadly..I've been keeping an eye out on the job boards but other than that, not much.
3. Room cleaning. I did my laundry, which means I have less stuff on the floor. So, that's progress I guess. 
4. Lose weight. The scale is standing by it's opinion that I've lost a few pounds, so WOOHOO!!!
5. Going to the gym. Well, I made it twice this week before 'the incident'. I didn't go to Zumba though. I might go to the gym this week- going to take it easy though and mostly focus on ab work so I don't put too much pressure on my ankle.
6. Old books and clothes. Nothing new to report here.
7. Swear less. Not gonna lie, a few choice words may have escaped my lips after falling down the stairs.
8. Dance practice. I went to class on Tuesday. I practised the new choreography a few times a day - not so much since I hurt my ankle though. Trying to take it a bit easier so I can get through class on Tuesday.

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day. I hope you all have a good week.

Yay, it's on time this week!!

Not too much of an eventful week this week, but it was a bit more productive than normal for some things (and as unproductive as normal for others). Anyway, I need a nap so I'll get right to it.

1. Updating the blog. Here I am- on time this week too. 18 for 18.
2. Getting a new job. I heard from a job with the government, so that's good. I don't know if I am going to get it - I could choose between two start dates - the 16 or 30th of May. Since I am going home on the 18th, I said the 30th -- I don't know if that will hurt my chances. Also this week, a friend told me to email her my resume - I don't know why - but she may have a lead on a job. So things are looking up.
3. Room cleaning. Still a bunch of stuff on the floor. I tried to get most of my dirty clothes off the floor but now I have to sort out the rest. I should also wash those clothes.
4. Lose weight. The scale claims I am a bit lighter. I don't know that I believe it. It may just be that I am wearing capris instead of full jeans today.
5. Going to the gym. I did really well this week. I went to the gym three times this week after work and then to Zumba on Saturday. On Friday, I could even watch the Royal Wedding while I worked out. My goal is to do the same this week but I will try for at least twice plus Zumba.
6. Old books and clothes. This is the one I have not been so good at lately.
7. Swear less. Probably less but not sure.
8. Dance practice. I started learning a new choreography on Tuesday, so I practised that a few times this week. I also just free danced to a few songs. No official practices but it's better than usual. 

So anyway that was my week.

Yes, it's late...but I had an excuse, kinda.

Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you all had a nice relaxing Easter weekend.  I know I did....apart from the two hours I was trying to get the dessert I was trying to make to cooperate. Grrrr...it was delicious, but grrrrrr. We had some friends over for dinner, sent the kids on an egg treasure hunt, played Wii, ate Turkey and potatoes and various salads, and had my dessert.

The dessert I made has been taunting me for about the last ten (and a half) years. I made it once - I think for my Dad's 65th birthday, fell in love with it, and then promptly lost the recipe. Over the next few years, I would remember the recipe fondly and if I was back at my parents' house I would search for the recipe again...to no avail. I would check the internet off and on - couldn't find it. Luckily, I remembered the name and the basic procedure - if not the exact ingredients. Layer of crust, layer of apples, layer of crust, layer of apples, layer of crust, layer of apples, layer of crust, make some cuts through all the layers, pour sauce. Finally, a few months ago I typed Apple Dumpling Dessert into Google et voila!!!

 The dessert was a lot harder to make than I remembered - I probably blocked the actual baking of it from my memory. The crust was quite hard to roll out - it would crumble so much I could hardly do anything with it, or I would get it to the right size okay but now it's stuck to the counter so when I try to pick it up it falls apart. Eventually, I just rolled it between two sheets of wax papers so it wouldn't stick to the counter or the rolling pin and would actually stay together. By eventually, I mean after trying to roll the first layer of crust out for an hour (Come to think of it, I ended up rolling the first layer out in the bottom of the pan). But all in all, it was quite tasty, and now that I know the wax paper trick, it'll be easier if I try to make it again.

So, how did I do this week with my resolutions? Let's see....

1. Updating. Even though I am late, here I am. 17 for 17.
2. Getting a new job. Not much is new on that front. I did teach myself (AKA asked someone show me) how to filter the vats at work. I also cleaned the grills for the first time. I figure learning new skills at my current job can only help me. I also expressed interest in moving up in the company when one of the managers asked.
3. Room cleaning. I didn't get to my room, but I did vacuum the hall downstairs and cleaned my bathroom. I really need to work on my room now though.
4. Lose weight. I think I am still hovering around the same weight, although I haven't checked since the feast yesterday. Scared to. I was about the same before the feast.
5. Going to the gym. I made it to the gym twice after work and then to Zumba on Saturday. I am going to try for the same (or more) this week. I was going to go a third time but I burnt my finger on Thursday, and Friday the gym was closed.
6. Old clothes and books. Not so much.
7. Swearing. I think I am swearing less. Man, this resolution is kinda arbitrary.
8. Dancing. I did a little bit of dance practice this week. I think I am starting classes again this week (learning a new choreography) so I will have something to practice at home.

Not a bad week, overall.

Slightly better.

I have to say that my motivation and interest is flagging. I do have a bunch of cleaning to do before next weekend. So, how did I do?

1. Updating. Here I am. 16 for 16.
2. New job. I don't think that other job is going to pan out. I've been checking jobs out online but nothing is really popping out at me. 
3. Room cleaning. Not so much. I do have less dirty clothes on the floor than usual - so I guess that's good. I need to clean the bathroom, vacuum the hall, and clean up my floor this week.
4. Lose weight. I think I lost a couple pounds this week. So yay.
5. Going to the gym. I made it to the gym after work twice this week and went to Zumba yesterday. Much better than last week.
6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
7. Swearing. I think I did better.
8. Dancing. Other than casually dancing a couple times and Zumba, not much on that front this week.

So better than last week, but not by much.

Massive fail...

Nothing much happened this week with any of my goals. There were a bunch of false starts and almost progress. But actual progress....not so much.

So, how did I do?

1. Updating the blog. Here we are - 15 for 15.
2. New job. I haven't heard anything about the job I was hoping for yet. So that's disappointing. I did apply for a job this week. 
3. Room cleaning. Not so much.
4. Losing weight. Holding steady.
5. Going to the gym. Massive fail this week. I went TO the gym three times this week but only worked out once. On Tuesday, I got to the gym and realized that I forgot my shoes at home. I didn't go Wednesday morning because I was planning on Zumba Wednesday night. I went to go to Zumba Wednesday night but the line for it was so long I had no hope of getting in to the class and the thought of being so squished into the room I could hardly move wasn't appealing. I did work out Thursday morning, I was going to go Friday as well but I fell down the stair Thursday night and was so sore that going to the gym just didn't appeal. This week, I plan to do better (I can't do much worse).
6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
7. Swear less. I don't think I swore excessively much this week.
8. Dance practice. No official dance practice this week. 

So not as productive as one would hope. Next week, should be better.

Running out of ideas for titles.

Not a bad week. Last night though, I thought I would relax on the couch with a glass of wine and watch my 'Greek' DVDs. The wine was quite good - It was very fruity. It didn't even taste like wine - which explains why by the time the last episode of the disc came on, the bottle was empty. It was sad...but tasty. I also had to deal with Colette mocking me mercilessly when she came home.

So, here's how I did this week....

1. Updating the blog. Here we are - 14 for 14.
2. Get a new job. I had a phone interview for the job from last week on Thursday. I also know that they checked at least one of my references. So, my fingers are crossed.
3. Room cleaning. Still not great. I tidied my desk a bit and shredded some papers - mostly crazy old credit card bills.
4. Lose weight. I appear to have lost a pound or two--yay!! I originally thought I had lost three or four pounds....then I let go of the wall.
5. Go to the gym. So this week, I went to the gym 3 times after work and I went to Zumba yesterday. I am going to try to do the same this coming week, except I'll probably go to Zumba on Wednesday instead of on Saturday.
6. Old books and clothes. Not much happening there this week.
7. Swear less. Not so much this week. 
8. Dance practice. I went to dance class on Tuesday - the last one for a while. I also put on music a couple time and just fooled around with it.

So, not a bad week, not as productive as it could have been though.

A much better week all around.

This week was so much better than last week. I guess it really couldn't get much worse (without something terrible happening). The only thing that sucked was that I still didn't have access to my online accounts since I was waiting for my cards to come in the mail. But really, that is nothing compared to last week. My cards came on Friday so I was happy.
How did I do this week? Lets see....

1. Updating the blog. Here we are...13 for 13. 1/4 of the way through 2011. 
2. Get a new job. I had a test on Thursday for a government job. Hopefully, something comes out of that. I think I did pretty well on the test. 
3. Room cleaning. Not much has come of that this week. My floor is pretty clear but I still have extraneous papers all over. My main goal for this upcoming week is to work on my computer desk. It is getting kinda ridiculous.
4. Lose weight. Still holding out at the same weight.
5. Going to the gym. I made it twice this week and I made it to Zumba yesterday. I am glad I went yesterday, I had a lot of fun. So my plan for this week is basically the same, I might try to go after work 3 times instead of two this week. 
6. Old clothes and books. I haven't really done anything with that since last week. Will try to do more this week.
7. Swear less. Not so much. Not as much as last week but more than the week before.
8. Dance practice. I went to practice on Tuesday again. I also practised a little at home a couple of times. It turns out that there is one more class this week, so I will try to make it this week. After that, there won't be any classes with my teacher until nearly the end of April.

So, it could have been better but it could have been worse too.

In other news, I am completely addicted to this song:

Beware the Ides of March.....seriously.

What a week. Actually, it wasn't so much the week as the day. Specifically, the two hours between 7 and 9am on Tuesday. It would have been hard to have a worse two hours without severe bodily harm or death involved.  Luckily, it didn't come to that. So what happened? Well, I worked till 6am, as usual. I went to the gym, as somewhat usual. On the way to the gym, I was listening to the radio, They were talking about the Ides of March and how it's generally not a good idea to be too cocky or over-confident on the 15th of March because bad things happen. Let's just say I didn't think that overconfidence was an issue.
On my way home from the gym, I noticed the stoplight too late and ended up in an accident. I would have been fine but it was a bit on the icy side that morning and my brakes weren't as effective as usual. At least that's my contention. So, we pulled off to the side of the road  to exchange information. I had my wallet in the trunk so I had to get my license and insurance info out of the trunk. I drove into the parking lot we were right beside to gather myself and put my license back into my wallet. No wallet. I checked the trunk. No wallet. I ran back to where we pulled off the road. Still no wallet. I ended up going home and telling Colette what happened. She was sympathetic......at this point. I was kind of freaking out - more about the wallet at this point than the accident. I checked the car again. Checked my work bag and gym. Still no wallet. Where could it have gone? I called the other person involved in the accident to see if it had gotten mixed up with her things. It hadn't. So I cancelled one of my credit cards, put a hold on the other one.
Before Colette left for work, I had gone downstairs. I went back up after she left to get some of the things I had forgotten. On the way back down, I fell down stairs. It was only three stairs but it was still just one more thing to add to my already bad day. I sent Colette a text saying '...and then I fell down the stairs.' She called me back hysterically laughing. Yes, she was sympathetic about the accident and about the wallet, but as soon as I fell down the stairs it became funny...one more thing in this series of calamities. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Someone phoned the next day to tell me they had my wallet. Colette was nice enough to pick it up for me on her lunch break. I was able to cancel the hold on the one credit card and was able to use it to pay for the repairs to the other person's car. Mine had no damage. As far as accidents go, it was really quite minor. I am still waiting for my one credit card, one debit card and my health card (I had cancelled the debit and health card before they called to say they had found my wallet). So, that was my week in non resolution news. How did I do otherwise? Let's see.

1. Update the blog. Here I is. 12 for 12. I am happy that I have been able to keep up with this one - if none of the other ones. 
2. Get a new job. I didn't do much on this one this week. I think I applied for one job this week. I also looked at French classes. I haven't signed up for any yet though. 
3. Room cleaning. Well, I finally opened the file thing I bought a few weeks ago. I even put some papers in it. But compared to the sheer amount of papers I have hanging around my room, I haven't really done much. To give you a reference point, I found credit card bills in my room from Oct 2009. Hopefully, this week will be less of a gong show and I will actually feel like cleaning (that'll be a first - me feel like cleaning??)
4. Lose weight. I am pretty much still hovering right around where I was when I started. Sadly....But at least I haven't gained weight.
5. Gym twice per week. I made it twice this week. I was thinking about going a third time but by the time Thursday morning rolled around, I really didn't feel like it. I am thinking about adding a weekend Zumba class to the schedule though. I really enjoyed it before and want to get back to it. So the plan for this week is to go to the gym after work at least twice and then go to Zumba on Saturday. We'll see how it goes. 
6. Old clothes and books. I spent much of Monday morning organizing the books in my book cupboard. Sorting them by series/author. I discovered that I am missing one book from a series (I own it, I am just not entirely sure about it's whereabouts). I also found a few more books that I am not planning on keeping. It's not finished, but it's a start. 
7. Swear less. I am pretty sure I swore more this week this week than I did last week. But given the week I had, it was understandable I guess. 
8. Dance practice. I didn't practice every day this week. I did attend class on Tuesday night. It helped get my mind off the disastrous day I had. I also practised two other times this week, at least. I am going to try to go to class again this week. That will be the last class for awhile because my teacher is going to be gone for much of April.

So that was my 'lovely' week. Hope yours was better.

Sleep would be good.

I had a busy week involving less sleeping than I would have liked. Mostly, my fault - I really need to schedule appointments better - but it was annoying. As I mentioned last week, I had an interview on Wednesday. The interview was scheduled for 4:30 but I had to be there 20 minutes early. They said that the process would be about 30 minutes but in reality it took an hour and a half because they were interviewing about 50 people, so it was a lot of waiting for your turn.
But anyway, I originally had an appointment with a specialist on Wednesday at 1, but if I had kept that appointment, I really would not have had any sleep. So I called to change the appointment on Monday, and the doctor had an opening on Tuesday at 3:45. So, I had to wake up early on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, my doctor wanted an extra test done so I had to schedule that appointment. I, in my brilliance, scheduled that appointment for 4 on Thursday. So that's three days in a row I didn't sleep as much as I should have. At least,I went back to bed after my Thursday appointment. Then on Friday, I had a meeting at the bank at 9:30am. So I didn't get to sleep till after 12 that day. But I now feel all grown up with Mutual Funds and all. So that was my busy week. This week shouldn't be quite as hectic.

So, how did I do?

1. Updating the blog. Here I am again. 11 for 11.
2. Find a new job. I think the interview on Wednesday went okay, but I do think that they are looking for someone who speaks more French than I do. I am going to wait a little bit, just to see if this job pans out and then I am going to look for French classes in the community so I can improve my French and increase my chances of getting a job here in Ottawa. I should find out about the job soon since it starts in April.
3. Room cleaning. Yeah, not much happened on that front this week. My floor is not full of stuff though so that is good. I do want to re-clean my chair and organize my papers (finally) this week.
4. Lose weight. Amazingly enough, I did not gain any weight this week. I say that is amazing because last night we went out for supper to 'The Works', which is a specialty burger place here in Ottawa. The food is sooo good, but it is very filling. I also had 1/3 of a lemon pie today. So there is that too.
5. Gym twice per week. Well, I made it once. The rest of the week I was pretty tired. Next week will be more about sleep so I should be awake enough to go to the gym. Hopefully, I'll make it three times but at least two.
6. Old books and clothes. Not much happened there this week. 
7. Swear less. I continue to use the phrase 'crap on a cracker'. I am surprised my language hasn't gotten worse considering how horrible I am at the Wii game I bought last week. 
8. Dance practice. Didn't do any practice this week. I am going to try to go to a dance class this week, and practice at home as well.

So, I really didn't get a lot done this week. Hopefully, I'll get more done next week. Sleep will help.

Not too bad this week.

Have to say, after last weekend, this weekend was rather anticlimactic. No show, no workshop. It is, however, possible that Colette mentioned playing a certain Wii game and liking it. It is also possible that I went and bought it. And we may have ended up playing it for three hours this afternoon. Not saying it happened, but it is entirely possible. (I actually don't know that it was three hours, it could have been 2 and a half. Just saying...)

So, how did I do this week?

1. Updating this here web log. Here I am, again. 10 for 10. I am actually quite happy considering before this had not done it for over a year.
2. Getting a new job. I don't have my French test results yet, but I do have an interview for that job on Wednesday, so my finger's are crossed. I hope it goes well. It is only a temporary position but it will get me some much desired experience with the government, so I am quite hopeful.
3. Room cleaning. I did get the whole pile of books off my floor, so yay. The shelf I keep my books on is getting rather full now though. It's a good thing I have my Kobo, because otherwise I would have some real space issues. I also put most of my DVDs that were in my room in my shelf. As you can see, I have a few DVDs, so getting them off the floor went along way to help get my room a bit more cleaned up.
4. Lose weight. Nothing has changed. At this point, I am happy that I am not gaining anything.
5. Gym twice per week. I made it to the gym three times this week. I was going to try going four times next week, but with the interview, I don't know if that's going to happen. I even went for a walk yesterday.
6. Old books and clothes. As I mentioned before, my book shelf is getting full. I am going to have to go through my books again and be even more ruthless. There are a few I know I want to keep, but I am pretty sure I don't need all of them.
7. Swear less. I really think I have been swearing less this week. I have been saying "Holy crap on a cracker" a lot though, so I don't know if that is much better.
8. Dance practice. I have been dancing almost everyday. I think last weekend's workshop inspired me. I also bought a belt last weekend, which I love and I like dancing with it on. 

So anyway, not a bad week.

Here's hoping my interview goes alright on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Busy, busy, busy

As expected, didn't get much done this week, particularly since most weeks I tend to wait for the weekend to do anything and this weekend wasn't available. The show on Friday night was quite good, and the workshop this weekend was quite informative. Anyway, on with the show...

1. Updating. Still here - 9 out of 9.
2. New job. I haven't heard back from the French exam (with my undoubtedly poor marks) yet. I did, however, find out that the company I had an interview with last week will not be pursuing my application further, which was not unexpected considering how the interview went. 
3. Room cleaning. Not much happened on that score this week. I have the night off tonight so I should be awake tomorrow and plan to get a bunch of stuff done then. 
4. Lose weight. Same as always.
5. Gym twice per week. I did go three times this week. Yay! I am hoping to go three times again this week and then try for four next week. We'll see how it goes.
6. Old books and clothes. Books are still on the floor. Will try to get to it tomorrow.
7. Swear less. I don't think I've been swearing as much as usual this week. 
8. Dance practice. Sadly I didn't get to practice twice per day last week. Honestly, my performance wasn't as good as it could have been. My mind wasn't completely where it should have been when I was dancing. The workshop this weekend really gave me some stuff to work on. We talked about being completely present in your dance whether you are just practising or performing. We also talked about the importance of dance expression. I found it really interesting and informative. There are a lot of things that we talked about that I want to incorporate into my own practice. 

Anyway, I had a great time this weekend. It was great seeing Beatbox Guitar and Ariellah perform live. I have a lot of stuff to think about now too.

In other news, my niece is turning 7 tomorrow-ish. I can't believe it - she's growing up so fast. Anyway, Happy Birthday Bella!

Not so good

Okay, this may be the least enthusiastic I've been about doing a post. Mostly because I had an entire post written, nearly ready to publish, and then I went to edit it and POOF! It completely disappeared. So this is take two. So without further preamble, here's what happened this week.

1. Update every week. It may be late, but here it is . 8 for 8.
2. Get a new job. Sigh. I had my Government French test on Tuesday. I really don't know how I did - I didn't understand half the test so that's not a good sign. About halfway through the first part of the test, my brain was fried. Luckily, the job it was for had a number of different language requirements so hopefully doing poorly on that test did not completely destroy any chance of a job. In other news, I had an interview on Friday with the company I had a store visit with last week. I don't think it went super well. They asked the same question that had asked on the phone, and still didn't seem to like my answer. I should have done more thinking about that question, I guess. Basically they asked me why I wanted to leave my current job at a fast food restaurant. The answer I gave them was that I felt that I had learned as much as I could there and wanted to move on. Apparently since I am not a manager, that isn't exactly true since I don't know management type stuff. Then we got into a discussion of why I am not a manager (why couldn't I move to day shift, switch to a different store, etc).  At one point I said something about not really wanting to be a manager at a fast food restaurant. Which lead to the question of  'Why not?' I brought up the stress level to pay ratio, and the interviewer said something like 'It's about the money, then'. I was like 'I guess so', happy that we finally reached a reason that she would accept. But much of the interview was like that. It almost felt like she was trying to catch me in some sort of contradiction. I just thought it was odd, considering they are the ones that contacted me after finding my resume on Monster - it wasn't a job I had actually applied for. At least now, I have thought of a more in depth answer to that question should it come up again. I do think part of my problem both times was lack of sleep. She caught me just as I was going to bed when she called the first time, and I went to the interview after only three hours of sleep.
3. Room cleaning. My room is in fact still a mess. I did buy a DVD rack from IKEA, and even managed to put it together unassisted. I just need to get the shelves in and find all my DVDS  to put those in as well. My papers are still scattered and my floor is still a mess. I will try to work on it this week.
4. Lose weight. Holding steady.
5. Gym twice per week. I had intended to go four times last week. Barely managed to go twice. Going to try to go 3 times this week. I am too busy this week to really push for more than that (although actually, the business is this weekend rather than during the week.)
6. Old books and clothes. Not much news on that front. My goal for this week is to get the books I intend to keep off the floor.
7. Swear less. I think I am swearing less. It's hard to keep track of. I don't think I am swearing more.
8. Dance practice. Sadly this hasn't been happening regularly. Since I have a performance on Friday, my goal for this week is to practice the choreography twice everyday. I have a workshop on Saturday and Sunday. I should take a notebook this time and write down the more interesting parts. I always think I am going to remember stuff from workshops and never do.

As I just mentioned, I have a show on Friday called The Dark Urban Cabaret featuring Ariellah and Beatbox Guitar. I am pretty excited to see both Ariellah and Beatbox Guitar perform live. Ariellah is from San Franscisco and she will also be teaching the workshop. Anyway, here's a video:

The name pretty much says it all for Beatbox Guitar - one guy plays guitar (or whatever instrument he's playing in the clip below) while the other guy beatboxes to it. Cue video:

Anyway, that's what is happening this weekend

Progress...

This has been a productive week for me on a couple of different counts. There is still stuff I have to work on but That will come with time. Anyway, here we go.....

1. Update once a week. Well, here I am.... 7 for 7.
2. Get a new job. Earlier this week, I got a call from a recruiter for a company that found my resume on Monster.com. She asked me a bunch of questions that I realize now I should have prepared for (in general), I found it hard to answer those questions off the cuff, especially when she wanted me to expand on my answers. Anyway, it has given me questions to think about. Ultimately, after that phone call, I phoned someone else to set up a store visit to see if I wanted to go ahead with an interview. I went on the store visit yesterday, and it seemed like a good place to work. I will phone tomorrow to set up an interview. Also, yesterday I got an email letting me know that I am scheduled for French Language testing for a government job I applied for. I am not bilingual but I applied for the job because it said they were looking for people with varying language abilities. Also, yesterday, I bought software to help improve my typing abilities. My sister mocked me because I was disappointment that I haven't improved in the last 24 hours.
3. Room cleaning. Okay, looking at my floor my room ain't so clean. Neither is the floor in the bathroom.  I did put the dance stuff I'm not using in the container I bought last week. I also got most of the stuff I need for the upcoming show together. I just need to wash the pants and I'm good. I bought a file organizer for my papers, I don't know exactly where is a good place for it right now, I'll have to think about it. I also need to actually put my papers in it. I keep buying stuff and then thinking of something else that would be good to have. Now that I bought a file organizer, it occurs to me that an entertainment stand for my DVDs would be good. Right now they are just stacked up by my TV, Or on my computer desk. Or upstairs in Colette's entertainment stand (which is getting quite full). I think a trip to IKEA is in my future. My last couch is getting cleaner, more work needs to be done with it. I also need to redo the chair. 
4. Lose weight. It appears that I gained weight this week, sadly. It's not entirely surprising since I made cookies today. I'll have to pay attention to how many cookies I eat this week, instead of gorging on them like I normally do. 
5. Go to the gym twice a week. Once again, I managed to go to the gym three times this week. I am going to see if I can up it to four this week. 
6. Go through old books and clothes. Not much happened on this front. I did stop myself from buying two books when I was at the book store this week. I realized I should check for the eBook before I buy a hard copy. I did manage to find it online so that's two less books I have floating around the house. 
7. Swear less. Yeah, um, not so much this week. 
8. Dance practice. I don't think I practised every day but I did practice a couple of days this week. I also bought myself a new MP3 player which should help. I had an hour and a half rehearsal on Friday night as well.

Anyway, not much else happened this week. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Still work to do..

I think I am liking updating on Sundays rather than Saturdays. It gives me more time to accomplish things on the weekend than updating on Saturdays did. So how did I fare this week? Let's see....

1. Update once a week. Here I am updating...so that's 6 for 6. I actually almost forgot this week, so I am extra proud that I managed to get to it.
2. Get a new job. It was a slow week for job stuff. I had a call back and I had scheduled an interview but the more I thought about the job (the hours it would be for, the job description, etc) I decided ultimately  to cancel. The job would have been from 1-9pm Monday to Friday, which is not the best time for me if I want to keep dancing.
3. Room cleaning. So that last chair is a bit better, not perfect though. It still has a few things on it, but it's not as bad as it was. The floor can still use some work. I did by a container for my dance though. I have to go through the dance stuff and put as much as I can in it now. I bought a container specifically to be able to fit under the bed so that should get all of my dance stuff out of the way. I think the next thing I need for my room would be a file cabinet. I have papers all over my room and having them in one place would go along way to helping me keep my room clean.
4. Lose weight. I appear to have lost a few pounds, but we'll see if that last. 
5. Go to the gym twice a week. I actually made it three times this week. Once again I broke my own record for the distance I can go in ten minutes on the Elliptical so that made me happy.
6. Go through old clothes and books. I went through my closet  upstairs and got rid of the clothes I either don't wear or don't fit anymore. We brought them to the Salvation Army today. We tried taking them in yesterday but forgot to check where the Salvation Army was actually located before we left. We checked this morning and realized where we went wrong yesterday, so those clothes are out of the house/car now. So yay!! 
7. Swear less. I don't think that happened this week. I was kind of annoyed a lot of the week and I probably swore a bit more than I have been lately.
8. Dance practice. I don't think I practised everyday, but I did try practising every now and then. I also watched some old performance videos to remind myself of some of the moves. I did practice some of my old combinations. I also listened to some songs that I've always wanted to dance to.

Anyway, that was my week. In other news, Colette and I saw 'The King's Speech' today. It was really good and made me want to research more about the Royal Family. So that's pretty much what I did this afternoon.  Anyway, that's all for this week.

Whoops. A little bit late.

I am a bit late this weekend. I wanted to get at least one of my goals done before I wrote my post this weekend, and I couldn't do it yesterday because I slept pretty much all day yesterday. I got it done today so we're good to go. So on to the resolutions...

1. Update once a week. Technically it's been 8 days since my last post but I figure as long as I post every weekend, it still counts. So, we're 5 for 5.
2. Get a new job. I actually had 3 call backs this week. That's about as far as it went. The first call back was from a company with a position in Edmonton. I'm not really ready to move across the country just yet, so that's where I left it. The second call back left a message, I tried calling back and left a voice mail, but I haven't heard anymore. The third one left a voice mail which I didn't find out about until Friday at 8pm which seemed like a poor time to call back. I'll call back first thing tomorrow. Fingers are crossed. I feel like I am making progress now though, so that's good.
3. Cleaning my room. Now that I look at what I wrote last week, I realize what hasn't been done. I have one of my chairs more organized, so that's progress. The last one, not so much. I really have to get to it though. Looking at what was on one of my chairs, I realize part of the problem is I don't have a specific place to put all of my dance stuff. Back home, I had a container that I would slide under my bed. It was convenient and it didn't take up the same amount of space. Next week for sure, I will clean my chair and clean up my floor clutter. 
4. Lose some weight. Still holding at the same weight. That doesn't really surprise me. I am happy I am not gaining weight at least. 
5. Go to the gym twice a week. Made it twice this week again. I may have gone a third time but I hurt my knee and decided to give it a rest. We'll see how I do this week. 
6. Go through old clothes and books. I brought my books in today, so that's progress. I didn't get much money for them but I am just happy they are out of my house at this point. This week I'll look at my clothes in the closet upstairs again and try to get the ones I don't want anymore out of the house.
7. Swear less. I don't know. I've noticed myself using the word 'fudge' a lot, but I've also noticed myself swearing. I definitely don't think I am swearing as much as I did before Christmas, so that's good.
8. Dance practice. I haven't practised everyday. I had a rehearsal with my teacher on Friday night for about an hour. She challenged me to choreograph a dance for myself. I think that is what I want to work on in the next few weeks. This week I want to go through some old videos or YouTube videos to look at moves and combinations, and practice the ones I like. It may help give me ideas when I choose which song I want to dance to.

So anyway, that was my week. Hopefully I'll do better next week.

Titles are hard..

Wow, I think updating once a week is working out much better than everyday. So far at least. The hardest part is thinking of a title...which I suck at. Pretty much a work and sleep sort of week again. I did go to the mall yesterday for a bit. I bought myself a scarf and a wallet, which I am happy with. I saw a similar wallet at the Bay last week but it was $70 and I didn't really want to pay that much. The wallet I bought was $40 less, which still means it was $30 but that is much better anyway. On to my resolutions.....

1. Update once a week. Yay, 4 for 4. I kind of want to write a non-resolution post sometime but who knows when that will happen.
2. Get a new job. I applied for a few more jobs this week. Haven't heard back from anywhere yet. I should look into computer and French language classes in the community or online to enhance my skills. The trouble with looking for a job in Ottawa is that everywhere seems to require some level of bilingualism and, while I understand and speak a little French, I am no where near bilingual and the French I do have is a bit rusty.
3. Cleaning my room. Well, my chairs have not been cleaned off yet, so that was a fail. I will try to get to it next week. I did go through my clothes shelves to organize and get rid of the stuff I don't need anymore. I should go through the closet upstairs and do the same thing. I did manage to put most of my clothes in the shelving unit, though I don't have a place for my underwear yet. Next weeks job, I guess. Also, my floor is getting cluttered again, so I should clean that up again.
4. Lose some weight. I am still holding steady at the same weight. I think I am now a couple pounds down but I am not really counting on it.
5. Go to the gym twice a week. Yay, I did it. I actually exceeded by going three times instead. YAY!!! Also, Tuesday morning I used the elliptical for the first time since probably September and I did better than I normally do. I don't know what unit of distance they use on the machines but whatever unit they use I went an entire one (km or mile or whatever) in under 10 minutes (if that makes any sense). Before it took over ten minutes for me to do that. I was pretty dead by the end but I was quite happy with myself.
6. Go through old clothes and books. As I said earlier in the post, I went through most of my clothes this week. Colette wants me to go through my books this week so I can take them in (and take hers too). So that's next weeks goal. It has the added bonus of getting them off my floor, so that helps my other goal.
7. Swear less. I have decided that this is a very hard goal to quantify. I figure I am going to have to start keeping track of how much I swear everyday and try to swear less each day. I don't think I am swearing as much as I did but it is very hard to judge.
8. Practice dance everyday. Hasn't happened this week. I did an hour and a half of practice with my teacher on Sunday because we are getting ready for a show. I have been practising my glut squeezes which probably sounds weird, but it is really hard and is something we use all the time. It helps when you try to shimmy while doing something else like a hip figure-eight. Now, squeezing the glut doesn't sound hard but trying to squeeze one than the other in rapid succession while doing something else can get complicated. I end up with a funny look on my face from trying so hard. So I have been practising every day. For a little bit anyway.

So that was my week. I have been a bit sidetracked the last two days because I got Lego Harry Potter for my DS and have gotten a bit addicted. Anyway, have a great week.

Some successes, some failures.

So, I was actually back at work this week, all five days in fact. My pay cheque wasn't as bad as I thought it would be based on the fact that I only worked one day in that pay period. Luckily, there was a statutory holiday in there. Not a whole lot else happened; as usual, the week pretty much consisted of working and sleeping. But here's how my resolutions went this week:

1. Update blog every week. So far so good. 3 down, 49 left to go.
2. Get a new job. This week, as far as job hunting goes, I applied for a few jobs. I also put my name in at some staffing agencies, such as Kelly Services, Adecco, and Randstad. Hopefully that will assist with the job finding process. 
3. Cleaning my room and keeping it clean. The floor is still visible, so yay. One of my chairs is mostly cleaned off. It has a couple of papers on it as well as the socks whose mates I can't find but other than that, it's good to go. I really have to reorganize my shelving unit. I have no room for anything more it in. So I guess that would also qualify as resolution #6. So that's my goal for next week, as well as tackling the other two chairs.
4. Lose some weight. Weighing my self this week, it looks like I lost some weight but I am pretty sure that I am holding steady at the same weight as before. I should really weigh myself when I wake up one day, before I eat anything, and use that as the base number.
5. Go to the gym twice per week. I actually made it to the gym twice this week. I was quite happy with myself. In addition, I went on a long walk Friday morning. I had to go to the bank by bus to fix some money issues. Unfortunately, a water main broke which created a sinkhole, so the main road was closed, which rerouted the buses. According to the website, the bus stop I would normally use was still in use (the detour was farther along), so I waited...and waited...and waited. I finally decided to walk down the street in the direction the bus would be coming from so I could get to the other main road and not miss the bus I wanted to take. I made it to the other main road and caught a different bus, but the walk was longer than I had expected. 
6. Go through old clothes and books. Not yet.
7. Swear less. I think I am swearing less but occasionally, one slips out. I am trying to pay more attention to the language I am using.
8. Practice dance everyday. Sadly, this did not happen this week, officially. I occasionally practice one of the exercises we use but it's usually while I am doing something else. I do think that move is getting better though.

So that's how I did this week. Hopefully, the giant sinkhole will be fixed soon, because I have to the bus to the bank again next week as my money saga continues to unfold.