Monday, January 29, 2007

The Weekend

The weekend started off not so good. I went into work on Friday because I was feeling better and decided I might feel even better if I went to the gym for a run... big mistake. When you are sick stay sick and get rest not excercise. My legs rebelled completely and I wasn't even able to get through a quarter mile running. I opted instead for a 40 minute walk on the treadmill and some time in the sauna (the heat felt really good). Near the end of the day my fever returned and I spent the rest of Friday shivering on the couch under a blanket. Thursday we had stopped into Blockbuster and bought some DVD's. Darrell wanted to rent "An Inconvenient Truth" by (should have been president of the United States) Al Gore but ended up buying a copy instead, and I picked up four previously veiweds for $20. So Friday night I wrapped up tight in my Blankie and Watched "Failure to Launch". It was a fairly good movie but I'm glad I only paid five dollars for it.

We watched "An Inconvenient Truth" on Thursday night and it was extremely eye opening. It really is too bad the Repulicans stole that election because I bet Al Gore would have been one of the greatest Presidents the US ever had. Oh.. in case you don't know "An Inconvenient Truth" is about Global Warming and well worth seeing if you haven't already... Like I said it's a real eye opener.

Saturday we had Helen's Birthday Party at our place. I made a roast beef dinner for seven with twice baked Potatoes and stir fried Veggies. Nancy made sex in a pan for desert (sooooooooooo yummy), she and Chad also brought the Boney M & Scissor Sisters DVDs (it was an Abba/disco party. Ironically we didn't get to Abba until everyone was leaving), and Bertis made the Birthday cake (triple layer chocolate cake with Chocolate cream cheese & Sour cream icing...... yes, it was as good as it sounds and then some & that third layer really separates the lightweights from the truely committed.). It ended kind of early but was still a really good evening with friends.

Sunday I was back on the couch in my balnkie and my fleece robe. I managed to get the laundry done, and watch "The Producers" dvd, and that was about it.

Today I am at working, so far feeling pretty good... touch wood. I think I will pass on the gym today just to be on the safe side, and if I have a fever relapse I will definitely stay home tomorrow no matter how I feel in the morning. I have to get back in top shape for Auditions next week... I know there are some extremely talented people going after the role I want so I have to be able to bring a performance level audition if I want to even be considered for the part.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Feeling crappy

I started developing a cold yesterday. I had a fever and a stuffy nose. Today just a stuffy nose and sore throat. I was going to stay home, but felt better today than I did yesterday and have alot of work to do. Luckily Darrell had the cold first so I don'thave to worry about giving it to him because he's more than likely where I got it from. I hope it doesn't drag on for along time because Cabaret auditions are coming up a week from Monday, and I want to be in top shape for them. I've been working my ass off at the gym to get my stomach flat, and listening to every version of the show I can find to familiarize myself with the music... so it would suck like hell if I had a cold the week of auditions.

Friday January 26, 2007

Appetizer
If you could take lessons to learn any musical instrument, which would you want to learn?
Paino, Guitar, Violin/Fiddle

Soup
Have you ever mistaken a person for someone else?
Many many times...I really suck with names.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?
9

Main Course
What's the closest you've ever been to a dangerous animal?
Define Dangerous... Some people consider Pit Bull Terrier Dangerous, but they're basically only as bad as the people who own them. I've been about 20 feet from a bear at the dump in the Queen Charolottes. I've been to zoos where the animals are right onthe other side of the fense or glass. I held a boa constrictor. Darrell wrangled a Porcupine into a box in our yard to relocate him and I was there.

Dessert
When was the last time you lost your patience?
I'm generally an impatient person, but I'm aware of it so I work very hard to not lose it. I can't remember a recent incident of losing my patience with an actual person but I do lose it with my computer occasionally.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Burning fat Book

I've been reading the book I downloaded and discovered I've been doing a few thing wrong and could've been getting better results. For starters my runs haven't been long enough, as in duration not distance. I've been doing 20 minutes of cardio a day which sounds like a lot, but 40 minutes a day is what I should've been doing. Only genetically gifted people see results on 20 minutes a day, and of all my wonderful gifts fat burning wasn't one of them.

I am starting a new daily eating routine based on what I've learned in this book, because I may have actually been acidentally starving myself without knowing it. I'm not sure of that, because I haven't done all the math yet, but it's possible. I'll be bumping it up to six small meals a day three hours apart to supercharge my metabolism. I'll have three days where I'm at a 20% calorie deficit then one where I'm at my maintenance level so my body doesn't go into starvation mode... this way I'll burn fat without losing lean body mass. One of the little things I didn't know was that losing more than 2 pounds a week is detrimental, because your body can only burn two pound of fat off per week and anything else is water and muscle mass... which will induce the starvation cycle of your body, lower your metabolism, and make your body start storing fat.... you may be losing weight the entire time, but you're screwing yourself while you do it. Of course that's all based on someone whose in the average ranges like me...I've just got some pudge on my gut I'm by no means obese.

At any rate the book is in pdf form and I've uploaded it to my rapidshare acocunt so if you want have a read through it here's the link to download it:
click here
Just choose the free download option...you don't have to sign up for anything.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Good Weekend

Friday I got in a really good upperbody workout plus a mile & a half run. I downloaded a really good book about burning fat that will help me "reveal" the abs. Everyone has great abs, they just have to remove the top layer of fat to get at them.
After work we stopped out at the vortex to get some velcro from fabricville and to pick up my new knife block from Paderno. Darrell got some books from the naturopath he's been seeing about Thyroid, Iodine, and Natural Hormones. I read the Iodine book and was really surprised about how much I didn't know about how much the body needs it and how the majority of us are really deficient in it. Unless you're snacking on seaweed daily you're levels are probably fairly low. What is scary is that every cell in your body uses iodine especially your Thyroid gland and Breast tissue. Iodine deficiency leads to cysts in Breast tissue and eventually breast cancer, and don't think that because you're using Iodized salt you're making up the deficiency either because the dose of iodine in it isn't nearly enough... and most multivitamins don't contain enough either. The book is called "Iodine... Why you Need it, Why You Can't live without it." by David Brownstein. It's not superlong, so I might scan it into PDF for reference.

Saturday we met up with Brian, Helen, & Helen's mother (Margaret) at bowlarama for a couple hours of bowling, then a quick meal at the Dolan Rd Irving, followed by a couple episodes of Keeping Up Appearances at our place.

Sunday I got in 45 minutes on the Eliptical trainer, and managed to sing Four seasons songs for the majority of the time. That high falsetto stuff isn't easy when you're workingout, but 20 minutes in I could still sing ragdoll so I feel really good about where I am as far as lung capacity and cardio.

I made the mistake of getting Darrell to try the Cherry Pie from Stirlings.. mostly because I wanted it gone so I didn't pig out on it. It was a big mistake since he loved it and it has become his new obsession... did you know they sell them by the case? That's right by the case! Darrell has a really bad habit of finding something he likes and overdoing it to the extreme... so we have cherry pie... stop by for a piece there's lots.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Apples

We stopped by Stirling on Rothesay Ave on our way home a couple days ago and picked up some apples. We'd heard of the place before and driven by it often enough but never ever stopped before that. I can honestly say we won't be driving by without stopping too many times in the future. I'm a freak about apples, I love em, love em, love em. But we don't buy them as often as we should because they are so damn expensive. We both only eat the Red & Golden Delicious apples, but they're priced at the grocery store like they contain actual gold.... I mean come on we're talking about something that, unlike Money, actually does grow on trees. Anyway, Stirlings has basket upon basket of beautiful, Nova Scotia Grown, apples of all varieties for half the price of the grocery store... and they're really good. I got 6.2 pounds of red delicious apples for 5.95, at Superstore they are nearly 2 dollars a pound. They also have uncooked frozen pies of all descriptions. I generally like to bake my own pies, and not wanting to toot my own horn too much, am actually really good at it... but I picked up a cherry pie for 4.50 just to try them out.... and wow! Well worth the 4.50.

I know it's not a big deal, and probably a little silly... but if you want good apples stop in to Stirlings on Rothesay avenue it's definitely the best deal in SJ. They're between Halifax Seed and the exit to the highway, a white building that has Buy Apples in red letter on the from. If you make it to the hanger shaped convience store before the exit you've passed it.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Appetizer
Which television shows do you just refuse to miss?
Smallville, Heroes, Brothers & Sisters, and Desperate Housewives

Soup
Who did you last speak to on the telephone?
If by last spoke to you mean just a quick chat it would be Darrell to tell him I was almost done in the blood clinic.. come get me.
If you mean really spoke to as in had an actual conversation it would be my sister, we talked for about an hour last week.

Salad
How many pillows do you keep on your bed?
6

Main Course
Name one addition to your computer (software, hardware, etc.) that you'd love to have.
I would love to have a 3d scanner for my computer. That would be awsome.

Dessert
What is your favorite foreign food?
I love most things Italian, especially Fetucinni Carbonara and Baked Tortellinni in cream sauce au gratin.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Cold Cold Cold

It is really cold today. I nearly froze walking up to Dr Mackin's office to get a blood req. I got the results back from my test in November and it turns out my thyroid was low, so I have to have it retested. That might explain the sore throat and weight gain at the time. I'm hoping it was just an anomoly and everything is back to normal, because after everything Darrell has gone through over his thyroid I have no desire to go down that road. Although medication tends to work exactly the way it is supposed to on me so I propabably wouldn't have the problems Darrell has had.

On another note, I got back up to 2 miles running on the threadmill. All the treadmills at the gym have a 20 minute time limit built into them, and I am so far only up to 4.5 mph, so I can only get 1.5 miles out of a complete cycle and have to start it over again after the cool down. There is an exception though, lately I've noticed that threadmill number 8 has been set to an hour instead of 20 minutes. I don't know if it's a permanant thing or not, but it's pretty handy for doing the full 2 miles. It wouldn't make any difference here or there if you were to go at a busy time, as everyone is asked to only use machines for 20 minutes during busy times, but I generally go between 2 and 4 when it is slow so there aren't people waiting for machines.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Snow has Arrived

I've been careful to try and not brag to my family and friends in western Canada about how mild our winter has been because I knew it was coming eventually and would last a lot longer than thier's will, and now it is here. It also looks like it is going to make a concerted effort to stick around awhile. Oh well it was a good run while it lasted. I just hope we don't suddenly start getting blasted the way the west coast has been so far. I can't believe how nasty it's been out there! For the first time since moving here, I was actually glad to be here instead of there during the winter.

I've mostly settled back into my routine, although I think I'm suffering a bit of seasonal depression because I have a really hard time drumming up any enthusiasm about anything right now.

The holidays set me back on my runnning. I was up to two miles a days before and have dropped back to a mile and half, but I've only been back at it everyday for a week, so I'm not too worried about it. Besides I'm doing that mile and a half at a faster pace and steeper incline. Now if I could just stop myself from all the snacking on chocolate and high calory crackers etc, I'd probably make some progress on those abs. Don't get me wrong they're pretty solid in there, they're just under that awful layer of flab. hahaha. I am starting to see a dividing line form between left and right though, so I know I'm on the right track.

Friday, January 12, 2007

Friday January 12 2007

Appetizer
What comes to mind when you see the color orange?
I think of warmth

Soup
Did you ever get in trouble while you were in school? If so, what was it for?
Which time? I had a tendency to not take everything I was being fed at face value and often challenged the teachers to justify things, which was at times disruptive. I remember once having to write an oppinion essay for grade 11 English. It could be about anything I had a strong oppinion about, so long as it was structured well. At the time I was working at a corner convenience store and was training a new guy who was getting a's in grade ten math, but had to be taught to work a cash register and count back change (The tills didn't do all that for you back then), so I wrote my essay about how the school system is neglecting to give people basic life skills for survival in the workforce. It had an introduction, body, and conclusion; contained no spelling or grammar errors, and was slightly over the word count requirment... but the teacher didn't like the subject and graded the content instead of the construction. I ended up in the Vice Principal's office and my Grandmother was called, and a whole big thing ensued... it was rediculous.

Salad
Which topping(s) make up your perfect pizza?
Ham, Pineapple, Feta Cheese, Black Olives, and extra cheese

Main Course
Do you believe in UFOs/aliens/etc.? Why or why not?
Absolutely. UFOs are just Unidentified objects in the air, usually top secret government test planes. I dont' think we're being visted by advanced alien civiliazations, but I don't discount the possibility either.
There are other civilizations in the universe, it only makes mathematical sense. One of the things we've learned on Earth is how tenacious life is here, even in the most inhospitable places on the planet there is life. Volcanic vents at the bottom of the ocean spewing molten material in an oxygenless environment still support life forms, so it's pretty clear that anywhere life can take hold it will.
Then start doing some math, if just one in every billion stars had a solar system, and just one in every billion of those solar systems has planets that could support life, and just one in every billion of those planets actually does support life, and just one in every billion of those supports intelligent life (by our definition)... then the number of inhabited planets would still be too high to quantify.

Dessert
What color is your bedspread/comforter/quilt?
Our bedspread is actually a duvet so it's white, but the current cover on it is large horizontal stripes of three different shades of brown microsuede.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Back in the Swing of things

I'm having a hard time getting back to normal after having so much time off work over the holidays. I know...oh poor me took too much time off..wah wah wah... but it really is hard to get back into the routine. We are halfway through our first full week back of the New Year, and it's slow going for me. I have a couple projects on the go and I am slowly getting back to where I was before the break. It feels a little like coming into something halfway through even though I'm the one that did the first half.

Sunday I made a big roast and did a double baked potatoe that had sour cream, bacon, mushrooms, and green onion in the mix, but last night I took the potatoe to a whole new level. The potatoes on Sunday were missing that little bite of flavour, so I added parmessan cheese, and Darrell suggested sticking a stick of cheese in the potatoe mixture so it would have a melty center. So last night's creation was:
1) Bake Potatoes until almost completely finished.
2) Chop up some bacon & Mushrooms and fry in a pan.
3) take potatoes out of oven and cut in half.
4) Scoop potatoe out of skin leaving enough around the edges to make the outer peel sturdy like a little bowl.
5) Brush the outer peel with Olive oil and place on a pan
6) mix Potatoe, Bacon & Mushroom, chopped Green onion (or chives or both), a sprinkle of dill, some grated parmessan, and sour cream... then mash it all up nice and gooey (I used the new stand up mixer for the task)
7) spoon a shallow layer of the mash into the potatoe skin bowls.
8) put a stick of cheese in the center of mash layer. (I used swiss but you can use anything)
9) spoon more mash on top of cheese stick filling the potatoe skin bowl. (you can be fancy and use a piping bag with a tip if you want it to be decorative)
10) put the tray back in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You can brown the tops with the broiler if you want (matter of personal taste).

I made about two dozen of them last night because they're really great heated up in the Microwave for lunch.

You can substitute the sour cream for goats milk if you've got a problem with lactose... same goes for the cheese. In fact you can put almost anything you want in the potatoe. the basic recipe is just to bake the potatoe, spoon out insides, mash, pipe back in, and bake some more..... all the extra stuff is whatever you want it to be... hell you could put chocolate chips in there if you really wanted too.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Goodies in the mail

I got a whole bunch of goodies in the mail yesterday. I got a couple cards from my cousins with pictures of their kids and letters about what's been going on. Everyone hasa grown up so much, I can't believe that my cousins (who are the same age as I am) have children entering their teens... It makes me feel pretty old.

I also got an awsome package from my Stepmom containing 12 jars of homemade dill pickles. She's an amazing canner and has quite a large customer base for her pickles and preserves back in Williams Lake. She makes jams, salsa, dill pickles, hot pickles, mustard pickles, soups, relish.. you name it, but our favourite thing is the pcikles mixed with cauliflower and now we have 12 jars of them. yum! Plus she cushioned each jar for the long trip across the country in a sock, so we have half a dozen new pairs of socks... very practical.

I spent some time today scanning all the new photos I got over the holidays and some older pictures I've been meaning to get to from a couple years ago.. some of them all the way back to 1999. I'll try to post them to my flikr page today. I finally got the rest of the Christmas pics up yesterday.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Holidays

Wow it seems like a very long time since I've been at work. I took from the Friday before Christmas right up until today off. It was very nice and relaxing.

There was the usual flurry of activity leading up to and during Christmas and then we just coasted through the rest of the season.

We had Christmas Dinner at Bertis' Place with the Bonds, and I made everyone Artic fleece robes. I did my own early in the week before Christmas and got Bertis' done in the evenings after work throughout the week. The Friday I took off work was a very productive day sewing wise. Helen was going stir crazy at home so she dropped in just to hang out until Brian got off work and watched me make Brian's robe (although she didn't know it was Brian's she just thought I was making it for Darrell.) I managed to get her to try on my robe and made a few mental notes about how it fit her, then we all met up at the Dolan Road Irving for a bite when Brian got off work. Darrell had to work all Friday and got home fairly late. He was shooting a blues concert at the Imperial. After the Irving I headed home and finished Helen's robe and cut out all the pieces for Darrell's before calling it quits for the day. Saturday I did all the sewing on Darrell's robe, a bit of shopping, then Brian & Helen came over in the evening to hang out and have a couple drinks. Then Sunday (Christmas eve) I sewed a Stocking for Brian and Helen's dog Yorkie then closed up my little sweat shot for the Holidays.

Christmas morning Darrell and I got up and opened presents. We both went a little over board on the gift giving. I got an 8 inch Henkel knife, a bottle of Drakaar Noir cologne (I've loved it since I was 20), an mp3 player for the gym, the Da vinci Code Dvd, a 2 KG bar of chocolate... that's right KG, and bunch of other things. My Mom sent us $100 which we put towards a new stand up mixer, and my sister sent us pictures of the family and the boys with a Chapters gift card. My grandmother sent out a package with a tin of chocolates and two retractable leashes that are painted like dogs faces and have flashlights in the nose. I got Darrell a Hot wash washer fluid thing from Canadian tire, an Andrea Boceli CD (yes he actually wanted one), a Peter Gabriel CD, and a new car stereo to play them on. His old stereo is an original part from his 97 vehicle so it kept spitting out any cds with music he burned himself, now he can play anything including Mp3s.

We headed up to Bertis' around 2 and had a fantastic Roast Beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, and brocolli at about 4. then we had some nice eggnog and played a couple rounds of Taboo. We laughed a lot and had a really good time.

Boxing day we went to Brian and Helen's for an improptu get together. Chad and Nancy were there and we all played Crainium which was hilarious.

The rest of the week flew by pretty quick. Saturday we went to Chad and Nancy's place for the evening. It was the first time we've been to their new place. They found a beautiful house on the west side with hardwood and heated tile floors. I really liked it.

Sunday we had a new Years Party at Brian and Helen's place. Helen's Mom Margaret is here from England, she got in on the 27th I think could be the 28 those days all run together in my mind. We saw her at Chad and Nancy's the night before as well. So Brian, Helen, Margaret, Bertis, Chad, Nancy, Darrell, and I all rang in the new year with a potluck dinner, some nice cocktails, a rousing game of Taboo followed by a very close game of Cranium, and a bottle of champagne. Chad and Nancy and their chocolate Lab Bailey stayed in our guest room that night and we started the first day of January (as is mine and Darrell's only real tradition) with a breakfast of Eggs Benny and hashbrowns. Nancy and Chad added to the feast with a nice sweet juicy pineapple.

Tuesday (the 2nd) we had planned to go into work but didn't make it past the couch. I didn't even make it into clothes and spent the entire day in my robe watching tv and dvds. I managed to watch a lot of the Christopher Reeve Superman box set over the holidays. I'm don't think I had actually ever seen Superman 4 before yesterday, and there are still a lot of extra features left to get to for future veiwing.

Today we are back to work and I will be posting some pictures from the holidays to my flikr pages some time today hopefully. I will also be hitting the gym this afternoon to start undoing some of the holiday damage. All that Chocolate, I'm suprised my gut doesn't look like a Toblerone.