Stress

I really don't understand why I feel so tense these past few days. Maybe it's just after effects of layoff announcements at work (though I'm safe). Maybe it's because I've had to put running on hold since doing the twist last week (though better every day).

Maybe it's because when I searched for an appropriate image for stress, google provided me with this one. Creepy.

I think I'll go meditate.

Thanks for the well wishes, my knee really is much better!

Woohoo!

Friday was spent on two crutches when I had to get mobile, Saturday was spent on one crutch, again, when I had to get mobile, and today I am crutch free!!

I slept much better on Friday night, and Saturday morning I woke on my side (that's a good sign!) to the sound/feel of 'pop'. My knees crack all the time, but since my knee twist I hadn't been able to crack it, because it hurt wayyyy too much. I think that pop pushed something back in place because that was the beginning of feeling much much better.

Today I'm walking pretty well, but stayed off my leg as much as I could. There will be no running or walking for the next couple of days, at the earliest. I want to make sure I'm good and solid before I put any stress on it.

But I am THRILLED that it's healing so well!

Mr. Hollywood

or so he's known in the fam, after his reality tv debut. If you're interested, click the vid.

Next week he'll hopefully lose the gum... he's doing great though, but it's still hard!

Argh

Thanks for the comments re my Mom, and layoffs at work. Good news is my team is safe from layoffs. Unless the company underperforms in the next few quarters, in which case we may be at risk again. It is what it is.

It's been a busy week, school went great on Monday night, I was all caught up, and the prof is really nice. Funny thing happens though, this woman recognizes me from Jr. High. That was 25 years ago!! Craziness.

Now the 'argh'. Not sure how I did it, but somehow yesterday I decided that I would test my knee hinge by trying to get it to bend the from side to side. Or something like that. I hobbled for the next two hours, using a Swiffer for support, until Steve got home with crutches from my brother's house. I hardly slept last night, I was a little cold sleeping on the duvet, because the weight of it hurt too much, and it hurt to move. Today it's better, I can put a little weight on it, but can't walk, at all. I really hope tomorrow it starts to tighten up. Otherwise I'm going to have to visit the doc's office and find out how bad this is. :(

2 Years Already

Miss you Mom.

I'm tired now

It was a great day today. I got to bed way too late last night after homeworking until midnight. I had every intention to drive Steve to work and nab the car, but I couldn't face 6:30AM. Next thing I knew it was 8:45!!

I knew Steve was taking a short day today, after not having a day off this week, so Katie and I had a large breafast. Steve was home at 1:30, and by 2 we were out the door on our way to the canal for a run. I haven't run outside in a few weeks, my winter running clothes not fitting and too cold to not dress for it. Today was -7C/20F, but with the wind, and there was some serious wind, it felt like -15C/5F. Which would be ok if I was dressed appropriately. But I wasn't. I was FREEZING. It was the crappiest of runs, I could barely run the 5/1, on the way back opting for 3/1 or 2/1. I have no idea why, but my tummy felt like rock. It was very painful and the main reason I bailed on my 5/1. Anyway, these runs happen.

After a quick shower, some lunch and my hair dried, we bundled up and went to Winterlude. We knew parking would be a bear, so opted to park 1km away. After my crappy run, I needed the distance anyway! We walked around and took in the ice sculptures. Below, some of our favorites:

And one of us:

All 28 shots can be found here.

Tomorrow starts with a memorial mass for Mom and Dad, then my nephew's hockey tournament.

Off to bed!

This is harder than I thought

I have a long list of my 40 new things, and having a tough time crossing anything off!





Even though I haven't blogged about until now, I have added to my collection.





The first - in an effort to self-care, I made a small purchase while out with Steve shopping in the Byward Market a few weeks ago. Here they are:

I am definitely a product of the Sesame Street generation. I have always wanted a rubber duckie. So I now have 3. Last week I enjoyed my first ever community duck bath. And I loved it. It's very relaxing to watch them bob along in the bubbles.

The second - something I've wanted to do for a long time is become a member of Friends of the Gatineau Park, and a volunteer, if they need me. I love the Gatineaus, having lived in them from ages 9-18. I've visited the Park since we moved to this area when I was 3, it's where we'd picnic on Sunday's, and go skiing in the winter. Now it's where I trail run, bike, and hope to ski and snowshoe again. And some day, when we can afford it, we will buy a house at the foot of it.

And now the school report - spoke with the prof, bought the books, got the assignments. I have a lot of catching up to do by Monday. Sorry I'm late... um... 5 weeks late... Better get back to it!

Lastly, thanks to all who sent well wishes backchannel on my whiney work post yesterday, and for forwarding kudos to Steve.

Will they every get it right?

I'm so sick of my company sometimes. I love my job. I love my colleagues. I'm just so tired of the annual layoff-fest. Since 2000 we have let go 2/3 of the company. Another 10% on the way out. I'll know sometime in the next year whether I'm part of the 10%. Enough already.

On a happier note, Steve applied to 'Gotta Run' with our local CBC station evening news host. And out of over 550 apps, he is one of the 12. . He's run several half marathons with me before, always as a smoker (he wants this to help motivate him to quit once and for all), and never having trained. He's often wondered what he could do with good coaching. He's about to find out, as his coach is one of the city's best.

Good luck Pup!

I'm in!

I love my job. No, no, it's more than that. I LURVE my job. However I want more out of my job. I decided after being in the office for our objectives planning meeting (aka acronymfest 2007) that there are some gaps in my knowledge. Ok, truth be told, you could float a slow boat from China through some of these gaps.

Let's back up. My degree is in Psychology. From there I became a certified addictions counsellor. Within a year of working in my dream job, we had an election and the conservatives were in. Out went funding for rehab work, out went my job. I continued for another couple of years as a volunteer, to try to stay in the field in the hopes a job would come out of it, without success. I was supporting my fam working as a cashier then sales manager for 8 years. My temporary job lasted 8 years. Then a clash with a new boss and I got fired. Thank you Jesus.

My friend, a recruiter, got me a job doing data entry for a 6 month term. The wonderful man I shared a cube with decided his mission was to find me a job. And at the 5 month point, he did, as a manager for a team in IT. I learned the ropes, and when my team got laid off, I took over most of their support work, learning the ins and outs of systems, databases and feeds. This job changed and grew, and 5 years later I landed a job in my company in software engineering and support.

So here I am. I've taken two general interest courses in programming. I am a really quick study, but don't have the basics. I looked into degrees in Computer Science and Engineering, but I wouldn't get a fast enough return on investment. So I opted for the college route - all courses are directly related to my job. Yes, this is the correct action. My boss agrees. Of course the classes started Jan 15. With my work experience I was able to get the ok from the program today to register for the first course, already in progress.

Yes, it's back to school for me, Monday nights, 6-10, beginning at week 5. I've got some catching up to do!

I love school. I can't wait.

The Boys

We had to buy a new duvet cover. Reason one - we bought a new duvet (lighter) which is king sized so that it falls nicely down the side of the queen sized pillow topped new bed, and our old hot duvet was a queen. Reason two - the boys took one of their daily scraps to the bed and tore our duvet cover. Buggers.

So we bought a lovely dark purple duvet cover. It looks sooooo luxurious. We LOVE it. But there's a new rule.... No cats allowed.

We were feeling the guilt, so we bought the boys their own bed. It took a couple of days, but when I wander out of the office during the day, I am now met with the following:

We made the right choice.