cough, cough

This H1N1 thing, I don’t know, should we be as freaked out about it as the media is telling us to be? Is it going to take us all down or is it media hysteria all over again? Anyone remember Y2K, bird flu, SARS?

All week, I’ve seen people in long lines for the vaccine and it’s been the biggest water cooler talk in the office. (Whatever happened to talking about stupid tv shows?) The biggest question asked is “are you getting the shot?” I don’t think I will as there are many more people out there that need it more than me. At least I will wait until everyone that really needs it has the chance to get it.

A small part of me thinks this flu shot hysteria is a huge pharmaceutical cash-grab. Private companies are going to make billions off the vaccine (and their stock prices are currently soaring). And it’s a little shady that many politicians are profiting off of this as well; some of the same people that profited off of Tamiflu when bird flu was labelled an upcoming pandemic. Maybe I’m too much of a skeptic, but why are we not more concerned about the 16,000 children that die a day from hunger? Any death to illness is horrible, but a little perspective please. Supposedly I have the same chances of dying from falling out of bed as I do from H1N1.

With that being said, I am still going to take my little preventative measures; washing hands frequently and taking salt water to gargle and stick up my nose with a Q-tip (funny!). That doesn’t seem too tough.

Stay healthy everyone!

Let's make a fort

Saw “Where the Wild Things Are” last Saturday. What a beautiful movie. It made me wistful to be a kid again; when your imagination and energy knew no bounds.

Fast talker

I gave my first presentation to the web team today. It was on writing effectively for the web. I probably should have prepared more, but I think it went well overall.

And did I ever speak fast! Must have had some nerves, which is strange since I'm a bit of a talker (understatement) and speaking within a group is never a problem. It's pretty daunting when the spotlight is directly on you though.

The team gave me some great feedback and they seemed interested. That was great to see, especially since I didn't do my first topic... Jabba the Hut vs. Yoda, who's sexier? (We would need two hours for that debate.)

I also want to share this letter my co-worker Jheryll (the thug) sent me. As a designer, I would love to have Mick as a client (call me!). The best thing about this is that the album Andy created is considered one of the best of all time (Sticky Fingers). See what happens when you are given complete artistic freedom. And I do realize this doesn't relate to my presentation at all. (As Ruby always tells me...RANDOM!)

Always waiting til the last minute

I'm such a procrastinator! I've known for a month that I have to give a presentation to the web team and I am just sitting down now to figure out what to present!

Actually, I guess I'm blogging instead. Not good. Tomorrow should be interesting.

Basement update: The poly is on the walls in the basement. Yippee

Throw it all in and hit blend

Yesterday, I went to a belated Thanksgiving dinner with my new blended family. As always the food was fantastic, but better than that, it was our first big dinner together. There were laughs, crazy stories, kids hollering and of course lots of wine. Good times!

After dinner, we each went around the table and said what we were thankful for. We all had our selfish thanks, but every one of us mentioned how thankful we were to meet each other and have this new family.

Our blending began when mom met her husband, Art, on eHarmony on Valentine’s Day 2008. Cute! He was the first man she met online. (They so need to be in one of those commercials!) A year and a half later, they are married and have built a beautiful home to enjoy together. The best part of this little story, I haven’t seen mom this happy in a long time. She glows. I’m glad they found each other.

Sometimes it’s hard to change family traditions, and invite others in, but I think we’ve done pretty good overall. What a great dinner. Thanks Art and mom!

Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to say at dinner is how thankful I am to have nieces and nephews. Six in total! And they are all amazing kids. Well... except when they are feeding me butt licorice (don’t ask) and getting me in trouble (not really) with one of my step-brothers for being loud at a slumber party.

I love pink!

Yes! Insulation in my basement. It's finally done and feels so much cozier down there already. The dank is gradually going away. Next step, poly.

Here are the latest pics.

I see my path, but I don't know where it leads

Okay, so I’ve done it now. Last week I told my sister and mom that I will not be joining them in Europe because I have decided to go on my own. I felt bad saying it. I know I would have a good time with them, but I think I have to do this by myself.

Here’s the thing, I have been planning this trip in my mind since I was 18 and now I can finally go (over 10 years later than expected – stupid responsibilities!). I kind of want this to be my own experience, as selfish as that seems.

I realized I wanted to go solo because of an old friend. Way, way back in university, my roommate Claire delighted me with tons of stories from her European adventure (she backpacked alone there for two months before heading to university). I particularly remember how much fun she said she had on her own, meeting people and going off the beaten path. That’s what I want. I want to just be there, do what I feel like on a daily basis, and just go with it. I think that suits my personality.

But now for the one crappy thing… I have to get organized! Got to figure out schedules, dates and hotels. If you know me, you know this is sometimes a struggle. I’ve become pretty good in my job organizing web content (you should see my mad bulleted-list skills) but outside of the job – ha ha – not so much. I cannot make a list to save my life! I never take one grocery shopping; I just wing it and end up walking the store four different ways, and forgetting something. When it comes to things and words, I love order; but as for life and living, it’s much more fun to wing it.

Europe. Boy I got to be on my toes, I just can’t wing it… well I can, but I have to plan it out first. Make sense? No? Ah, whatever.

Day 1: All clean

Today was the first day of my basement renovation. Oh my! It looks 100 percent better! No more creepiness, or at the very least, it’s minimal. Don't know how far I will go, but it's great to see it gutted.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture (of the creepy place) before the demo. But here are a few from today.



That’s Stan checking out the area where the old room with the mailbox was. He knows something went down!

The creepy place

Wow! Nothing like a call from the contractor saying he can begin the basement reno tomorrow to give me the kick in the butt I need to clean. it. out.

I've been saying I'm going to clean out the "creepy place" for years, but I never have. I hate being down there. It's cold and dank and just plain creepy. So creepy, that when I first moved in there was a mailbox nailed to the door of the old coal room. *shudders* Why was there a mailbox there? Did someone live in that little room? Was it the Blair Witch? Just weirded out thinking about it.

But now it’s going to be torn up, cleaned up and insulated. Yay! I can hardly wait til it’s done. I can now think about having a rec room, or at the very least, have my washer and dryer not across the basement from each other.

Oh, and if you are wondering... 6 large garbage bags full of crap, 10 boxes to go to the CDA and probably a full truck load of “bigger” garbage. Whew! Thankfully that’s done. It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.