The Zoë Christmas Cards (a little late, I know)

Work Christmas Party '06

Pictures from Halloween

Turns out it takes a while to apply and to remove blue makeup...










And the Keytar made it's first appearance at work AND on this blog :)

A lovely picture of me running

I got a medal!

I ran the 2006 Oktoberfest 5K this morning and I actually placed 3rd in my category (female 25-29)! I was definitely not expecting that. This was my first official timed race.

If you're interested in checking out the results, here they are:
Oktoberfest Run 5k Results

I placed 173 overall (out of 803), 50 in female (out of 440).

Fun at Work... when we can't

I got to work at 8:30am today and was informed that the system was down and we were unable to do our normal work. It is now 11:30am and the system is still down. I really really wish I could go home.

Pictures from the Run

The goal has been reached... and exceeded

Fundraising total: $1,066.47 [ 107% of goal ]

Thanks to everyone who helped out. If anyone hasn't yet, but would like to, there is still time. Donations can be collected online for a few more weeks.

I'll post some pictures of from the run either on Sunday or Monday.

Just another $50.00

And then I'm just over my fund-raising goal of $1000 for the Run for the Cure! If you'd like to help me reach and/or exceed that goal, please click the link in my last post and support the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

The run is in a week. I'm looking forward to it.

Running for the Cure

This year, on Sunday, October 1st, I will be running the 5K in the CIBC Run for the Cure. It will be my first official run and is for a great cause.

I am one of 170,000 participants who will all be walking or running on
Sunday, October 1st. Here's where I ask for your help/support... Your donation will be added to the critical funds raised by the Run, and will be directed towards research, education and awareness programs.

Please don't feel any pressure to sponsor me/donate, but if you wish to support this cause, please visit the following link:

Click here to sponser me in this run.

The online donating tool is quick, easy and secure. You can pay by credit card and within 30 minutes, you will receive a tax receipt for any donation that has been successfully received.

Apparently I've been lacking in the posting again

so.. let's see what's happened. This will be the random update post.

I GOT THE KEYTAR! Yep. It's true. I'm the proud owner of a Yamaha Keytar! I'll post a picture of me with the instrument soon.

Ryan and I had a week of vacation in August. We didn't go anywhere far, but stayed in Niagara-on-the-Lake for a night and stayed in Niagara Falls for two nights. It was a nice week away from work. We bought a lot of wine and saw lots of cheesy tourists. :)

Went camping this past weekend (labour day weekend) with the family at Silver Lake Provincial Park. We had a nice group of 13 people on 4 sites. We just got a new tent, too, so we got to use it for the first time. The weekend was good, but it rained a lot.

That's what I can think of for now..... I'll post pictures soon, I promise.

Signs from Signs

Ryan and I were on our way to Hamilton on Thursday night for some karoake goodness at the Hub when a sign on the side of the road spoke to me.

This was a new experience for me. So far in my life, signs haven't provided me with many inspirational messages besides suggestions such as "stop" or "avoid the falling rocks" or "you'll get a big fine if you get caught driving 140 on the 401."

Maybe this will all change now.

The message was so presise, so clear, so fitting...



Rock on, Rockton.
Rock on.

Monday Monday

It's Monday morning.
I'm sitting at my desk.
I'm working on some insurance stuff.
But where is my mind?
What am I thinking about?

Keytars.



I want one.
Anyone know where I could find one for not too much money?

Camping and a Horsie

Hand-powered crank blender = margarita's anywhere

May 2-4 in Virginia Beach

What I bought with my bonus in March

I think it's fairly self-explanatory.

A late post for Zoë's birthday.

It was Zoë's birthday on April 27th. She turned two this year! My kitty cat's all grown up.

What a special birthday girl she was. She had a nice breakfast that comes in a can. Oooh.. she loved the birthday breakfast. :) She also had a couple of birthday treats.

When I got home from work, I presented her with her birthday gift and took the above picture. She wasn't all that interested in it when it was wrapped, but once the shiny new bouncy balls came out, she was running around all over the house!

My morning rage

Some people get road rage on their way to work in the morning.
Not me. Unless you consider side-walk walkers that are too slow walking in front of me (I don't drive to work)
I suffer from a different problem and this morning I discovered that it is....
Coffee Rage.

On my walk to work every morning I stop at the Tim Horton's closest to my work. I walk in, get my coffee, and then continue the rest of my walk.

This morning, I noticed a small line-up inside my coffee shop. No worries.. it's not too long, but it's going in a funny direction.
I stand close to the people at the end of the line, sort of crushed up beside a trash can.

A man walks from the tables and stands behind the people who were there right before me. I kind of gave him a look to say 'look buddy.. I was here first' and continued to wait patiently.

The two people at the counter were ordering MANY coffees each for their fellow work-mates. This is never fun to be behind. As one of them left, the line moved slightly. I move to get in my proper place in line, but the man also moves slightly as well.

The next person is done and he moves into a spot sort of beside me! I'm looking.. not ready to say anything because he COULD still be waiting to go after me.. he hadn't moved in FRONT of me yet.

But what happens next? A spot opens and he quickly walks to the counter. The rage begins to boil.... I didn't actually say anything, but I certainly did swear at him under my breath. I think he may have heard it because he sort of turned around.

So I get my coffee and go outside to continue my walk to work. I see the man. I swear under my breath again as I pass him on the sidewalk. But I have my coffee now and everything should be okay, right? Well no... my coffee had what I am now calling DLS (drippy lid syndrome) and coffee was dripping on my hand and on my bag. This just makes me all the more rageful. And you can never seem to cure DLS while you're still walking... no.. it continues until you actually start to DRINK the coffee, which I never do until I get to my desk.

Now I'm at work. I've had my coffee and my yogurt and strawberries. Things are better. No rage for the moment.
You're just not supposed to mess with my coffee experience/ritual. At least not before I've had ANY coffee.
That's just evil.

Allie: 1992 - 2006

Allie, the best puppy dog ever, left this world yesterday. She was much more than a pet... she was a member of the family. I don't really know what to say besides: she was fantastic and I miss her.

~10 years ago:



Summer 2005




Christmas 2005


Allie, you will never be forgotten.