Bonus!

I got a bonus today! I'm very excited. Of course the government took almost 20% of it but that's okay. It's basically enough to cover my Texas flights. Woohoo!
~Heidi

Oscar Night

Sunday after church, I went over to Meredith's parents for a Chinese take-out feast. It was in celebration of a bunch of birthdays inculding her's, her brother and sister-in-law, and their youngest daughter. We also had ice-cream cake for dessert. Yum!

From there we came back to my house and watched the Oscars on TV. One of the stats thrown out last night was that only 9% of people have seen all five movies nominated for Best Picture and only 31% have seen at least one. I fall into the other 69% who haven't seen ANY of them! It actually worked quite well because I was really only watching to see the stars and the fashion. I didn't really care who won.

We made it a bit "glamorous" on our end by having wine and cheese too. All in all, it was a fun night.

~Heidi

French Toast

My favourite weekend breakfast is French toast. If I'm home on the weekends, that's usually what I have for breakfast. Sometimes I'll have fruit on the side, definitely a coffee but usually French toast. One egg, a splash of milk, two pieces of bread and voila.

I only like waffles if someone else makes them for me and I've never been a fan of pancakes. But French toast? Yummy!

~Heidi

Yuck!

So I'm laying in bed this morning trying to convince myself to get up and I'm planning my day. I remembered that I have some books due at the library so I'm thinking maybe I'll get dressed and go for a walk. You know, actually get some exercise instead of driving everywhere? Okay, that sounds good. So, I sweep aside the curtain over my bed to look out the window. It's SLEETING!!! Heavy half frozen rain. I'm not walking in that! Yuck. I heard they were calling for snow. I guess this is what we get. Hopefully it will melt soon. Yesterday was *gorgeous* and now this. I am NOT impressed.
~Heidi

Mixing business with pleasure

So yesterday as I'm scrambling to get ready for the board meeting I talked to my mom. (I was coalating handouts so my head was free but my hands were busy) I had a few things to talk to her about and then she mentions "By the way, your Uncle Doug called"
Me: "Oh yeah, how's he doing"
Mom: "Good, he's in town for a meeting. He and Dad (my dad) are going for dinner tonight"
Me: "Really... Where's his meeting"
Mom: "At a hotel by the airport"
Me: "Really... Guess where I'm going to be tonight?"
Mom: "In Vancouver?"
Me: "Yes, AT the airport!!! I think I'll call Dad..."

So I call my dad, who by this time has spoken to my mom so the surprise is ruined :P

Me: "So I hear Uncle Doug is in town"
Dad: "Yeah, we're going for dinner tonight"
Me: "Have you decided where?"
Dad: "Not yet, he's off at five and we were going to figure it out then"
Me: "Well, if you go to one of the restaurants IN the airport, I can meet you there!" (Our board meetings happen in a hotel in the airport because we have a lot of directors that fly in. It's really convenient for them but until now, it's not really been an issue for me)

So, Dad called around five o'clock, I met him and Uncle Doug at Milestones in the domestic departure section of the airport, said "hi", ate a very quick dinner, listened to a fairly intense conversation on cholestrol. (If you remember, Uncle Doug is my dad's younger brother, the one that had the bypass surgery a few years ago: clicky) It was fast, but great. I haven't seen any of my extended family in almost two years so this was a start. I'm just glad it worked out so well!!!

~Heidi

Kenny Mail Day

I've often used the term "good mail day" which refers to any day where I receive more then one piece of "personal mail" (not bills or junk mail). Today I had a "Kenny Mail Day" which was VERY good :D

I got my latest issue of Country Weekly (*love* the stubble LOL) and my latest ebay purchase. The "I Will Stand" cd which includes some of my favourite non-single songs like "Steamy Windows", "From Hillbilly Heaven to Honkytonk Hell" and "Lonely, Needin', Lovin'"

Yep. Definitely a good mail day :)

~Heidi

Somedays, playing hooky, is just what the doctor ordered

I am supposed to be at dance tonight. It is a horrible wet, cold winter night. Nasty for driving in. My early morning is catching up with me along with my busy day and I have a not so nice headache. I called Ralph and told him I wouldn't be out. He was good with that. I'm already enjoying my nice quiet evening in. Maybe I'll even *gasp* scrapbook!!!
~Heidi

Weekend Re-cap

Saturday I puttered around the house. It was nice knowing that Seth was gone and not worrying about waking him up. I did dishes, ironed, washed the kitchen floor, and general house stuff. Mom and I did go to Costco. I got chicken and I got my cholestrol medication prescription filled. It was funny, they looked me up in the system and obviously they didn't have my current address, or my parents current address, or the house before that, or the one before that! The address was from the house we lived in while I was 12-16. Neither Mom nor I can even remember me HAVING a perscription back then!!! Anyways, I got that filled so now I'm back on the drugs.

Saturday afternoon was more puttering, cleaning and just generally a "down" day. I need those every once in awhile. If I don't get them, I get cranky.

Sunday after church I ran some errands and then went over to Jenna's for her sisters surprise party. We DEFINITELY surprised Katherine. She screamed. It was quite funny :D It was great hanging out with all of them too. Grant (Jenna's baby) is doing awesome. I have some pictures I'll try and post them when I remember to upload them. We hung out and visited and then broke up into groups for games. Will (Jenna's husband) Janik and I played a very tight game of Trival Pursuit: Pop Culture (DVD). I did loose but I put up a great fight :) Those two are fun to play with as well because they are full of useless information. Not only would we answer a question but we'd also give a full explanation as to WHY that was the correct answer. Very fun.

Today I'm back at work. I started with back to back conference calls at 7am. Wednesday I have a board meeting for my old job and Thursday and Friday I am out of the office for the quarterly board meeting for this job. So, if I'm not around much, forgive me!

Have a great week!

~Heidi

Mmmmmmm

As much as I love Starbucks, I've found that for a basic latte, I can get a decent one at a local coffee shop here. Plus they have *to die for* chcocolate chunk macaroon bars. I took a picture of them on my dashboard for you.

I had to adjust my language slightly for them. Here I order a tall-skinny-no-foam-latte and a definitelynotskinny bar. Together they are yummy. Especially on nasty cold grey rainy Monday's like today.

Oh, and the best part about local coffee shops? They have "frequent drinker" cards. This way I feel like I'm actually working towards something LOL

~Heidi

It's Finally Friday

I am SO tired right now but I want to blog quickly before bed. As I think I mentioned, next week is the board meeting. We're also nearing corporate year end so there are a ton of things finishing up. I was moving STACKS of paperwork all day. My "active files" pile is almost a foot high!!! It's nuts. I got *a LOT* done today but I still had (chose) to stay about 40 minutes late so that I'm ready when I go back on Monday. Oh, and what to I get to go into? Back to back conference calls starting at 7am! Uggh! That's the kind of week it's going to be.

So this evening I left work (late) stopped at Starbucks for a Java Chip Frapp and drove to a town about a half an hour away to meet up with Deb and return the sidekick and sizzlits that I borrowed from her. Then I did an LSS round trip. I (finally) got most of the ribbon I need for a swap I'm signed up for. It was fun driving around and shopping but it made for a long day.

Seth called while I was driving. He and his friend Trevor decided yesterday to go up and surprise Robert. Robert's birthday was on Thursday so Seth and Trevor are going to just show up on his doorstep and help him celebrate. I'm glad he's doing that. I talked to Robert and he's doing good but he misses his family. Seth just got a promotion at work so he's flying high :)

Weekend plans? Shopping at Costco with Mom tomorrow and a birthday party for Katherine (who went to the Vancouver, Dierk's concert with me) on Sunday.

~Heidi

Great news

My dad went for an angiogram today. His family has a very strong history of heart disease (his younger brother had a quintuple bypass a year or two ago, his older brother had a stent(?) put in last year, his mom had a quadruple bypass at sixty…you get the picture). Oh, and he (and I) have genetically high cholesterol. Like REALLY high. You’re supposed to be under four or five and he’s at thirteen. (I’m around nine). Anyways, he’s been having some chest pains and stuff and we’ve all been really worried about him. As great as having free health care is in Canada, it’s not the best. They are “reactive” as opposed to “proactive” so his doctor hasn’t been willing to get him the tests he needs to find out where things are at. My uncle (his older brother) finally got tired of it and paid for Dad to have an angiogram done at a private clinic in Vancouver. He had the procedure today and even though the saline stuff make him puke, it’s pretty good news. He has some calcified lumps but there is no more then a 40% blockage anywhere. This means that he can step up his exercise program without having to worry about over doing it. The big thing now is to focus on weight loss. He’s actually starting to count calories (the first time he’s EVER paid attention to stuff like that) and he’s getting serious about exercising. I’m hoping to help him with the latter. Even if it’s just a short walk, we’re going to try and keep each other accountable. Wish us luck!
~Heidi

Yogurt thoughts

Orange yogurt is just weird. Orange Mango actually.

I love oranges and citrus stuff (especially for candles and perfumes).

I *love* mangos. I was taught a really neat way to cut them so I love eating them.

I like yogurt. I’ve taken to eating it because it’s portable (the individual containers), convenient and good for you.

The combination of the three is just odd.

Remind me not to buy Western Classics yogurt again.

~Heidi

100%

I forgot to tell you. Late last week I was stressing over a couple of sets of minutes. My boss looked at me and said:

“100% is sufficient. You don’t need to give 120%. Don’t worry about it. You’re doing fine.”

That was nice to hear :)

~Heidi…stressing over a different set now…

Another Successful Donation

I sucessfully donated blood again this evening. The whole process took almost two hours which was pathetic but I bled out in 13 minutes which isn't too bad for Februrary (my blood always flows slower in the winter time). I booked ahead for eight weeks like always but just before I left I clued in that April 10th is the Tuesday after Easter and I WON'T BE HERE :D
~Heidi

Word of the day #29: vitae

Wow. I haven't done a "word of the day" since October!!! I need to get back on top of expanding my vocabulary :)

vi·ta (vī'tə, vē'-) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. vi·tae (vī'tē, vē'tī)

A curriculum vitae.
A short account of a person's life.


cur·ric·u·lum vi·tae
Pronunciation Key - [kuh-rik-yuh-luhm vahy-tee, vee-tahy; Lat. koor-rik-oo-loom wee-tahy]
1. Also called vita, vitae. a brief biographical résumé of one's career and training, as prepared by a person applying for a job.
2. (italics) Latin. the course of one's life or career.

I just got one of these from someone and I had to look up this term. I've never heard of a vitae before. Very neat.

~Heidi

Feeling better...finally

I'm going to blame my extreme lack of blogging on being sick. I'm going to try not to appologize though because it annoys me when people do that. If they were really sorry, the would have just blogged/written/called in the first place!!!

That cold was nasty though. It was the same thing I had at the beginning of the year with ultra sinus pressure. I basically had a headache for four days straight. I'm not above drugs but I didn't feel like investing in a bunch of them and what I had din't really work all that well. Thursday was the only day I missed work. (although my productivity during the latter days in the week could be questioned) Thursday I was starting to feel naseous by around three o'clock so I packed it in. I went home and tried to just lay on the couch but I fell asleep immediately. I moved to my bed and slept through until six when my dad called. Mom had bought me a new kitchen table. A larger one with a leaf in it and Dad dropped it off that evening. Of course now I have two tables and I don't really want to part with either of them. I'm not totally sure what to do with the second one though.

Saturday Sue (foleysfriend, for those of you from SS) came over to scrapbook. We had both attended the SSWA Crop but neither of us got anything done. Plus we've never gotten together to scrapbook, just the two of us so it worked well. For that, having two tables was great! I still have both of them set up with my scrapbooking stuff out. I plan on cleaning it up soon though.

Sunday I went to Mom and Dad's for lunch and then we went for a walk around the lake. That evening I went over to friends for the evening. Tonight (Monday) was dance. Tomorrow I'm having an ex-co-worker over and Wednesday Mere and I are getting together for a "Rotic" Valentines (meaning no "man" in "romantic" ;))

So, lifes busy, but good.

Oh, and I booked my ticket home from Texas. I had fun telling people "well, I've got a ticket to GO there..." I think the border people would like to see me with a plan to come home though LOL

Hope you're all well.

~Heidi

I can't stand the pressure!!!

The pressure on my sinuses that is. I feel like someone has my head in a vice grip. It's awful. What did I do to deserve this? I'm typcially a pretty healthy individual. Lately though, I'm constantly down with something. I was find on Monday. Tuesday I woke up and my nose was running. It ran *all* day. By the evening I had developed a sinus headache. This morning my throat is all nasty. I drank neo-citron and took some drugs but I think I over did it. I was feeling really light headed at lunch. I'm going to take more drugs but I'll hold off on the neo-citron until after work.

I'd love to just go lay down some where and sleep this off but I have WAY too much to do. Let's see if I can make my brain concentrate hard enough to accomplish my tasks.

~Heidi

It's like going shopping!

I realized a week or two ago that since my cable got cut off in December I haven't actually done any ironing. I have enough clothes that the ones that DO need to be ironed can just pile up forgotten. Last night while watching CSI: Miami I ironed six skirts. Next up dress shirts. It's like having a whole new wardrobe!!!
~Heidi

Signs of Spring

Last Friday was Groundhog Day. By all accounts, I understand that he didn't see his shadow, which is perfect for me because I'm starting to suffer from horrible cabin fever. Friday at lunch I went down to the river to eat and then took a short walk. The sun was shining on the mountains so I took a picture for Veronica :)

I also saw my first robin of spring! Whenever I see these little birds I think of my maternal grandma. She always said spring was here when you see the robins out. So, forget the groundhogs, robins are where it's at :)


The first picture is just using 4x optical zoom, the second is digital and then cropped.

Happy almost spring everyone!

~Heidi

Super Bowl Sunday

So, in my continuing quest to learn about football, I watched the Super Bowl today...or more accurately I should say I *listened* to the game. Mom and Dad came over and while it was on, I organized pictures and cut some sizzix titles. I admit I missed most of the game but it was fun to see all the pomp and circumstance that surrounded it.

Oh, and who was I cheering for? Well, I always like to base my Super Bowl allegience on something incredibly shallow. When the New England Patriots were in it I cheered for them because they had the cutest quarterback. (I won five bucks on one of the games too!)

Today I cheered for the Colts because Peyton Manning is a friend of Kenny Chesney and that's enough reason for me :D I'm glad they won. That means Peyton is happy, Kenny is happy and that makes me happy :)

~Heidi

Firsts

Okay, I answer survey's like this ALL the time but I post them on myspace because you guys would get tired of them very quickly. Today's is part of the SS blog challenge though so I'll put it here and try and elaborate a bit. You'll note that a lot of them are "nevers"!

When is the first time you...

fell in love ?
I have never been "in love" with a member of the opposite sex. I've chosen not to date just because so therefore I haven't been in situations where I could fall in love. I've "liked" different guys over the years but I a few years back I gave up on that concept and decided to just focus on being me. It's working well so far even if I am still single.

lost someone close to you?
I think that would be my maternal grandmother. Even though we lived around 1200 kms apart from the time I was three, I was still very close to her. She had some health problems the year before (had a pace maker put in an stuff) but her death was a *huge* surprise. Two years later I lost my paternal grandmother. We got to say good bye to her but it was just as hard.

drank alcohol?
My church has always served real wine for communion so since I got baptized at 14, I've had a sip once a month. It's nasty strong red wine though. My first mixed drink was at Jenna's wedding. LOTS of fruit juice. Very dangerous ;)

got kissed?
If you can believe this, never. Never ever been full on the mouth, kissed by a member of the opposite sex. Crazy huh?

went to the hospital?
I've never been checked into the hospital myself. I've visited many, many people there. Welcomed babies, said good bye to Grandma, taken Meredith and been there when Seth, Robert and Dad were checked in after our accident in 1997. Never been checked in myself.

got your heart broken?
In a romantic way? Never. I've allowed drama in my life but it's not "heart break" I be there are other events that would qualify as "heart break" but right now I can't remember them.

lost a pet?
Nibbles. Our first hamster. He died at the hands of the next door neighbour. The kid didn't realize that you have to be gentle with small animals, held her too tightly and squished her. She died a few hours later.

:snort: did anyone catch that Nibbles changed gender? I don't remember if it was a girl or a boy!

smoked a cigarette?
Never have.

broke a bone?
Never have, not from lack of trying though!!!

got a job?
I baby sat *a LOT* as a teen. "Baby Sitters Club" anyone? I wanted to BE those girls!!! I even kept a log book (which I still have) My first official-I-got-paid-for-it was the year we went to Big White. I stayed with a baby for a few hours and got paid $5. The following summer I went with my pastor's daughter and her husband on a weekend trip to Penticton. I stayed with their daughter while they were in seminars. The funny thing is I only remember snatches of that weekend. Mostly in the car, not babysitting at all!

got cheated on?
If you don't go out with someone, you can't get cheated on. And if you like someone but they don't know it, it doesn't count!!!

rode the city bus?
It wasn't memorable whenever it was. I remember riding in a taxi for the first time. I havne't got a clue where we were going but I remember being SO excited and watching every single number flip on that little box :)

went to a concert?
Oh come on. Anyone? Tell me you know this!!! LOL

Met someone famous?
Define "famous". Meeting the Doc Walker boys was pretty cool, meeting Dierks, well, you know ALL about that ;) There are other local "celbrities" that are "famous" to me and meeting them was cool but only because I know who they are. There are my online friends who are rather 'infamous' but meeting them has been a blast too.

dyed your hair?
Never have. I have WAY too much hair and I'm afraid of wrecking the natural highlights (at least that's what I tell people :))

got your own cell phone?
My first cell phone was Seth's old "pay and talk" phone. He had it, then his ex-girlfriend used it and when she got a "real phone" I got it. In August, after moving out, I got a "real phone" with a contract and Aaron got the pay and talk. It still works well.

snuck out the house?
Okay, either I've blocked out the memories or this never happened. I honestly don't remember EVER sneaking out of the house!

drove a car?
I got my learners license two weeks before my 17th birthday. The only reason I got it then was because the rules were changing and they were phasing in graduated licensing on my birthday. By getting my license when I did, I didn't have to display an "L". The first time I drove was probably with Dad in the van. Starting in the Rotary Stadium parking lot and then moving onto the road.

got your own digital camera?
April 2005. Figured out it had digital zoom? June 2006. LOL

how old are you now?
I am 25.5 Lots of life left in which to change these "nevers" to cool stories.

~Heidi

Blogging Block

You know I walk around all day thinking "oh, I should blog that" or "that would be a great topic" but when I sit down to actually WRITE? Nothing comes out. It's very frustrating. So, I'll just do what I'm good at, recapping my life (just in case you guys care).

Thursday I skipped dance. I think I posted that I was considering it. Well, I did it. It was nice. Wednesday had been an at home evening too and two in a row was great. I didn't do anything spectacular. Sorted some pictures, made some dinner watched tv (although I turned ER off about 20 minutes in because it was too intense) and surfed online.

Friday evening I invited Seth and I over to dinner at Mom and Dad's. We always have an open invitation and because I didn't feel like cooking, I felt it was a good time to take advantage of it :) After dinner Mom and I went over to friends of ours for a good old fashioned sing song. We had some old hymn books, my mom's cousin played the piano and we all just sat around and sang. Of course I wasn't really paying attention and singing properly so my throat is kind of sore today.

Today I finally unpacked from last weekend. I stopped by my LSS to catch up on what was new from CHA. I knew about most of it from being online so much but it was still neat to get it first hand from someone who was there and to flip through all the catalogues and see the free product she got. From there I stopped at the grocery store for some chicken broth and stuff. I like using chicken broth from a can but I don't like paying a dollar a can! During case lot sales they have them on for $6.99 for a dozen so I bought a flat.

From there I headed out to a home & leisure show where I joined my square dance club for a demonstration dance. The stage was a bit un-even and quite small (we had three squares show up so it was tight) but we made it through without any major mishaps. I also stopped at the LSS out there and got some cute "I love country music" paper and stickers.

Tonight I'm headed out to a bible study and tomorrow is Super Bowl!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

~Heidi

Where I'd rather be

You know what I’d like to be doing today? Riding my bike. I haven’t been on a bike in years. I know I’d probably regret it (in that my butt would be killing me within a short time period) but it’s a gorgeous clear day out today and I wish I could go down by the river and ride until the trail ends. I don’t even know if my bicycle is in working order. I’m pretty sure both tires are flat and I don’t know what to do to fix them. It’s a great thought though :) Can you tell I’m ready for winter to be over?
~Heidi