I should have been a little more specific when I encouraged people to vote.
Sad face. :(
May 022011
May 012011
Canada is having a federal election on Monday May 2nd. If you’re over 18 and a Canadian citizen, go vote.
“If you’re between the age of 18 and 25 and you want to scare the hell out of the people who run this country, this time around do the unexpected. Take 20 minutes out of your day and do what young people all around the world are dying to do. Vote.”
-Rick Mercer
So I know we’re already a week into March, but that doesn’t mean I can’t post a February Roundup. I make the rules on this blog, because I rule. I’m going to keep much to the same format as last month’s post, as it seemed to work pretty well. In January, I spent a lot of time trying to dig myself out of a pity party that wasn’t really helping anyone, and I managed to do so fairly effectively. February was a much better month in general than January was.
Big News
February started with a little more excitement than January. My brother was offered a teaching job at this new international school in Okinawa in Japan, and after much debate, decided to take it. I admire his willingness to jump at an exciting opportunity. His little girl is completely adorable and we will miss them all a lot. Everyone has Skype and we will figure out a schedule for chatting. Alan and I are trying to figure out how we can get there for a visit sometime early in 2012. Being helpful mooches, Alan and I have inherited a very lovely black leather couch, glass dinette set and other random smaller items. They leave on Wednesday.
Hobbies & Projects
I read a grand total of one book in February. That’s super pathetic, and I don’t really have a good excuse as to why I didn’t read more. I will post a review of the book soon. Maybe. As well, I will post a new Bookstravaganza list soon. Maybe. We’ll see. I did some more book buying by proxy, inherited a whole lot of my brother’s books, and forced someone to buy me a book. All of this doesn’t feel like cheating on my no-book buying rule, but it does mean that I have more books on my to-read list now than I did on January 1st.
I finished the “back” of my quilt top that I started this summer. After looking at both, it was decided that the “back” was a new quilt top and that I hated the one I started in the summer. My Mom and I discussed a strategy to finish the quilt, and then I haven’t done a thing since the first weekend of February. I have abandoned the original top and it no longer exists in my life. All in all, it seems like I made have made negative progress in February.
Social Life
My weekends were full of mostly family stuff. The first weekend, I went to Sarnia to help my Mom and Dad work on the house they randomly bought in December. I painted and helped pull staples out of floors and made my Mom tell me how to finish my quilt(s). Two other weekends involved significant amounts of niece time along with the rest of the family. I can’t get that little girl to fall asleep on me, but I can make her smile, and that’s possibly better.
The Windsor Weekend of Awesomeness was pretty good. It was weird travelling with people who weren’t Alan, but Natasha and Garry were fun in the car, and we had a great time with Esther. We hit up all our favourite restaurants and some of our other haunting grounds and general funness ensued. I actually got to meet up Esther and go to the ROM with her while she was on reading week as well. We made dinosaur noises and talked about how great Arrested Development is. We had dinner with different friends a few times and generally were sort-of social people.
Work
Continues. Scope creep is epic. I got to write one module three different times this last month as our clients changed their minds about what they wanted that many times. We’re hoping for beta testing in about five weeks. I think it’s more likely seven weeks.
Family
I think I’ve covered most of it. Mom and Dad bought a house in December and are busy fixing it up to hopefully either rent or sell it. My brother was in Japan, then was here, and is leaving again very soon. My niece is cute. My Alan is great. I like him a lot.
Other Random Stuff
Alan and I are putting our Ottawa trip on hold until the fall. Possibly Thanksgiving weekend. Scope creep has ruled out the first week of April as a viable option. I learned what RRSPs are. We haven’t done our taxes yet. Fancy new furniture. There are 3 fewer broken chairs in my apartment.
If you’re not watching Community I urge you to do so. I have told everyone I know to watch it. Three have done so and thanked me for the recontamination. Nobody has disliked it so far. Also, Fringe. I think Olivia is a great character. Both of them.
Health
When I last checked in, I was just starting in on my weight loss plan. I’d been referred to a local weight management clinic, and was still figuring out what the hell I needed to do. I’ve about six weeks in now and I think I’ve done pretty well. I have certainly improved my eating and am starting to see the results of that work. I am down about 15 pounds since I started, and more importantly, my clothes are starting to fit better. I still suck at getting exercise, but this week has been better than the last.
So that is my February in a nutshell. I wonder what the rest of March has in store for me.
Jan 312011
I haven’t really blogged about what is happening in my life as of late, not because nothing is happening, just because nothing seems super-epic. However, looking back on it, this month has been full of lots of interesting things I can discuss.
A good thing to note right at the beginning of this post is that December was a bad month for me. I had me some of that lovely Seasonal Affective Disorder BS. Or maybe I was just moping, I’m not really sure. Either way, I was not a lovely, industrious person in December. I’m going to revisit some of my goals from this post and comment on life in general.
I’ve been maintaining a work document of my current goals, and every day at work, I open it up and see how I’m doing. Basically I have a list of weekly goals, another with the goals for the current month, one for next month, and one for overall. I also have a list of things I want to do some day, and people I want to hang out with. This has helped me remember what my priorities are on a daily basis, and plan things a bit further in advance, so that things actually seem to happen.
Hobbies & Projects
This encompasses a few of my 2011 goals. The Bookstravaganza so far has been fun; I’ve finished two books this month and will be starting the next one soon. I’m surprised how into 19th century literature my peers are; so far the winners have been old, old books, and it’s looking like the next winner will be a Jane Austen book. I have had to break my no-book buying rule, but I did it by proxy and it was for a good cause. More on that later.
One of my other goals was to finish the quilt I was working on this summer. The top was finished but it needed a back. I have actually made really good progress on this. I think with another two to three hours work, I will have the back all pieced together and ready for borders. I can’t really do that at my place because of my limited supplies, but I am planning on visiting my parents next weekend, and they have the things I need, not to mention the expertise from my mom. The only problem is that I like the back of the quilt more than the front, and I’m not sure the colours really match up. Maybe I have two quilt tops. Which means I have to make two more backs…
Social Life
I wanted to hang out with friends more often, and I have accomplished this. Every weekend this month, I did something with at least one of my friends. I went to Waterloo and had lunch with a pair of friends one day. Another day, Alan and I had two couple over for dinner and games. The next weekend I went to Toronto to hang out with a friend from university and her boyfriend. We went for dinner and cards and board games in Cambridge one night, and this most recent Friday, we had a friend over for dinner. So overall, this was a big success. I want to keep up with this, as I think it’s important to maintain the relationships I have, and make them better.
I’m very much looking forward to the Windsor Weekend of Awesomeness in February. Basically, I’m going down to visit a friend who is in university there with another couple of friends. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet up with my sister in law at some point as well for random hot beverage or some other social gathering thing. Maybe lunch. I don’t know.
Work
I think in the first week of January I managed to get more work done than I did the entire month of December. Which isn’t to say that I think we’re making progress on our project; I really don’t.
I started with my current company in July, and when I started, was told that my main task was to port their existing software into a web application. They had one major client on-board who was interested in a few customizations, but that overall it was to be an extension of their existing product. That is not what they were after. What they were after was fully-customized software that, as part of their requirements, would accomplish some of the tasks that our current software encompasses. I would say that about one fifth of the project is a straight-up port of the original software.
The major problem with the software is that nobody is really in charge. Or perhaps, that too many people are in charge. I have difficulty getting my managers to say no to any of the client’s requests, which are all pretty good requests, but many are absolutely out of left field.
It’s possibly the most epic example of scope creep I have been witness to in my short career.
The last week or so we have seen some actual progress. The client has started to realize that every change or new feature they ask for takes time, and I have started asking them to prioritize every one of those requests as to when it must be done, and how important it is in relation to their other requests. This has focused everyone into thinking about what is an absolute necessity versus what would just be nice.
Family
They’re good. My Mom and Dad went to Arizona for the majority of the month, and were actually in Tuscon when the world’s media descended upon the city. They said it was weird. My brother and his family are in Japan right now and sound like they’re having a great time.
Other Random Stuff
Alan and I are planning a longish weekend trip to Ottawa for our anniversary, but not on our actual anniversary. Probably around early-to-mid April, depending on software release dates and scope creep. We’ve got a list of ideas for what to do but would appreciate any suggestions.
Alan bought himself a fancy car. Lots of discussions were had about the merits of two versus four doors, and roofs versus convertibles, and inexpensive versus flashy. I think he made a pretty good decision, though I am not in love with the idea that it only takes premium gas.
I’m almost done my to-do list that I made immediately after getting married (last March). I have a couple of bank accounts to close and then I’ll be all done.
Health
At the beginning of the month, I decided to make some changes, starting with pumping myself full of Vitamin D in order to stave off some of the SAD I’d been dealing with in December. It works really well. It might be a placebo but if it is, I just don’t care. I also cut out caffeine and my morning Tim Horton’s run.
I had my first ever physical in early January, and based on my medical history and current health status, was referred to a local OHIP-based weight management clinic. Other than the weight, I’m fine, which is good to know. Oh, and I’m also Vitamin B12 deficient, but that’s really not a huge deal.
About two weeks ago was the initial appointment at the weight management clinic. They had me fill out about a mile of paperwork, and did some initial baseline tests to ensure my heart wasn’t going to explode. They had me see a nutritionist, who gave me a general eating plan, and told me to go buy a pair of books, get some Omega-3 and bunch of other things, until they could get me my “meal plan”. (I had Alan order the books so as to not break my resolution. )
A few days later I was back in for a “meal plan”. The meal plan essentially outlines how many calories at each meal, and what percentages of my calories should be fitting into carbs, fats and proteins. They’re also really into fibre, and not so keen on Coke. They sent me on my merry way to try and figure out all of this stuff.
So I set up some spreadsheets and hit the internet, and came up with a daily menu (without dinner) that fit the profile they suggested. This means that I eat the same boring things every day, and have a sensibly balanced dinner, and slowly but sustainably, weight should start coming off.
I have also increased my activity levels. This has been a trial, as I hate going for walks. It’s stupid and I just don’t do it. Right now I’m doing a tae-bo video that I downloaded off the internet as exercise, and that’s way more interesting than walking. I also turned my desk at work into a standing desk, which is ugly but functional.
I want this to work and I am willing to put in the time to make it happen. Hopefully I can see at least a little bit of results in the next couple of weeks, so that I don’t get discouraged. I went in for a weekly weigh-in last week and didn’t see any movement, and that was a bit disappointing. Maybe this week will be better, though.
So that’s what’s been up with me in January. What about you?
Jan 102011
I had a great weekend.
I just thought you should know.