Vegas and stuff!

I survived my first residency! How fun was that!  I met a wonderful group of people and a group of five people that I will work with for the next six months. Sgnt. from Edmonton Alberta, 2 x Engineers from the Okanagan, a techie from San Jose, and a Disaster relief coordinator from Victoria. All LOVE to travel, and all very nice, casual people. After a week of cramming for the first exam, I walked away with 96%! Whoot Whoot!

On Monday night I got to spend a wonderful evening with my sister and her children :) It was so nice to be with them. We ate some very strange, but good food my niece cooked and then went to a fabulous movie... The Fighter :) I highly recommend it! Wahlberg and Bale were awesome! I especially liked the perfect portrayal of an elephant in the room, the family dysfunction, and of course the fighting scenes were pretty good too (both boxing and domestic).  Definitely a movie I will purchase and watch over and over. I can hardly wait until it comes out for rental.

The rest of the week at school was pretty good. I hung out with my group most nights and worked on a  presentations. We seemed to work very well together and have a well balanced team. I look forward to the next 6 months of school. I look forward to the tools I will be taught, and most of all I look forward to implementing them into my projects here on Haida Gwaii.

So, after a wonderful week at school, my dear brother picked me up and we went to a very lovely cafe on the side of the road and had the MOST delicious carrot cake I have EVER had! It was a wonderful visit... short and sweet :) And off to the airport I went....

The NUMBER ONE answer people give If asked what was the most important thing you should pack when going on a trip out of the country...  Survey Says.... passport. Hmmm... someone forgot to give my man the memo. After a few choice words in my mind, and a series of irritating phone calls, and 7 hours of sitting in the airport wondering what the heck we should do next... we booked a room through hotwire.com and decided to make the best of it. The reality is, it was Todd that hurt more than me.... He has to pay for the changes in tickets, but most of all, he had to miss watching the UFC fight live in Las Vegas.  Thank God we found a cute little bar in Yale town with good food, and big TV screens :)

Sunday afternoon we left for what was probably our best vacation yet. Todd is actually one of my favorite persons to travel with. He lets me plan things and kinda just follows me along. Once in a while he throws in an activity he'd like to do, but for the most part we had a wonderful time!  I convinced him he needed to ride a roller coaster, and he convinced me I needed to laugh at a Carrot Top show. Both were the highlights of our visit! We stayed at the Excalibur which was not the nicest hotel, but the price was right, and the room was decent. The picture to the left was the view from our room. If you look closely you can see the track from the roller coaster we rode at New York, New York. It was just so much fun!

Food of course was a main activity on this trip. We walked for miles and miles looking for good places to eat :) We found some really great restaurants like the Camelot at the Excalibur where we had what was probably the BEST steak we ever had! And the Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay was also way up there as one of favorites, however, you pretty much have to take out a loan to eat there!

One piece of advice I have for anyone going to Vegas... NEVER eat at the buffets :P We tried one the first time we went, and gave it another try this time, and what a waste of money! The food was, well, in the nicest way possible, I'd have to say... disgusting!

Good times, good times! Completely worth the 10 pounds I gained while I was gone :) So now what? Jillian Michaels 20 mins a day I suppose. We'll see. She says if it doesn't hurt, I don't want it bad enough....  Started last week.... going good so far.

First Day of School...

35 years old, and here I sit in my dorm room... listening to the laughter down the hall.... and worried about whether or not I am going to fit in... Funny how the feeling of inadequacy set in as soon as I stepped out of the taxi and walked up to the dorm room.

I don't know what to expect from a group such as this, but I imagine they are the kind of smart I have always wanted to be, but just never seem to find the time to become. You know, those people that just know shit about everything and can carry on a conversation about the economy and the stock market as though they have always known everything about everything. I am not that kind of smart. I am a completely different kind of breed all together.

I do not know literature, although I have always wanted to know it and be able to recite a quote from this or that, or hear a quote and say "Oh yes, that is Bronte" My dad on occasion bursts out in limerick about putting your kids to bed, or running for office, or what ever else pops up in conversation. He'll go on for 10 or 12 quadrants before he says something like "oh I forget the rest". Its crazy! No, I'm not that kind of smart. I don't remember things... not like that anyway. I forgot my computer cord... doh!

I worry about being a hick.... I hate being a hick. I am NOT a hick. lol

I can do this! I am the kind of smart that looks at the big picture and says "yes, I realize the world economy is this or that, and I couldn't tell you why it is so, but I can say that if we look at what we do have in our possession, then we can create great things". I'm creative, and that is something to be proud of. I am worthy of these four walls, and I deserve to be here. Tomorrow is going to be a walk in the park.

Now if only I could find me a sandwich!

Finally!! Some real movement!

Holy crap that workout felt good! Even though its been over an hour and I still can't catch my breath, I feel fricken awesome! I KNOW that my body is going to hurt like hell tomorrow... and I'm actually looking forward to it... The best way to loosen it up is to walk it out! I'm hooked... like a crack addict that fell off the wagon after three months of sobriety! Bring it on and make it good!

Darn, the boys are awake.  Why is it that they don't listen to their dad? When I was a kid I use to think my dad was the ultimate authority and to defy him would bring about grave consequence. God forbid he ever raise his voice, give me that look of annoyance or be disappointed! My whole world would fall apart! Yet I sit here listening to my boys torture their father with their laughter and jumping on the bed, challenging his authority like he is just some stranger that walked in off the street and told them they had to clean their room! I feel like going in there but I know that if I do I am just saying that he can't do it, and to be honest... I need him to be able to do it!

So the bride said she liked my "costume" and it will look great at the reception, but the wedding would be formal and I would be required to squeeze into a deep orange or brown dress...

Oh geez... its two days later, and yes.... I did go into the room to rescue Todd from a 6 and 8 year old :P

What an AWESOME day! I woke up bright and early and took off to the South end for a meeting I have been waiting for two weeks! AND I thought I was busy! Then I drove that beautiful drive back home with the music blaring, and what is that... no kids in the car puking all over the back seat! Whoot Whoot! Then I  went back to work and got some things checked off my list... only to find myself running like a mad woman looking for my workout bra so I could go to circuit 15 minutes late. Once again I feel awesome! My body, my temple, and as much as I complain about it... I love it! Every last inch!

Now... back to that dress... WHY, WHY, WHY???

I love the bottom half of the dress on the left.... It swings :) WEEE!  I can just see myself all wasted twirling around on the dance floor not worried for a moment that all the boys from my grade seven class are cringing at the sight of my granny panties!  I could never get away with the top as my BINGO wings are just so unsightly.... I like the top of the dress on the right. I also like the tie at the "empire" waist... maybe in deep orange?

I can now see how women can get stressed out about their weddings and tend to lose the weight they need to in order to fit in their wedding dress. Sometimes I think I should just ask the question and then have a 16 year engagement so that I am constantly faced with the thought, this could be the year we take the plunge.

I was looking at tips for writing a maid of honor speech and it said start with telling the crowd how you feel about marriage.... well, imagine me standing there with my tenth glass of champagne in my hand, (not because I drink a lot, but  because I am deathly afraid of public speaking and maybe if I drink enough I won't cry... as hard) holding up my glass saying "WTF are you guys thinking? don't you know that statistically people who have been together as long as you have that get married usually divorce after a year?? AND do you even know any of these people you just spent a load of cash to feed??" Oh gawd, now the dress dilemma doesn't seem that bad! Maybe I shouldn't drink.

If the dress fits, wear it !!!!

Well, I've found myself hoping that my friend decides this is NOT the year for her to get married! Week one of my new life just didn't start out the way I had hoped and I only have about 40 weeks to go! I'm not sure how I'm going to catch up without finding myself running everywhere I go! Maybe one weekend I'll just have to walk to Port, or Tlell.  Or maybe I just need to be more specific about my goal... Hmmm... Maybe the answer is to find a dress I want to fit into... or a dress that will fit me!

One thing I love about my bride is that she has good taste! So I know she isn't going to make me wear a pumpkin orange dress with ruffle sleeves. My fear is that she will make me wear something uniform and I will not stand out from the others :P Not that I want to stand out, but come on, lets be real here, this will be the closest position I have reached to being a bride, I wanna look my best, and I want others to notice!

For someone who has worn a dress only on the occasions that I spent in a long line up of bridesmaids, I have no idea what would look good on a figure such as mine. So to keep in light of my new positive outlook I googled "maid of honor dresses for short women". The fact of the matter is I'm short and I will never be able to change that! SO, the google gods tell me that I should be wearing an empire waist that trails into an A-line skirt.... for whatever that means! So I decided to just to look at dresses and pick some out I think I'd like to wear.

 We'll start with this one. I can see myself in this dress, and I can confidently say I would be comfortable in it. I can most definitely see myself cutting the bow off the waist!  One of the tips I seen on some other blogs was that if your short then you should wear all one color since it gives you the illusion of being taller. So maybe this wouldn't be the best choice for my circumstance, but it sure is pretty :) I think the bride would think it was suitable and typically me... and I'm almost certain she is going to ask me to stray from my traditional choices of black and grey. My argument for this dress would be that its "shiny" which has count for something considering I normally wear cotton or ... hell, cotton! This is a definite maybe... and I'd like it in size 10 please :)

The next dress is something I think she will want me to wear. You know, something youthful and sexy and does not say to anyone "we are 10 years late at walking down this isle". Definitely no offence to the bride! I'm just saying we've both been with our men for over 10 years! I'm not sure I can pull something like this off even if I was a size 10! I'd have to double up on the spanx, buy a corset and maybe even start jogging everyday like I planned! One thing I will say is that the color would look absolutely stunning on me! The more I look at the dress, the more I think that little train in the back would call far too much attention to my feet! How horrible that would be to have to find the perfect shoe! Gawd, I haven't worn a nice shoe in my life! That is way too much pressure and I can see myself messing up my Maid of Honor speech because I was too worried about my feet.... no... this won't do!

In light of the fact that the wedding is a Halloween wedding, I thought this dress would be perfect!!! Isn't it just the coolest! It looks like a butterfly :) I can sport one of those masquerade masks and flutter around the hall. Although this dress also requires I double up on the spanx I kind of think people won't notice the body in the dress, but the dress itself! Which means... I can order a size 12 or 14 and erase the guilt I feel for only jogging twice this week instead of five times! AS for the BINGO wings flappin in the breeze... well heck, they almost go with the dress! The bridesmaids are going to be soooo jealous! The best part of all is that the dress is so beautiful that no one would notice my shoes! Even better, I could wear a little pair of black flats and not have to make a total ass of myself trying to wear heels :D Now... I wonder how much a Luly Yang from Seattle dress costs??? The name sounds expensive! How ever am I ever going to pay for it??

Its settled... I'm going to send this picture to the bride, and beg she can understand my... "short" situation.

Statistically if you write it down...

 The treadmill sitting in my living room is dying for attention. It calls my name each time I pass it on the way to the fridge. It says "Patricia, don't do it! Climb on me instead!" I have learnt to tune it out... until yesterday... Sun Run training has started but there was NO WAY I was going to get out in that snow and train! Although I did not know it officially started, something told me to get moving!

2.61km... Doesn't seem like a lot does it?  Well its not! It's completely pathetic, but I am telling you it felt so good to move! One check mark on my calendar and only four more to go this week. My goal for the next six weeks... 100km, which translates into:

Week One : 2km x 5 days = 10Km
Week Two: 2.5km x 5 days = 12.5km
Week Three: 3km x 5days = 15km
Week Four: 3.5km x 5days =17.5km
Week Five: 4km x 5days= 20km
Week Six:5km x 5 days=25km

Start: January 16th, 2011     End Date: February 26th, 2011

Ambitious? Yes, considering I have had my treadmill for over 8 years and I have racked up all of 20km on the thing. I keep thinking... 10km in one week... that is nothing considering I use to do it in a day! 5km, that is to work and back... I see people walk past my house each day. I can do this! Now if only I had a motivation button that people could push instead of that irritating button they tend to find right away!

Did I share my experience at the "ESSENCE" workshop I attended just before Christmas? I took this test and the results told me that I "pretend" to like being around people, when in reality, I actually like being alone, in my own space. Funny how we train ourselves to believe that we need to feel some way because our society or culture dictates that we "should" be that way... But how unhappy we make ourselves when we force ourselves to be what others want us to be... WELL, not me. I like my space. I like company when I like company. I like to go out and be with people, when I like to go out and be with people. I no longer feel an obligation to socialize.... Makes me want to throw a party!

Oh! Great NEWS! As part of my New Years Resolution and my commitment to take care of myself, body, soul and mind... I have booked a 7 day trip to Vegas with my man! A week of Chris Angel ~ Mind Freak (definitely taking care of my mind!), UFC Live at Mandalay Bay, Toni and Tina's wedding, and Drew Carey and his Improv team... Its going to be all about fun, all about enjoyment, and definitely all about walking that strip :) I can hardly wait! Todd and I truly need this, and I think we will all be better for it in the end. Although our kids are going to be pissed!

So, that is that... I have a 1500km goal set for this year, and a few mini goals along the way. The sun Run is a given, but this year I'd like to accomplish something more! This year I am going to WOG (part walking, part jogging) the 1/2 marathon for Totem To Totem. I am a little shy to enter a race that I am certain to lose, but then I thought about how it would feel to not even try. So I'm going to do it... even if it takes me all day! I hiked the Cape Fife in September 20km in 6 hours... I figure I have a good chance at finishing before the sun sets :)

So WHAT! I weighed in heavier than I did last year... that was last year! No problem :) Life is short, and I am going to enjoy what I can, when I can, and which ever way I can. I lost a lot of important people in my life this past year, and I know if they were here, and could do it over, they too would embrace the challenge :) I will no longer allow my imperfections ruin what could be a perfect life :D

Smoke Free: 8 days :)

Love!!

Tee hee :S

Holy Crap! Has it been a year since I started this blog ?! Wasn't it just like yesterday I was saying this is the year I am going to release that 150 pound woman I have been holding hostage for the past 10 years?  Another year has passed me by and I am 5 pounds heavier! LOL! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??  Oh I know! It happened the same way the last 5 pounds per year came to find their home on my body!

OK, OK, OK... maybe THIS year is the year I will miraculously find french fries and fried bread repulsive!  Maybe THIS year my treadmill will finally break that 100km mark? (Its 8 years old) Maybe, just maybe, THIS year is the year I can "make the connection"!

Yes, THIS is THE year! I can feel it! I can see it! and most of all I can TASTE it!

I have 41 weeks to reach my goal before my best friend gets married, and makes me wear a gawd aweful Maid of Honor dress! So, if there is a GOD out there, and you are listening, or reading my blog... Help me out a bit huh? Cut me break! I'll get on that treadmill, I'll limit my addiction to fries, fried bread and chocolate. I promise... this time!