GPS = Getting Purposely Screwed-up!

Well! What a weekend it was! On Friday I did some laundry:

I needed to pack to get ready for my trip to Guelph and surrounding area to meet my 'invisible friends from the other side of the keyboard'.

I managed to rent a Nissan Versa for the weekend (Enterprise has a great weekend rate!) and set off with the GPS plugged in, and leading me south-west-ward.




I arrived Guelph in good time - about an hour and a half - taking back roads all the way. Got to see a lot of Ontario farm country. I filled up in Brisbane! I thought that was kind of funny. Then I met someone I'd known for 8 years! We had a lovely night catching up and she and her boyfriend and I went to a local pub for a late supper. The mound of mashed potatoes was like something out of Encounters of the Third Kind's sculpture scene with Richard Dreyfuss!

On Saturday, a beautiful sunny day, we went to the Cathedral in Guelph, where I took a bunch of pictures of the lovely building, practicing my architectural eye. We did go to the local market and
I bought some elk pepperettes, some orange cheese curds, a bottle of fresh maple syrup, and a loaf of lovely Russian bread for the pot luck later. I'd love to go back!




























We had lunch at a restaurant called, Angel's, and there was a ton of Elvis, Marilyn, James Dean, etc memorabilia all over the place. I took this photo because there's a "Elvis Fan's Only Parking" poster... which says, "Violaters will be all shook up". I thought that was pretty funny.


I left Guelph and tried to plug in St. George into the GPS. It took it, but couldn't find the street I needed, so I decided to use the postal code. After an hour's driving, I made it to Scotland. Then I was directed to Paris. Not bad considering there were no trans-atlantic flights involved! I picked up a friend at a pub in Paris, and we drove to St George for a lovely supper with some more imaginary friends (some of whom I'd met before). The love and laughter, the fun... it was stupendous (and I'm not just saying that because some of them read my Blog!). I really had a great time with these women, who has shared so much with me and each other over the years. I stayed up til 1:15 chatting with my hostess and then had a lovely sleep. We had a great breakfast made by her husband and chatted for another 3+ hours before I dragged my sorry butt to the car.

The GPS got me on the 401 and back to the 400N in plenty of time to hit the outlet mall where I bought the girls some clothes and a new, smaller pair of snow/rain boots for me. And another book. While driving, I made it through Milton, where some friends are from. I thought I'd take a photo to email him back at home.










I got to Skype with the girls when they got home from their Grandmother's and spent 30 minutes absorbing their faces in chunks, as the camera isn't as smooth as it could be. Sailor's doing a great job with them. They were smiley, and happy and Greta and I "tickled" each other through the camera. We're going to try to Skype again tomorrow around dinner time so that they'll actually stay at the table to eat!

This week's flex:

Mon: Powerpoint presentation (tested) in syndicate. Budgets. Night: nothing.
Tue: PT, Budgets. Night: nothing.
Wed: Budgets, procurement. Night: Nothing.
Thu: Procurement, Purchasing, my Emergency Preparedness presentation, PT. Night: Karaoke.
Fri: Guest Lecture, PT. Night: to Toronto!! Mississauga's having a dinner and I'm crashing!
Sat: Pickering party.
Sun: ROM and return to Barrie.

Connectivity at last!

We have interwebz!! And some pictures to catch up with...

Monday Photo 1: Ice shacks on the lake in Barrie. There are people out there, on thin ice. Crazy people.


















Photo 2: Dinner at Chez-D (say it out loud, hee hee). My friend D is an amazing chef. She made mushroom risotto with a baguette of sauted mushrooms, cheese and garlic butter. The wine was a Pinot Grigio, the curious dog is a Golden Retriever who is the biggest lapdog I know, and the movie was Julie & Julia - VERY appropriate!











And for dessert: Home made shortcakes a la Bisquick, fresh berries, whipping cream with vanilla sugar, and melted chocolate. Heavenly.





I was still digesting at 7:30 this morning.

Tuesday Photo: My room.

Monday Monday... doo doo...doo doo doo dooooo

Well, first week down. Syndicate work all week, another exam in there (94.5% - I suck), and then FRIDAY!!! Here's this week's flex:

M: course, hangin' with Deb.

T: course. Ironing. Reading. Working stuff.

W: course. Etc.

T: course. Etc.

F: course. Off to Kitcher/Waterloo/Cambridge/Hamilton/etc.

Here's some pictures for Project 365+:

Here is the door leading from our common area in the "shacks" to the front door of the "shacks". A collection of modular rooms, two on the bottom floor, two one floor up, two one more floor up from that, with two beds per room. The chicks are usually at the top, and the guys below (hee hee). We have a laundry room, and a wee bar fridge, and a tv with cable. We're hoping to get interwebz for Tuesday.

Saturday's photo is of a wooden Mayan calendar that hangs in the upstairs of my friend Deb's house. She bargained for four days for this and eventually, she wore down the vendor. This is why we get along so well - we are good at wearing down the competition.

It's very striking in real life and so I needed a photo of it.

Sunday!! La Scandinave Spa with some good friends. Hot, steamy and wet... and that was just the gossip!! We named the waterfall, Lars. We wanted to wed Lars. It would have been a lovely relationship. One-sided... but we could live with that.

And another of the sunset over the Blue Mountains.

I'll try to update this week, but no promises.

Catch-up day!

Well what a week it's been! I landed in Toronto at PIA about 15/20 minutes late and thankfully my friend D was there to pick me up after waiting 30 minutes for bags! She drove me to Borden and we both searched for the accomodations building and then the building I'm staying at! We started at the wrong end of modular (#20-something) and needed to get to #4! Heavy bags. At any rate, 20 minutes later, D noticed that I had left my wallet in her car, so she had to come back. She now knows where I'm at!

Here's a picture of us landing at PIA. It's blurry because we were moving.

It was cold. And snowy. And minus something-or-other cold. Thankfully it started to warm up during the week.

We started course at 7:30 the next morning - in a classroom with computers and we settled in for 'death by powerpoint' for the next five weeks. Here's an illegal picture of the classroom. I found out after I had taken the photo that we're not allowed to. Shhhh... don't tell, ok?

The weather started improving while we were there... surprisingly warm, sunny and things started melting. Before it did, I took a photo of the view outside of my window.

Now, in the olden days, before real computers, the Supply System worked with micro-fiche and data cards. Then they got a computer system called TNR. Now we're on a destktop system called MIMS, soon to move to ANOTHER system called MASIS. Yeah... your tax dollars at work. Anywho, here's pictures of the old system from the school I'm at:

This is the microfiche system, just like in the old libraries.

And this is the TNR - a computer monitor that could be used as a paperweight, the card system - a series of cards with little holes in them - in the yellow box, two books, known as the 501 and 502 with all the codes inside that made the TNR system do as you wanted it to, and a giant book on a table, the "bible": the 186. The 3-tiered grey in/out box holds our old forms, 2302's, tags (192s), and other various bits of paperwork that all Supply Techs had on their desk.

It wasn't the best system, but it made logistics flow reasonably smoothly throughout the military.

Now we're learning a system that will soon be superceded by a system that is currently in use by the Naval ship repair units. It's taking one single system for all elements and turning it into three seperate entities, which means that the Army will use it differently than the Airforce and those two differently from the Navy. To many of us, it seems like two steps back. I guess I'm just bitter.

I forgot my download cable for the camera (these pictures are from my phone), so once I can get it, I'll download the photos from that and add to the blog - most likely Wednesday, as we're supposed to be getting internet in the shacks on Tuesday. Ha. We'll see about that!

Make and Mend

Well, it's nearly time to leave. My last-minute to-do list is growing, but I'm managing to strike off two for every one I add. The longest thing is the torrent downloads I'm waiting on... *sigh*.

So, this week's flex:

Mon: drop of Ray and Greta for school/daycare and go to the airport. Fly out at 1000. Land at 1855 GTA time. I get a drive up to the base from a friend. I'll sign in, find my room, and head there to unpack and iron my uniform up for Tuesday.

Tues: first day of course at 0730! I need to connect with a friend in Barrie to pick up my Mona Vie which is waiting for me at her house, I just hope her husband is home from hospital (poor guy).

Wed: course. Should practice some dance too.

Thurs: course. Perhaps some reading... cross stitch... surfing...

Fri: course.

Sat: Hanging with the girls, I hope! I may or may not rent a car for the day, depending on weather, plans and money.

Sun: La Scandinave Spa with some of the girls! YAY!!

Today's photos. Photo 1: The coat I'm bringing with me.

It's the warmest one I have and has ripped at the zip (due to me wearing it through part of my first pregnancy. Bad move). I have put off sewing it up for about 4 years now, so it's time to fix it. I have done so now and it's not a pretty job, but it'll do. I tried it on and it's comfy, and warm, and fits! It's also longer than my butt, so with any luck I'll be nice and warm while in the frigid East (and yes, Barrie is East to me!).

Photo 2: My flowers bloom during the winter!

I purchased a couple of Easter flower baskets when the girls were baptized and the flowers from them have been blooming and growing ever since. This specific blossom is in front of a horse picture I picked up from China. The fabric is separating inside, but I love it and can't bear to part with it. Until I or Sailor go to China to replace it.

Behind is the front patio area, compete with extension cords that Sailor has not put away which means our Christmas lights are still up. We're such a country song.

A Quiet Saturday

Other than the screaming, the running around, the whining, the yelping, the loud music, the loud Wiggles, and the "oooowwwww"... it's a nice quiet Saturday. We made our first visit to the library today too. The way the girls acted... it's probably our last too.

Today's photos: Photo 1 - a close up of a flower from the bunch Ray chose for me the other day.

Photo 2 - a close up of Greta's lunch - her favourite! Amy's Organic Mac & Cheese and a Turkey Dog.

One Last Weekend

Great Friday! Greta stayed home with her sister and Dad today. I worked 1/2 a day. I was able to meet up with the guy from the Band and we chose four songs to give to his CO to choose from:

Rhythm of My Heart by Rod Stewart

Gimme Some Lovin' by Spencer Davis Group

Good Mother by Jann Arden

Doin' It Right by Powder Blues

If we have to cut one, it'll be the Doin' It Right song. We're both really happy with the songs and how I sound and how he sounds - although the whole band may be playing the songs. It'll be fun to find out how it goes once I get back. I'm downloading the songs I don't have and putting them onto my MP3 so I can practice them while I'm gone.

Sailor put a prime rib into the slow cooker and it's nearly ready. Yummmm.

Today's 365 photos:

Photo 1 is a picture of Greta leading the way upstairs for me to change her. And yoikes - it was horrible! What ARE we feeding her?

Photo 2 is of a note, tagged to the door for Sailor to remind him when to go pick up his Mum from the airport tonight. He'll be gone a good two hours or so I think. Plenty of time for me to watch some Monty Python.

Singin', Dancing', Wigglin'

The dry weather is coming to an end. Supposed to warm up and wet up for the rest of the week. Tomorrow morning, I'm picking up some odds and ends from clothing stores, working a little bit, then singing some songs with the Naden band! Well... technically a piano player FROM the band, but I gave him a list of songs, and we're going to see which ones we like. The songs I chose are:

Think (Aretha Franklin)

My Own Way To Rock (Burton Cummings)

Good Mother (Jann Arden)

Gimme Some Lovin' (Spencer Davis Group)

Doin' It Right (Powder Blues Band)

Alright, Okay, You Win (Peggy Lee)

Smooth (Santana/Rob Thomas)
ETA: Rythm of My Heart (Rod Stewart)

Now... I've never actually SUNG any of these songs. Ever. So it will be interesting to see if I can pull them off. I had never even heard of Alright, Okay, but it seems like a fun song to try.

After that, I'm picking up my Mother-In-Law at the airport, dropping her off, then hitting Costco for the stuff we need before I leave.

Today's photos: Photo 1: This is the view from our main lounge at work. This is why we have a summer full of wedding receptions.

Photo 2: The girls are GLUED to the Wiggles. And they do all the dances, songs, and have such a great time with them. And the Captain is pretty good with that Feathersword too, I must say!

Wednesday - Hump Day?

Well today was productive. Mostly. I managed to complete and pass one course, and not complete and fail another test. I'll retry tomorrow. I wrote letters, emails, and FINALLY met with the Naden Band guy to choose some songs for my 'gig' with them. I narrowed down a hundred or so to about 8. He can choose from there.

Today's photos. The first is the traffic line as I'm waiting (through 3 lights) to turn onto the highway to go get Greta from Daycare:

The line up behind me was just starting to grow, and by the time I was near the front of the line, it was even longer than the line in front of me is in this photo.

Photo two: I'm doing a Mary Kay Glamour Night with a new customer tonight! Here's my stuff:

It's chockers full of cool cosmetics and cleansers and samples... I love this stuff! I was never a girlie-girl, but I really believe in the product.

So... why do we call it Hump Day when most of us get laid on Fridays?

Another Crummy Day in Paradise

This is why we live here. Our weather's included in the mortgage payments. This is the left half of the lookout I pass every day:

And this is the right half:

The sun was shining in the distance, but it didn't turn out well on this camera.

Work and Play

Interesting Monday. Took me 30 minutes to catch up on work emails, then I got changed into my uniform.

I called a couple people back (turns out the woman at the play area we rented in December for the Kid's Christmas party is the wife of a bass player friend, who's band played our wedding reception! HA! Small world or what!?), and then gave a quick briefing to some new technicians at the Fleet School.

Then raced into town for a chiro visit. Okay, raced is a slight exaggeration: crawled painfully along in 2nd gear is more like it. There was construction from one end of town (where I started), all the way INTO town. And then four blocks later, there was a police roadblock for the funeral procession for Lt Nuttall, so I had to detour around that (not a big problem though) before arriving 15 minutes late.

After that, I had a splendid lunch with Sailor's 2nd cousin - a lovely girl! Haven't seen her in 8 years, since her mother's wedding. She loves the Island (as well she should), and she and her boyfriend leave tomorrow, driving home to Edmonton. Ick.

I returned to work for an hour or so, then drove around the gym's parking lot 4 times before someone else took the spot I was waiting for, and then went to my mandatory work-out session, where I sweated for my holiday sins. I left, got my friend V, showed her where Greta goes to preschool (for when Sailor's on duty next week, and she may end up picking up Ray from her school and dropping her at the preschool for our sitter, who, btw, is an ANGEL), and then dropped HER at home, and FINALLY came home.

So... up at 5, out the door around 6:35 (with Greta), home by 5pm. Long. Days.

Photo 1 is the view I have of my office while at my desk:

Yes, it's blue. Walls, ceiling - blue. Not my first choice, but I like blue, so I'm okay with it. The boxes you see are boxes of miniature statues, having to do with the Homecoming Statue Project. We sell the minis to people who want them ($135 a pop), and for this year only, are giving them away to retiring Naval members as a parting gift (as long as they have 20+ years in the "mob"). We've hired a decorator too, but she's starting downstairs first. The speaker in the corner is GREAT... too bad the air vent fan is RIGHT.ABOVE.MY.HEAD where I sit... so I hear pretty much nothing on the radio unless it's up to 11. Which means I can't hear the phone ring. And speaking of the phone... the 3 button is sticky, so dialing out sucks.

Photo 2 is of the girl's Christmas presents from their Godmother:

The mosaic box is for Ray, the Tinkerbell is for Greta. I did the front and one side of the box, with some help from Greta. She really understood the concept of which coloured piece goes on which numbered square. I was so impressed! Ray has done about 1/4 of the top so far. She's doing really well with it.

And yes, those are her slippers on the table. Greta's, not Tink's.

I forgot! Fantastic news! My cousin's wife (who may as well be MY cousin, we just love each other to bits), had signed up about 4 or 5 years ago to sell Mary Kay under another lady. I told her that she should have signed up under me, as I was her consultant. Anyway, this other director led my cousin down a garden path, and she ended up getting into a LOT of debt (and because of other things too) over bad business advice. So, my cousin let her consultant-ship (?) lapse, and just today, resigned under ME! AND her friend is going to do the same thing this week! I'll have TWO consultants!! I need 24 to be a director, but I'm quite happy to have those two! And it doesn't matter they won't put in 'qualifying' orders - the first orders they put in will be activation orders, and that's just fine and dandy. It's so great to see my cousin start to earn money the proper Mary Kay way - this time around I'll be able to give her much better advice than this other lady did.

I also forgot to add this week's Flex (for those who are interested):

Mon: Work.

Tues: Greta to Daycare, work, tap class

Wed: Greta to Daycare, work, Mary Kay Glamour Class!

Thurs: Greta to Daycare, work.

Fri: Greta to Daycare, work.

Sat: Ray's dance class, groceries.

Sun: Church. laundry. finish packing.

Mon: Drop Greta to daycare, Ray onto bus, me to airport, Sailor back to the ship!

Last Day Before RTW

n the military, most things can be shortened to an acronym. For example, RTW - Return to Work. FIGMO - F&ck it, Got My Orders (I'm outta here!). It makes for interesting reading, especially when you read something NOT from the military and put in their meanings.

So I'm back to work tomorrow, after 3 weeks off. The time has gone quickly. Greta goes back to her preschool, but Ray has one more week off, with her Dad, as he doesn't go back til the 11th. I have to iron a set of uniform clothes today. I wonder how long I'll be putting THAT off.

My suitcase is already open and receiving clothes. Sailor commented on it. I don't like to pack last minute - I ALWAYS forget something.

Never fails. To avoid that, I put in stuff early. The weather's pretty mild here, so I'll pack all my heavy sweaters for the trip. And the winter uniform stuff like snow boots, heavy coat, toque.

Today I have two pictures for my Photo365:

Photo 1 is of the church I attend on a pretty regular basis. It's a little Anglican church, St John The Baptist. They have a new website if you're interested in checking

it out: http://www.stjohnscobblehill.ca/

It's a sweet church, very loving people. The rector is a huge U2 fan, and his wife is an amazing teacher who runs a very successful grief course. I took it and it really helped me deal with my father's passing.

Photo 2 is of the poinsettias that were purchased over the Christmas/ Advent season. The church does this each year, where parishioners can purchase a plant (or two, or four) and have it decorate the altar area over the season. These are just a few of the beautiful plants, more were in the back. We purchase d two this year: one in memory of Sailor's father and my father, and one in memory of my Aunt who passed away this year and her husband who passed away about 4 years ago. We purchase Easter lilies at Easter. The tapestry in the back was done by a lady in Alberta who had done one to celebrate the marriage of our Rector and his wife. His wife thought it'd be nice if parishioners got together to purchase more tapestries celebrating the church year. Together with another couple or two, we bought part of the Easter tapestry and the baptismal tapestry. Looking at the photo now... it looked better composed in my head.

It's great to see so many Project 365 blogs! It's a great way to peek into people's lives unobtrusively I think.

Days 1 and 2

I love taking photos. I'm not all that great at it (yet), but I love it. I still have to send off my broken 12mp Kodak for repair (procrastinate much? I was supposed to do that last month!), but in the meantime I'm using a 9mp Kodak. My goal is to purchase a Nikon DXXXX once I've finished my diploma as a graduation gift. At this rate... it'll be a D7000 or something because it's taking me ages to finish the damed courses!

ANYway... here's day 1 of the 365 photo project. Picture 1: Ray asleep on the sofa.

She was rather grumpy once we returned to the house after visiting some of Sailor's friends. She doesn't do well with interrupted naps.

And picture 2: Our neighbourhood on January 1st, 2010.

We had a wet, green Christmas this year. A pleasant change from the usual winter wonderland it's been in the past. That's our new car in the drive: a 2010 Indigo Blue Elantra vice the 2009 Grey Elantra. 5 speed. Needs a 6th, as the revs are really high when going 110+kph. Other than that, great car. We quite like it.

Day 2 Photo 1: Christmas Decorations in the bin:

This is the tree decoration bin. All the ornaments, lights, garland - all goes in here. The one behind is the house bin, and the third one, waaaay in the back, is for all the dining room decorations. The girls were a big help putting everything away. Until they lost interest and started racing around the house.

Day 2 Photo 2: Greta's Extreme Tv Watching:

She was asked to go outside so many times, but refuses to wear her warm boots. So no outside. Instead, she'll wear the helmet as she runs the trike inside, and then when she takes a break,

she'll stop, watch the tv, and just leave the helmet on.

She's always in dresses and tights. Such a little fashionista.

And there's the first two days done. Check out my friend's blogs for their projects this year.

New Year, New Things to Try

Many people make resolutions for the New Year - better health, diet, running, being nicer, etc. Me... I've tried all those, and what works for me is NOT making a resolution, but just deciding, on the spur of the moment to do it. That's how I quit smoking - well... I was double-dog-dared and did it, but I still quit smoking. That was April 24th, 2000, and I'm still smoke free.

Well, this year, I'm going to try something a little different. A photo a day: http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

I'm going to take a picture a day and post it at least once a week, with an accompanying story. Then I'll have a record of what my year was like. Should be interesting. To me at least - HA!

I'll post again this week, with pictures I've taken.