Journey & Adventure

Yesterday was my anniversary (and J’s too of course). We have been married for 23 years or as J clarifies – we are going into our 23rd year of wedded bliss. We have actually been together for over 30 years. A lifetime it seems, but it’s been great and I’m looking forward to many, many more. Once a year, our corporate office hosts a strawberry social for the office and plant personnel. I’ve spent the last 3 hours preparing the strawberries for tomorrow – washing, hulling and cutting. I’ve was appointed “supervisor” thanks to my many years of strawberry processing plant experience which started around the time I turned 15. Thank goodness I opted for an education and didn’t make strawberries my career. I used to LOVE strawberries, but for obvious reasons not so much anymore. The saga of my car continues. After the $700 worth of repairs last week – my car still DID NOT start properly. So, it’s back in the shop today and now I’m being told it needs a new fuel pump – to the tune o...

If you are a regular reader, you know the story…I’m restless in my career. Apart from working with the best boss in the world for almost 10 years, I’ve never stayed in one place for very long. The longest stint within the last decade has been 3 years. In case you’re wondering, I’ve held 6 jobs within the last 10 years, including the current one. My restlessness is beginning to surface again. We are currently at the 1.5 year mark. Eeek, I have a problem. What is my problem exactly? Good question. I have many issues, BUT the biggest factor in my restlessness is the “need to make a difference”. I don’t need to save the world, I don’t need public tributes, accolades or recognition of any kind, but I need to personally know that my contributions are doing something for the organization. If I can’t take something that’s in disrepair and make it better or improve upon a process, I don’t see the need to continue. If I can’t do my job well, I don’t see the need to do it at all....

Murphy’s Law is an old adage that is typically stated as: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” Well, I’ve been living the law of Murphy and I’m not sure what I’ve done to bring on the flood of bad luck I’m having at the moment this year.  Who the hell is Murphy anyway? I’ve never really been one to believe in luck. Luck to me has always been a mindset and if you believe bad things will happen to you, they most likely will. The same goes - if you think positively, positive things will happen. Well, at the moment I’m thinking happy thoughts and all that’s raining upon me has been doom and gloom. In January, I put my car in the ditch and subsequent car repairs we needed. In February, J’s dad required heart surgery and although, he’s alive (thank God) – he’s far from doing fine. He’s been plagued with mystery infections and a very slow recovery. In February, my grandfather passed away. Nothing more to say there. In early March, additional car r...

Dear Co-Workers,   In an effort to save some time and frustration on both our parts (okay, mostly mine), I’m providing you in advance with this office etiquette list.   Don’t tell me to do something. If you ask, you will likely get a better response. If you tell me, it will likely go to the bottom of my priority list. Similarly, don’t tell me something is mandatory – especially meetings. I don’t do well with the whole “do it or else” mentality. Regardless of how old you are - if you are my co-worker, you shouldn’t be calling me “missy”. This missy gets mighty pissy when that happens.   Don’t ask me how my weekend was or how I’m doing if you’re not intending to listen to my response.   Don’t cut me off mid sentence. I appreciate your opinion regardless of what it is, so I would appreciate if you listened to mine.   Unless you want to see a very cranky person, kindly refrain from piling files on my chair when I’m out of my office. I h...

Well, there's not much going on in life at the moment.  At least there's nothing worth blogging about.  Okay, well maybe is worth blogging about, but I've done enough complaning of late....so, I bring you some more of my Flamingo Tongue Design creations. Today, it's all about sea glass.  I think if I could make a living from beachcombing, I'd be all over it in a heart beat.  I love finding this stuff... These pieces were all found in the Philippines.  I simply added the pewter bail and chains.

Well as you can imagine, being from Canada – I have more than my fair share of experiences with Canada Geese. Most of them, not pleasant. Canada Geese are somehow a symbol for Canada. A symbol for what, I’m not sure. They are an obnoxious bird, they honk, hiss and leave piles of unpleasantness everywhere. They are also mean-spirited and will attack you if you get to close to their babies. Hmmm, is that what Canadians are like? Perhaps. Anyhow, with Spring in full swing, the geese are everywhere and so are their goslings (no, not Ryan). As a courtesy, cars will typically stop (even on busy streets) in order for the geese and their babies to cross the road. I don’t like the birds, but I’m not a cold blooded killer either. So, this morning I was almost to work and when I spot momma goose with her brood at the side of the road looking for an opening in traffic. I slow my car to allow her and her seven babies to begin their trek across the four land road. By this time, traffi...

I know what you were you thinking! Sorry to disappoint, but I was talking about nudi(branchs).   Crazy Cris over @ Here and There and Everywhere is playing hostess with the most-est again this year to World Ocean’s Day.   The theme?   Write something witty about our oceans, your experience with the ocean, etc.   So since I don’t really have anything witty to say, but wanted to participate, I will share some of J’s cool underwater photos with you.    The photos are all of nudibranchs (NEW-dih-bronk) – a bottom-dwelling, jelly-bodied, shell-less, type of sea slug.   These are some of the most interesting creatures I have every witnessed on the sea floor.   They can range in size from 0.25 inches up to 12 inches long, but given their color, they are fairly easy to spot once you’ve trained your eyes accordingly.   All of these pictures were taken during our trip to the Philippines and as you can see, they vary greatly in ...

I’ve been a bit of a slacker in posting about our trip to the Philippines in March. Well, I’ve finally gotten around to taking a look at J’s pictures from the trip and they’ve managed to refresh my memory of the awesome time we had. Now, as you can imagine as with anywhere in the world, the Filipinos are wonderful people, with their own cultures, beliefs and ways of doing things. As tourists, it’s not for us to judge something different as being right or wrong. In my opinion, it’s simply best to sit back and observe what other cultures have to offer us. If you open your mind, you just might be entertained and you may even learn something in the process. One tidbit I’ve picked up from travelling to the Philippines is that they are creative with transporting their livestock and apparently do not have a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) chapter there. Why? Well, take a look at what we observed in our travels. .. I should point out that some of these methods...