Journey & Adventure

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I don’t believe in setting New Year’s resolutions and I don’t plan on setting any this year.    I do plan on making and keeping a few promises to myself.   I know it sounds like the same thing, but in my mind, it’s not.  My first promise to myself has been to quit wasting time on that stupid Candy Crush game.   I cannot understand why I’ve let it consume so much of my life in 2013, but alas I did.   I deleted it from my phone today.   I’m done being aggravated on a daily basis by that thing.   Ahhh, it feels good. I also plan on letting go a little more – especially the things I cannot change.   My job sucks.   My co-workers suck.   My boss sucks.   Without a career change, I cannot change any of those problems.   Unless something else magically comes along, I plan on sucking it up and making the best of it until I can move along to sunnier climates.   This past year, w...

Wow!   Where has the month of December gone?   The last I remember, it was late November and now, Christmas is upon us.   How did that happen? On the upside, I’ve been done my Christmas shopping and decorating since December 1 st , so it’s been a pleasant experience being able to AVOID the mall, crowds and crazies.   I did however, fail at Christmas baking this year.   I don’t enjoy baking, so it’s not something I do willingly, but every year, I begrudgingly make J and The Boy shortbread cookies.       This year I’m blaming the lack of cookies in our household on the makers of corn starch (a key ingredient in the cookies).   Yes, the corn starch company!   For the past 15 years, the recipe I use for the shortbread has resided on the side of the corn starch box.   Imagine my surprise when I look for the recipe on my new container of shortbread and all I see are the instructions “for recipe ideas visit our website”.   WT...

Here's a little something I've been working on.  It's fitting given all the snow we've been getting up here in Canada. White Bear's Journey Zuni carver, Everett Pinto, carved this white marble bear with the turquoise heart line.  The bear has been wrapped in heavy sterling and the necklace has been strung with white moon shell heishi beads, hematite beads, and nuggets of vintage Sleeping Beauty turquoise from the legendary closed mine in Arizona. The Bear is a symbol of strength, with power from within.  The heart line, which starts at the mouth of the bear (where breath gives life) and point to the soul (where faith, spirit and inner strength reside).

For years, I’ve struggled with happiness in my career.   I’m easily bored, need to be challenged and most important of all, don’t like to be micro-managed.   Well, I’m 3 years into my current position and am still unhappy with my choice in careers.   It’s my problem and I’m dealing with it, BUT knowing it’s only short-term (3-5 years) definitely helps.     That being said, I’ve come up with a plan of sorts – something that should keep me engaged, reduce my exposure to unpleasant people, allow me to be slightly creative and the best part – my report structure should change.   AND, there is a need for this position within the organization – they just don’t know it yet!   Here is where by diabolical scheming comes in.   I need to figure out a way to – make them aware of the need for this position, convince them I’m the right person for the position, convince my boss he’s not the reason I’m want out of our department, so he’ll give the ne...

Does anyone use the word “please” or is it just a given that they are entitled to something and therefore the word is not required? Why are some people just bitchy assholes EVERY, SINGLE day of the year? When did we become so self-absorbed? Why do some people believe the world revolves around them? Why does the festive season bring out the worst in mankind? Why has Facebook become the first thing people turn to when they need to express their emotions? What did we do with our spare time before social media and Candy Crush? Do you really care if a Facebook friend cleared a level on Candy Crush? Why does Facebook recommend “people that I may know” that only appear to be porn stars? Do they know something I don’t? Does anyone read anything other than status updates anymore? Why do the Internet Nazis allow me access to social media sites, but not the Weather Network? Why do we wish our lives away and only live for the weekends? Does anyone send Christmas cards anymo...

I wanted to wish all of my American blogger friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. I'm so jealous of all the turkey leftovers you will be enjoying - for the next few days. Enjoy!

Just about sums it up...

Do you ever have those days when you feel overwhelmed and feel like punching the next person that passes your way in the throat? No? So, it’s just me then. Well, today is one of those days for me. As I write this it is actually October 31st – Halloween. It should be an uneventful day, except that it’s “dress-up” day in the office. I’ve never been one for theatrics of the dress up kind. I’m happy for people that enjoy costumes and make believe, but I’m not one of them, so I respectfully ask to be left alone and not chided by co-workers I don’t even like for the fact that I’m not in costume. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone – I don’t enjoy my job and putting a costume on for a day is not going to make having to come to work a pleasant experience. It began on Monday – the questions and comments – What are you dressing up as? Do you want to be part of the 7 dwarfs team? How about catman from Kiss? Even today – I have a cape you can wear since you’re already wea...

I’ll be honest, I’m addicted to domain names. Seriously, I own domain names for businesses that I will never open and websites and blogs that will remain unpublished. I just dream up names and think that would be a cool website address, so I register them. I have a problem. Each one has a story. flamingotongue.com - My existing jewelry business. imagineit-photos.com - J's business (website under construction). surfingflamingo.com - New business, which is yet to be determined. surfing-flamingo.com - Same as above. drunkin-newfie.com - This will be the name of my barefoot beach bar...one day. bonaireislandadventures.com - This one is a work-in-progress. One day perhaps, it will be the name of the blog I use if I actually move to Bonaire. ridethemoment.com - I just liked the sound of it. journeyandadventure.com - This blog, but I haven't quite got around to figuring out how to change it through blogger. See, I told you I have a bit of a problem. Oh well, ...

I have a plan. Well, I actually have MANY plans ongoing at any one given moment in time. My latest plan is this… What is it? A logo for my new business. What’s the business? Well, that’s where the details get sketchy – I haven’t figured that out yet, but it does have something to do with my early retirement plan. Will it have something to do with surfing? Perhaps, but likely not. I do have some ideas, but nothing has been 100% finalized. I’ll keep you posted, just as soon as I figure it out myself.

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving today, so in the spirit of giving thanks, here’s what I’m thankful for: I’m thankful for my family and friends. They all drive me bat-shit crazy on a regular basis, but I appreciate their quirks – in small doses. I’m especially thankful to J for taking care of the majority of the household chores - cleaning, groceries, baking and margarita making. I’m thankful for my sense of humor and the margaritas because without them, I would have totally lost my mind by now. I’m thankful for The Boy and his sense of humor because without it, he would have made me lose my mind by now. I’m thankful my in-laws are hosting the turkey dinner this year for the whole family. I’m especially thankful for not having to have those people in my house for an extended period of time and being able to leave when I want. I’m thankful today is a holiday and therefore, I do not have to spend time with my boss or co-workers. I’m thankful for my job, but would be more thankful...

Well, now that summer has come to an end, I thought I better get cleaning up my summer stuff that's been lying around the house - patiently waiting for the next trip to the beach.  *sigh*   This past weekend, away went the sunscreen, hat, sandals, beach bag, etc.  In the beach bag sat my camera.  The same camera I carried around all summer - most times it just sat in the bag, but there were a few photos that captured a few summer highlights...    First Trip to the Beach - Early May, 2013     Some of My Garden Flowers - June, 2013 Day on the Lake with Friends - July, 2013  Beach Finds - July, 2013  CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario Canada - August, 2013   My Boys @ Fan Expo Canada - August, 2013 March of the Storm Troopers @ Fan Expo Canada - August, 2013 Pretty Beach Find Treasure - September, 2013 I'm sad to see summer go, but at least the memories will last ...

I'm not one to get caught up in the unlucky hype of Friday the 13th. I figure karma has just as good of a chance of biting me in the ass on a Monday as it does on the 13th of the month, that just happens to fall on a Friday. Yeah, I'm cynical that way. A place where I used to work, used Wednesdays as the days when they used to terminate people. Their rationale was that they "didn't want to ruin people's weekends by terminating them on a Friday". Ummm, geeze - thanks for your kindness... Anyhow, whaetevr your beliefs may be - I hope you have a fantastic day! Happy Friday!!!

For those that have been following this blog for awhile, you know that I have a terrible history for staying at one job for a long period of time. Other than my favorite boss, whom I stayed with for 12 years and where I’d still be if it wasn’t for a non-solicitation clause in his employment agreement that kicked in after a corporate take-over, I’ve never lasted in a job position for more than 3 years. Yep, since 2000, I’ve worked for 6 different employers. I have varying reasons for why I left and moved on – everything from earning more money, needing more challenges, stupid co-workers, unbearable bosses, to extreme boredom and no work. The list goes on. I’m hopeless in the sense that I can’t seem to find my career groove. I’ll toot my own horn and say that I’m really good at what I do, but tend to get bored, easily if not engaged. I liked to be challenged, but not micro-managed. I like the freedom to make decisions on my own, but also like knowing that if I need guidance o...

I love bright colors. I like being welcomed by the feeling of warmth and cheerfulness when I enter a room. As much as the houses in Architectural Digest are stunning to look at, I don’t think they are meant to be lived in – at least not by me. I understand that some of the first rules when selling a house is to depersonalize it, remove clutter and keep wall colors neutral. This allows people to see beyond the knick-knacks and color on the walls and picture what their stuff could look like within the rooms. Here’s my dilemma – in my opinion, neutral colors can be too sterile, impersonal and boring. I’m not saying I intend on keeping the orange walls in The Boy’s bathroom or the fire engine red paint in his bedroom, but I need to find a compromise that will work for us until we sell the house, but I would like to do it now while J is still willing to have me as his “boss”. We are 98% done the spare room and have finished painting it and in case you’re wondering about the color, we ...

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are my own and are based solely on my life experiences. I will say that I’ve worked with some fantastic women, but recently my bad experiences have outweighed the good. Can I just say how much I dislike working with women? Yes, I realize I am one; however I’m more of a “tom boy” type of gal. For the most part, I have great working relationships with my male co-workers. The women – not so much. They are an entirely different story. Don’t get me wrong, I can tolerate them, I just don’t enjoy interacting with them. My male co-workers for the most part, are minimalistic. You ladies out there might disagree but I find that they don’t need as much babysitting. I can ask them to provide me with information and they don’t whine about it. Guys get shit done. My female co-workers will do EVERYTHING in their power to avoid taking responsibility for anything. They will not simply respond to an e-mail request. Nooo, they insist of calling to “discuss ...

I can’t believe we are already in the last week of July.   Eeeks!   Summer is passing me by.   How has that happened?   Where did it go and how can I get it back?   Seriously, I’m freaking out about this one.   The weather has been on a “cool” side and not in a “wow that’s awesome” kind of cool.   More like cold, put on socks kinda cold…brrr…   This summer has been a summer of “procedures”, with visits to Drs., Dentists and Specialists.    First, I had a filling, then a root canal, then another filling to fix the crown where the hole was made from the root canal.   Then there were miscellaneous Doctor’s appointments, blood tests or as I like to call them “tune-ups”.   Then, I had a biopsy on a spot that I’ve had above my left eyebrow for at least a year and that hasn’t seemed to heal and just last Friday, a follow-up appointment for the results.   Turns out, I have basal-cell carcinoma – a form of skin cance...

Do you ever have that creeping feeling of impending doom, butterflies in your stomach for no reason, or that something’s just not quite right in the Universe, or maybe the stars aren’t quite aligned? I usually feel at peace with myself, but not lately. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve felt “off”. I can’t pinpoint where exactly these feelings are coming from, but I know that something’s amiss. I just can’t seem to relax. I almost feel like I’ve forgotten something, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what that something might be. Work has been busy as usual, but not enough to make me feel like this. Home life is fine – not busy there either. Life is less stressful since J has been home taking care of the daily chores and our to-do list is slowly shrinking, so it’s not that nagging at me. I’m not sure what it might be, but one thing’s for sure…I don’t like it.  Does anyone know if diet can make you feel anxious? I haven’t been eating the best – too many summe...

Nope, I'm not homeless yet, but this little girl is. She stumbled into our front yard last evening.  We had just been on the front porch saying goodbye to J's parents when we hear a "mew, mew". We turn to see the source of the noise and there she was...looking for love, attention, food and water. My conscience would not let me leave her outside.  We live on a busy highway and have lost a few "strays" that we have tried to keep as outdoor cats.  So needless to say, she is living in my laundry room at the moment.  Although we have one other cat, I don't want another one.  The one we have is The Boy's and although he started out with good intentions, J and I have ended up being the cat's primary caregiver.  Nope not interested.  I'll endeavour to find a home for it, but I'm not very hopeful - cats and kittens are everywhere and shelters are overrun this time of year.  In the meantime, I...

Well, it’s been almost 3 weeks since the beginning of my poison ivy, oak or sumac outbreak and the itching is finally starting to subside. I only have a few remaining itchy spots – mostly on my neck and hairline. That was without a doubt, the worst experience of my life.  It certainly was not painful, but extremely exhausting both mentally and physically. I honestly thought I was going to lose my mind (more so than usual).   Approximately 1 month ago J and his employers came to a mutual decision to “part ways”. I guess that’s a nice way of saying he is now unemployed. Believe me – we are both extremely happy with this decision. I’m happy because I have a built-in maid, cook and contractor. J’s happy because he is no longer working for morons (unless I count of course). The house to-do list is dwindling and we have come to the realization that if it weren’t for him being able to work away on all the projects now, we would never be ready to sell the house and vacate the...

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a one-day seminar in Washington, DC.  Unfortunately I had only planned for a half day of touring, but by the time I arrived, after flight cancellations and other delays, my half day turned into a couple of hours - in the rain.  Oh well, I made the best of it and powered on.  My hotel was within a 5 minute walk to the White House, so that was my first stop. J came along for the trip and spent the following day touring around while I was attending the seminar.  Maybe he'll share some of his photos with me so I can share with you. The highlight of my trip (besides all of the sailors at the Naval Memorial) - I saw the Presidential Motorcade -sirens, secret service men, dark glasses, black SUVs and all.  Very exciting! One day certainly is not enough time to see everything DC has to offer.  J and I can hardly wait to go back. Back Lawn of the White House Secret Service Squirrel ...

So, you may recall that a couple of weeks ago, we were busy with cleaning up the trees that we had cut down in our side yard. Well, I’m happy to report that is was finally completed on the May 25th weekend. Last Thursday, May 30th and out of nowhere, a small red rash appeared on the inside of my right elbow. I thought I had been bitten by a spider because it wasn’t like any mosquito or black fly bites I’ve received before. Within a couple of hours, I had another spot on my knee and then on my inside of my ankles, then on my thigh. Overnight, the amount of spots had doubled. By this point, I’m thinking a rogue mosquito had a feast on my ample body during the night. The itching had also started by this point in time. Over the past week, the spots have shown up on my arms, legs, hips, shins, but have stayed away from my torso, back, stomach and chest. Did I mention the itch?  Finally today I was able to get into see the Doctor. I had already scheduled an appointment for ...

I’m not a fan of costumed characters - never have been.     Mascots of any type could easily warrant a kick from me if they stray to close and want a hug.     Photos are not an option.   As much as I like Walt Disney World, the costumed characters roam a little too freely for my liking (sorry Krystyn ) and I want no part of them.   I don’t like clowns either.   Yes, apparently I have issues. So imagine my dismay, when Kraft changed the bears on their label.   This is the one I know and love.   Non-threatening right? I eat a lot of peanut butter with toast, but now I’m not sure I can stick with Kraft peanut butter any longer.   These bears freak me out… I’m not sure if they truly intended to go for the “stalker vibe”, but honestly that’s what I’m feeling.   Guess it’s time to find another less threatening breakfast treat.

Over the course of the past month, I’ve taken the following series of photos of the wildlife here surrounding my work building. We actually are located in the middle of the city, but on a large landscaped property with beautiful courtyards and a manmade pond out front - a perfect haven for some wildlife. Can you spot the kildeer?  She made her nest amongst the tiny pebbles/gravel.  I would walk by her every morning and would have a hard time finding her. The large planters typically make great nests for the Canada Geese; however this year our custodian decided to kybosh the idea and strategically placed sticks in the majority of the planters. If you look closely you can see a planter in the background with the sticks. This goose however was one step ahead. Then, last week...I came to work to see this little surprise.  She had 6 babies (goslings). Then by the next day...they were moving out of the planter, into the world beyond. Da...

By the end of this week, we will be pretty darn close to checking two major items off of our “house to-do” list.     The major work on the spare room is almost complete.   We still have to paint, install closet doors, light fixtures and new carpet, but in my opinion those are minor items compared to gutting, wiring, dry-walling, mudding and sanding.   The other major item almost accomplished this week has been the removal of 4 very old pine trees from our side yard.   The trees have been there a long time and were quite large; however because of their age, they had started to die from the bottom up and had become a very large eyesore.     Knowing I would be losing my privacy once those trees were removed has caused me a great deal of anxiety this week because our back yard is now visible from the road that runs alongside our house. *sigh*     Here are some before and after pictures.   There’s still a lot of cl...