Journey & Adventure

Friendship is about being there to listen when someone needs to talk. Friendship is about being able to talk and having someone there to listen. Friendship is about doing things out of the kindness of your heart and not expecting reciprocity or monetary payment. Friendship should be unconditional and not about personal gain. Friendship is about telling the truth regardless of the topic. Friendship is about support and support can be given in many ways. Friendship should not be one-sided. Friendship should be everlasting and not fleeting. Friendship should not be insincere. Friendship should not revolve around Facebook. Treat your friends they way you wish to be treated, otherwise your friends will move on to find real friends that are worthy of their time.   Remember that…  

My friends have entered a contest to win an all expense paid vacation for one month to Panama. The contest is sponsored by International Living. These are the same friends that have an early retirement plan in mind for next year. So by voting, you'd be helping them out to get a head start. They are currently in second place in the voting, so it would be much appreciated (by me and them) if you could go to this link and vote for them. If you have more than one computer in your house - vote on each one of them, smart phone - vote with that too, at work - even better. VOTE NOW! Let's help them live the dream....

Where to begin?  I promised a full trip report from our trip to the Galapagos in March.  It’s now almost May and let’s be honest - that report isn’t going to get written.   I’ve been too busy at work to mentally process anything by the end of the day. Why have I been busy at work?  Well, while I was on vacation, they finally terminated a long-term, painful employee in our department that has been a thorn in the side of many for years.   Hence the reason for my busyness – I’ve been asked told to take on some “extra” work until they can “figure things out”.  So, in addition to my already busy contract portfolio, I now am responsible for our trademark and corporate portfolio.  Honestly, I’d gladly give up contracts for trademarks and corporate because there is WAAAY less drama and interaction with the outside world.  When did I become so anti-social?  Good question. Now, back to a brief synopsis of our Galapagos trip.  ...

Tonight’s Lotto Max jackpot is estimated to be approximately fifty million dollars, plus 30 additional prizes of one million dollars.   I don’t buy lottery tickets on a regular basis but I couldn’t resist purchasing a ticket for this one.   I know, I know, my odds are greatly reduced because the jackpot is so high and so many more people are buying tickets but I couldn’t resist.   I could do so much good with fifty million dollars – not just for me, but for others as well.     Let’s start with myself, friends and family:   I would obviously be retiring early – is Monday soon enough for you?   I would purchase my oceanfront house in Bonaire and a sweet boat – rigged for both diving and fishing.   I would purchase J’s parents a nice condo, new vehicle and give them enough money to live comfortably.   I would give J’s sister and brother enough money to pay off their mortgages. ...

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...

Our vacation was fantastic. We had great weather, great scuba adventures and of course great company - overall it was a huge success. The downside however, was the lack of rest. We went with our usual group of scuba friends and needless to say, there was no shortage of laughs, beer or knocks at our condo door at all hours of the day and night. I truly enjoy the camaraderie of the group, but also long to be left the hell alone after a long day of diving, sunshine and fresh air. I now recall why on previous visits to the island, J and I chose to stay away from the group at other accommodations on the opposite side of the island. Are we anti-social? Perhaps we are, but I’m not apologizing for liking my privacy. I find that after working for months on end – day in and day out in a “social” work environment with meetings, phone, calls and various interactions with co-workers, I need a time-out while on vacation. Don’t get me wrong, I love these scuba friends and am blesse...

I can’t believe its September. Where did May, June, July and August go? In some aspects, time passes so quickly these days, but in others, it just simply drags on forever – like weekdays vs. weekends. Today was the first day back to school for the little ones, so my commute was littered with school buses, anxious looking children and ecstatic looking parents. By the end of next week – everyone will look miserable again. This past weekend was my friend’s 50th birthday party/zip-lining extravaganza. We had a BLAST zip-lining and I would highly recommend it if you haven’t done it before. Fun, fun, fun! If you’re not an adrenaline junky before you start – you will be by the time you’re done. The after party/picnic was also a huge success. The weather was spectacular, food was great, but then again food always tastes better when you have great company and Saturday was no exception. Yesterday was a holiday (thank goodness), so time was spent cleaning up the house since it had ...

For not doing much these last few weeks/weekends, I cannot seem to shut my brain off. I honestly believe I have recently developed an adult form of ADD, as I cannot seem to focus on one thing for very long and my mind easily wanders from one thing to the next. Needless to say, getting through the work day has been a huge problem for me. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by social obligations – current or pending? Like I said before, we haven’t done much this summer and we certainly haven’t been socializing, but I’m feeling overwhelmed by social obligations that haven’t even happened yet. I need to invite multiple friends over for dinner. You know the whole – “it’s my turn” fiasco. I need to visit an old co-worker – she doesn’t drive, so it leaves me to go to her. I need to RSVP to my niece’s wedding. I need to help plan my friend’s 50th birthday party. I need to make multiple appointments for not-so-social events like the dentist, doctor, eye doctor, etc. All I do is think about these ...

Turns out the pain I’ve been experiencing is actually a tooth infection, which when cleared up will lead to either a root canal or extraction. Extraction would be the cheaper route, but not likely the one I will choose, as it’s the very back molar on my lower right side. Without that tooth, I seriously doubt my ability to chew anything other than pudding. Regardless of the route I choose, it can’t be done before I go away, so I’m on some antibiotics and some regular pain meds. The dentist won’t guarantee that nothing will go wrong given my insistence on scuba diving, but he is hopeful that my “tooth won’t explode while on holidays”. He’s a glass half empty sort of guy…. I’ve been continuing to research the move to Ecuador and want to go now. I don’t want to wait 5 years, but moving sooner isn’t feasible since there is too much work to be done on our house in order to maximize our return on investment. I know patience is a virtue, but honestly, I don’t even know what that means… ...

I received this e-mail today and thought I would share...   When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The profe...

I’m feeling in a bit of a “mood” today and I can’t put my finger on the cause.   I just know I’m feeling “off”.   I like my new job, but I miss the people from my boring old job.    I miss my old boss – at least we laughed about things.     I miss some of my old co-workers – especially the one that would bake me cookies.   I miss being able to surf the internet.  Oh, how I miss the internet (insert longing sigh).   Yes, I’m well aware how much I complained about that old job and about having nothing to do, but at least I had people to talk to, to laugh with, commiserate with and to make fun of.   Here, there is no one.  I’ve been here over 6 months and not a single person has grown on me yet.  I’ve tried to engage them, but to no avail.   I don’t know how to explain it, but they’re an odd bunch.  We have absolutely nothing in common, but that’s not what m...

The jury is still out as to whether I find Facebook to be a useful tool.  Sometimes I want to gouge my eyes out and defriend everyone on my list (mostly blood relatives) because I’m inundated with crap about their lives.  There are other times when I find Facebook to be a great tool for sharing and inspiration.   Yesterday was one of those days… Various comments and status updates that brought joy to my life… In response to my status update of:   “The sun is shining. All is right with the world – at least my world”.   A good male friend (who dislikes cats – therein lies the humor) wrote:   "Good for you, my morning started with cleaning out the refrigerator after the dill pickle container spilled through the night, only to be followed by Ewok (his wife’s cat) puking her guts out and then crapping all over the kitchen floor. I need a vacation!”   The following status update that made me laugh out loud and comes fro...

With A Friend Contrary to popular belief, you DO NOT know it all.   I know this is a hard reality pill to swallow, but as a friend it needs to be said.   I know you believe yourself to be an authority on places you haven’t been and things you haven’t done; however just because you read about it on Facebook, doesn’t make it true or make you an expert.   Shocking isn’t it?    With Another Friend If you want to get ahead in the workplace, stop being so stupid and getting drunk at company functions.   Seriously, you won’t make any friends by acting like an idiot and barfing in public.   Just saying…you’re an ass and I’ve lost interest in your career aspiration work woes.   With a Co-Worker Just because you work for the President of the company, does not give you the right to freak out at others when the photocopier runs out of paper in the middle of your copy job.   I know yo...

As I mentioned yesterday, my first craft show when pretty well.  Thanks for all of your comments – at least I know my bloggy friends are supportive of me.  Do you smell some bitterness in the air? Well, I wasn’t going to blog/whine about it BUT I’m pissed and need to vent somewhere.  So here goes – not a single member of my family or a single one of my physical “friends” bothered to show up at the show to lend their support or to just say "hi".    I recognize that this is a busy time of year, but regardless – I would have made time for them and HAVE made time for them on NUMEROUS occasions – no excuses.  I’ve lent support in everything from attending stupid candle parties, cooking for retirement parties, hosting surprise parties, to being there through a failing marriage, to flying from Arizona back to Canada on a weekend to be at a friend’s wedding, to flying to the Caribbean to surprise another friend on her 40 th birth...

Today's post is brought to you by an e-mail I received from a friend... Where Would You Be? If – You had all the money your heart desires? If – You had no worries? If – You came home and the finest meal is awaiting you? If – Your bath water had been run? If – You had the perfect kids or pets? If – Your partner was awaiting you, with open arms and kisses? So, where would you be? Well?  Hellooooo!!! You’d be in the WRONG house! Have a great day!

I didn't have a planned post in mind this morning, but when this email was waiting for me in my Inbox this morning, I just had to share it.  It's from my best friend... "I Hate Freakin’ Mondays.     I have all the windows open in the office – I think a skunk crawled under the building and died." Moral of the story:  When you think your Monday sucks....it could be a hell of a lot worse!

With the exception of this year, I have faithfully mailed out Christmas cards to friends, family and acquaintances (both old and new). I typically take the time to hand-write a personal greeting to each and every recipient. For some odd reason, I have found this task to be therapeutic – perhaps a simple way of showing my appreciation of how much this person’s friendship has meant to me. I never expected the card giving gesture to be reciprocated by all, but I admit that it was nice to arrive home to find a Christmas card or two in the pile of mail sitting on the kitchen counter. A card is a relatively cheap gift to give, but the warm thoughts that come with them are priceless. I don’t know what happened to me this year and I don’t have an excuse – other than I was lazy in failing to write a single note or managing to mail even one card. I’m saddened by my lack of Christmas cheer. In not sending these cards, I have also notice that I did not rece...

Well, after last night and the torture/running clinic, I’m happy to report the following: The running instructor chose a ghetto route for our first run. There is nothing like a little visual motivation to keep you running and the verbal heckling from the crack heads and AA rejects certainly provided some positive reinforcement. It was a 3K running clinic, so silly me thought we should have stopped at the 3K mark, but apparently the instructor didn’t get THAT memo and we ended up finally stopping at 2.25 miles or 3.6K. It may have been my cursing and threat of a lawsuit that suddenly encouraged her change of heart. There were three running instructors in total and each one of them would ask at alternating intervals “Are you having fun? Are you feeling any pain?” WTH? I couldn’t even manage a breath to respond to those stupid inquiries and as God as my witness, if I could have caught up to any of them, I would have tackled them to the ground and kicked them in the shins. When my f...

I apologize in advance for this long post, but the story needed to be told and there isn't a condensed version... For the past year and a half, I have stood idly by and watched a good friend, go from an independent, fun loving, self-absorbed, control freak to a bi-polar, emotional puddle of goo, with insane tendencies. She is still self-absorbed, but with a fatal attraction, bunny-boiling, stalker-type twist to her personality. I bet you are wondering what can turn some someone so quickly. Perhaps it was being told by her husband of 17 years “I love our cleaning lady. I hope you’ll understand. I haven’t had sex with her yet, but I know she is my soul-mate. She is nothing like you – she is thoughtful and has a great heart. We’ve rented a house together, but can’t move in together until the beginning of the month, so I’ll be staying here until then. I will be moving out on your birthday because my shrink says I shouldn’t prolong the agony I feel when I am without her. I kno...

I have a friend that unexpectedly lost her high-paying, high profile job in October, 2008. Given that she was the major bread winner in the family and he was self-employed with little to no income, friends and family were extremely concerned for their well-being and offers of financial assistance poured in. Soon afterwards, it was revealed that she and her husband had a mortgage in excess of $300,000 and she had credit card debt in excess on $60,000, plus loans for a car and motorcycle. I realize that everyone gets in over their head from time to time, but would like to believe that most of us would see this unfortunate turn of events as a sign that perhaps we need to reevaluate our spending habits and maybe make cutbacks to our existing lifestyles – particularly in light of the economy. Such has not been the case. She (not her husband) has taken no less than 5 vacations within the last 9 months and I’m not talking about mini-weekend getaways. I’m talking full-fledged Caribbean an...