We got an email yesterday reminding employees that they can't smoke on company property; not on the sidewalks surrounding the building, not in the parking lot, not INSIDE their CARS in the parking lot. I'd like to think that if I hadn't quit - wow 30 years ago - I'd have given it up when they banned smoking in public buildings. Hard to say. Just now, when I passed one of our employees smoking in the parking lot of the plaza next door, I got a feeling similar to what I would if I'd seen the same person digging through the trash in a dumpster. So yeah, it's a good bet I'd have been shamed into quitting.

I mentioned the new Lily Allen CD I picked up on the weekend. She's quirky. That's the only word I can think of - quirky and cute and totally fresh. Part Nina Hagen, part Norah Jones, an echo of Fairport Convention. I shouldn't be comparing her to all these other artsist because her style is clearly her own. I see so much future potential!
This cut, Alfie, would fall under the novelty classification and is best described as Snow White meets Dorothy Parker. I'll have to do more research on whether she writes her own stuff but in the meantime... This video sucks - I'd hoped to just post an mp3 but this is the easiest. Maybe turn off your monitor while you listen. Seriously. Oh man this video blows. Scroll up.

I was planning on keeping my fuel consumption low this weekend but by the end of it, I'd filled my tank 3 times. Okay, the final time was so I'd have a full tank this morning but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I was all over the place. I had dinner with friends in West Rouge on Friday night. Kev barbecued some chicken for us - perfectly spiced amd delicious. We were still sitting around the table laughing and talking at midnight... bad call for morning practice but so worth it to see Karen and Kevin for a few uninterrupted hours.
Saturday morning stupidity. Without warming up I tried to bench press 120lbs. I felt something pop as soon as I started to lower the weight so I just let it drop to my chest. Oomph. Good call though. I strained my teres but it would have been way worse if I'd continued to bear the weight. Shitty though - it meant I couldn't do the circuit and I had to skip two classes at circus school.
That afternoon, I headed back downtown to see Johnny O's condo. I really like it. Too much. If I could sell my place and move tonight, I would. Ideally, I'd like a little more space but he's in a really good building, the people seem nice and it's in my old hangout area - Queen West @ Spadina. I'm getting an agent to take me around to various lofts and condos in the area when I get home from Florida. It means a complete mind-shift but I think I'm ready for it. When I bought my house, I still had a son in university who may or may not move home plus two big dogs that needed a yard. Things have changed considerably since then. Johnny and I hung out for a bit, headed up to HMV (got the new Lily Allen and Fallout Boy - love both). We stopped at Sen5es for a drink and a snack - had a minor celebrity sighting just seconds after Johnny had made an unkind crack about the celebrity in question (we didn't know she was sitting just behind us - on the other side of a pillar!).
From Johnny's I went home, packed my overnight bag and headed up to Lake Simcoe for Sabrina's birthday. Her champagne birthday. I've never heard of this tradition before but your champagne birthday is when your age and the day of the month on which it falls are the same. So Sabrina is 27 on February 27th. TONS of food and alcohol. The food did me in - I hit the pillow around 1am but the party continued until 4. I hung out there until 1pm on sunday then headed home. Watched Diner on DVD then slept until the Oscars came on. Thank goodness for frozen pizza! I didn't have to go out to get something to eat!

The power has gone off at work 6 times since I've been here this morning. I wish they'd just send us home. I wonder if there's any correlation between the outages and my severe craving for coffee and peanut butter cookies.

I picked this item up at christmas just because....I don't know why... it's so damned funny (did I say "damned"? Ironic.) Couldn't figure out who to give it to so it just sits on my desk at work. A couple of people were slightly offended until I pointed out that it's probably marketed as a serious item in the southern states. Click to enlarge so you can read the labels. The Jesus statue with the mirror belly is pretty cool but my favourite is the Virtuous Vanilla Lip Balm - SPF 18! Is that enought to keep my lips soft and smooth while I burn for all eternity??!

Ever since I checked out Marisha's new condominium overlooking the lake, I've been rethinking my need for a house in the suburbs. The more I think about it, the crazier it seems. Do I really need 4 bedrooms? 3 bathrooms? A CAR?? The answer is obvious. However, being the slow mover that I am, it'll be at least a couple of years before I make a move. On Saturday, I'm dropping by another friend's new condo at King & Spadina. The penthouse in his building is available for about the same cost as my house. I wish I was more spontaneous...

How do you like my new "Chinese Zodiac" clock? I wish I had more time to change the rest of the template to match it.
Actually, the question of how much time I spend on my blog came up the other day when a non-blogging friend checked mine out for the first time. Blogspot makes the initial setup pretty easy with ready-made templates. I've made some additions like the clock - in which case getting it the way I want it, size and position, takes some time but not hours or days. In general, I do most of the posts during my coffee break or at the end of my lunch hour. Video and photo uploads only take a second, especially since I have a HUGE database of photos. Plus, I am the google - youtube queen. So, if you think you'd like to blog, give it a go and let me know if you need help!

Speaking of blog-goddesses...
If, like me, you are disturbed by the current goings-on in the music industry, please visit Go Fug Yourself (link at right) and read the "Well Played Tina Turner" post. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one who falls asleep each night hoping I'll wake up to the realization that Freddy Mercury is not dead - that, in fact, "he's just fine and ready to go on tour again".
Well played, fuggers!

Ladies, I can't stress this enough - if you go out with your girlfriends, no matter how drunk and/or obnoxious they get, no matter how early you have to get up the next day - make sure everyone gets home. The following sounds like an episode of Sex & the City - so much so that I checked Snopes.com to see if it's an urban legend (it's not). And don't try figuring out who it is, none of us know the woman. I know the friend through a friend.
Two thirty-something girlfriends meet after work for a few drinks. One of the ladies gets completely wasted. Her friend (who has to get up early for work the next day) wants to go home and does what any of us would under the circumstances; pushes Drunk Girl into a cab, gives the driver Drunk Girl's address and enough cash to get her home. On the way, Drunk Girl decides she wants just one more drink and directs the cab to a bar within walking distance of her place. She's out of cash though and has to go to an ATM. At the ATM, the man who was (apparently) using it before her says, "That guy over there (points across the street) looks a little shifty. I think he's waiting to roll you for your cash. I recognize you from the neighbourhood and I think it's best if I walk you home. Don't worry, I'll stay about five steps behind and just make sure you get into the house safely."
The last conscious thought Drunk Girl has is, "this is a GREAT idea, what a NICE guy"....
The next morning, the friend who paid for the cab gets a frantic phone call...it's Drunk-now-Hangover Girl who is horrified that she woke up to find the ATM guy in bed beside her. She tells the whole story, as much as she remembers, and her friend tries to make her feel better. "Okay, so you had a one night stand with a guy you met at an ATM. He didn't kill you or rob you so it's not that bad. Could be worse, right?"
It kinda is.
Turns out he's the HOMELESS guy who panhandles at the ATM each day.

By the time she gets off the phone and goes back to her room, her bed is empty. She finds Homeless Guy in a bathtub full of bubbles, surrounded by candles. He's in homeless guy heaven!
Anyway, she says she's gotten to know him and he's not so bad. In fact she lets him store his gear on her front porch. Not quite what's meant by the expression "Charity begins at home" but whatever...

A bunch of us had a weird, six degrees of separation moment last night. After my class, I met Marisha at Bar Wellington . I drive past this place on the corner of Wellington and Portland at least 3 times a week and wanted to check it out. We had been there for about 2 hours when Blake called. He was on his way home from Port Credit so took a detour to meet us. Anyway, we're sitting talking and Marisha says to Blake, "I ran into someone who knows you. Do you remember Jay Prentice?" Blake didn't get a chance to answer. There was a couple who had been sitting beside us for the entire 3 hours and at that point the guy says, "excuse me, I'm Jay Prentice's brother"...so weird! Former Rouge paddlers so everyone's talking at once - "You know Jenn Stanford?! She was your roommate??!! Jonathon Hollins?! Do you remember that girl Jodi??". This guy's poor date was just sort of sitting there, out of things. So the brother (Derek Prentice) asks Blake if he played hockey with Jay and Blake replied, "No but my buddy Greg Secko did". The girlfriend perks up from the end of the bar and says, "Hey, I went to Western with Greg Secko!" It was one of the craziest, small world moments I've ever witnessed. Maybe Bar Wellington is like some Twilight Zone-ish location where everyone who enters is connected in some way. Anyway, if you're in the area, it's worth dropping in.

Olympic medalist Nathan Baggaley has been arrested on drug charges. Police found 762 ecstasy tablets, a quantity of unknown white powder, cannabis and more than $1000 in cash in a car occupied by Baggaley, 31, and NSW surf-ski representative Kane Thomas Battese. He’s already serving a two-year sports sanction imposed by the ICF for taking banned steroids. Now he’s charged with five drug offences, all of which carry maximum 25-year jail terms.
The really shitty thing is, he shares a house with a number of other athletes all of whom are now suspect and being questioned by police. And I’m sure his former girlfriend, world record-breaking swimmer Sophie Edington, will also suffer from the fallout. She ended their two year relationship a week ago but that’s not very long. There'll be lots of questions about her integrity as well.

wow! Paddler babies from coast to coast. I always enjoy getting emails from Meghan (Hersey now Lea) but her most recent - announcing that she and Andrew will be having a baby in early August - was especially nice to receive. That'll be 3 babies born to friends in less than a month - Alyson, Carrie and then Meghan...of course, it's right at the 3 month mark for August dates so maybe there's one out there we haven't heard about yet! I don't know whether I should open an account at Pottery Barn Kids or buy stock in Toys 'r Us...
I will add a photo of Andrew and Meghan together when I get home.

Point form post.
-Really busy the past week what with upping our workouts in preparation for Florida and more classes at circus school.
-Went on a date on Thursday unfortunately, he turned out to be baggage guy after all. Brought up his ex-wife within the first 8 minutes so I won't be seeing him again.
- On Friday, I went skating with Andrea, Trevor, Mackenna and Alicia at the ice pad on Woodeden. I haven't skated in ages and it was tons of fun - even with my hockey skates and a pitted ice rink.
- Saturdays a full day of training - until 2:00 at least. After that, I went to the F.I. for a flush run and then sorted clothes for Jackie's clothing swap party. It was a fun time, got rid of some clothes, hung out with friends and Jackie raised about $600 for the arthritis foundation. Tammy brought their new little baby, Kyle John. He's 10 days old and a dream child. He slept the entire time except for 10 minutes when he woke up for a snack. Carrie's been so busy with school that I haven't had a chance to see her - she doesn't look pregnant from the back but she's got a baby bump up front.
- I slept until 10:30 on Sunday. Truthfully, I only got out of bed because I wanted coffee and it had to be Timmie Ho's. I spent the afternoon checking out Marisha's new place at Harbourfront - it's fantastic! End unit with an unobstructed view of the lake. I think she'll be really happy there. After that, I headed home for a relaxing night eating pizza while flipping between Entourage (dvd) and the Superbowl.
- There's new energy at the club as people get ready to leave for training camp. I don't go until March but all the boat loading and talk of flying/driving south is making me excited about my own trip! I haven't booked my flight yet but am watching the websites. I may end up driving yet if I don't find a way to get my boat down there!
-I'm still plagued by this sinus infection but I have a doctor's appointment at the end of the week so have hopes of getting rid of it forever!