I've moved

You can find me here.

A night of T-Birds, Pink Ladies and a Thai Lover

Irma and I watched Grease last night (hence 'T-Birds and Pink Ladies'). I'm dating myself for saying this, but Eddie Mekka (from Laverne & Shirley) was part of the cast. He got the crowd going before the show started, and played Vince Fontaine (and Frenchie's guardian angel). It was a bit different than what I expected (in the sense that I saw it in New York two years ago), but entertaining nonetheless. I overheard a guy behind me comparing it to the movie, saying that a certain song was supposed to be sung at a particular scene. Sure, some of the sequences were a bit different, and some songs were sung out of order, but I think that's the flexibility of (off)broadway productions. That's why we're watching a musical as opposed to a movie.

After the show, Irma and I went to Joey's for a snack (and drinks), and to catch up. Thanks to our server, I was introduced to Thai Lover. No, he's not some hot guy I met. But rather the name of the martini I had. And let's just say I found a new water! I even suggested that it might also taste good in a slushie version. She was intrigued and considered creating the new concoction. Hmmm, how funny would that be if they end up adding that to their drink menu? Hey, wait a minute - I should get royalties if they do ;P

Anyway, it was good to catch up. Who would've thought we'd have that conversation in a restaurant?! And so the list is created...again... Thanks for the snacks and drinks, Irma! :)

I need sleep

I've been getting an average of 4.5 to 5 hours of sleep this past week. I guess part of it is by choice because I got "volun-told" (actually I was nominated) to do a 15-minute presentation for our department at our quarterly HR meeting on Monday. I don't mind doing it - and really, I see it as an opportunity to use the skills I've learned from my Train the Trainer course - but I wish I had more time to work on it. I came up with a few creative ideas, but it would take too long to put it together. I'm not an expert with PowerPoint, but it's pretty easy to figure out especially if you already have a template to work with. And, of course, being the perfectionist that I am, I have to make sure that there's pictures, animation, etc. I like having the ability to be creative in my job, because let's face it, working in payroll isn't all that interesting. Although I have to say it's better than accounting.

I think I'm just babbling on. But bottom line is, I... need... sleep! And unfortunately, I don't think I will get it this weekend because i) I woke up early today since Teagan has musical theatre; and ii) I won't be able to sleep in tomorrow because we have our Buddy Walk tomorrow. *sigh* Maybe I'll be able to sneak in a nap somewhere??? I probably could've snuck in a nap right now while Teagan is in musical theatre, but instead I'm at Second Cup, on the internet. I was also supposed to use this time to review my presentation for Monday, but I'm blogging. And I have to head back to the studio pretty soon. I'm babbling again. See, this is what happens when I don't get enough sleep.

Happy Birthday to me!

I had to work today, so I didn't do too much. Had dinner at Olive Garden with my mom and Teagan, and ate way too much food. I'm still feeling a little full, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep just yet. After dinner, we stopped by Superstore to pick up a few things, including chocolate cake, and had a piece when we got home.

I'm not sure why I didn't plan anything for my birthday this year? I mean, last year I was in Toronto. The year before that I was in New York. I thought about doing Vegas this year. Actually my co-worker and I talked about doing a last minute trip to Vegas, since Daughtry was playing at the Mandalay Bay 3 days before, so it would've been a good way to spend my birthday. But my co-worker didn't have her passport (she just got it renewed and hadn't received it yet); and I didn't see any last minute deals around that time. Oh well.

I did have a mini celebration on Saturday at Irma's (thanks man!), in conjunction with her fundraising get together.

I have to say, I don't really feel older. It's an odd year because even though I've surpassed the "mid-thirties", I haven't quite made it to the "late-thirties". Hmmm, maybe it's an invisible year that doesn't really count :P

And so it snows...
Yes, the "s" word. I remember when I was younger, it would always snow on my birthday. And not just a few flakes, but enough to cover the ground. Then in the past several years, maybe because of global warming or whatever, it didn't snow on my birthday. I got so used to it not snowing on my birthday, that it felt like it was the norm. And now we're back to how things were back in the day. I could complain, but I'm not going to because it could be worse. Plus, I live in Edmonton, so the weather changes quite frequently - so much so, that the weather people can't seem to predict it!

I was dancing with the stars!

Well, it was me with about 50 other people from the audience. I was at Ballroom with a Twist last night with Teagan and my mom. The show was amazing (and the men - 2 in particular - were hot!). Evan Lysacek hosted the event, and DWTS pros Edyta Sliwinska, Alec Mazo, and Jonathan Roberts - along with many talented dancers from around the world - were there to entertain us for a couple hours. About 3/4 of the way through, Evan and the pros had a Q&A period, and at the end, they asked the audience to join them up on stage. Teagan had fallen asleep on my lap, so I told my mom to go up but she didn't want to go. So I decided to go up, while she sat with Teagan. As all these people made their way to the stage, most of them migrated to the back. I, on the other hand, decided to stay up front. Hey, it's not very often you get a chance to dance on stage with the pros from DWTS, so why not be up front?! Who cares who sees you! Anyway, I was an arm's length away from Jonathan; Edyta and Alec were beside him; and I was about 3 feet away from Evan. So in a roundabout way, I was dancing with the stars. Meanwhile, Teagan woke up from her cat nap and when I looked over, I noticed that she was standing in her seat. My mom told me after that as soon as she saw me on stage, she jumped up and started dancing. If Teagan didn't fall asleep on my lap, I would've taken her on stage with me. Oh well, maybe next time.

September has come and gone

... and we're almost half way through October. I probably say this every year, but it's true - every year around this time, the days go by faster and faster. It's as if there's a "mad dash" to get to the end of the year. But why?! Why not just enjoy the last quarter of the year? Why does everything have to happen so fast?

OK, enough of the why-ning... :P

The reason why September went so fast for me was because I had a lot going on. Teagan went back to school, for 2.5 days (Thursdays are half days), then stayed home the following week because of pink eye. During that week she was off, we had 2 doctor's appointments - one with her ENT (follow up from her surgery in January), and one with her pediatrician to get a prescription for her pink eye (I would've made the appointment sooner, but I figured it would go away because I was using a warm cloth (that's what I was told to do before); however, it didn't work). We got the prescription ($27 for eye drops?! - thank goodness for health benefits!), and she went back to school the following week.

On the Monday of that week, I had a CPA breakfast to go to for National Payroll Week. The food was OK, and even though I couldn't really afford to be out of the office, it was nice to be out of the office. This was also the week when a member of our team moved to another department, and I filled in for her. Talk about doubling or tripling your work load! And if that weren't enough, I also had a course (which I'll talk about later) from Wednesday to Friday; AND I had to prepare for a training session for the following Monday. PLUS, Teagan started musical theatre on the Saturday and had a birthday party to go to (I realized later that she was the only girl invited - I think the birthday boy has a crush on her!). I spent the rest of the weekend preparing for the training session.

I prepared as much as I could for the training session. I even went to the training room an hour beforehand to set up. Of course, things didn't go as planned. I had a bit of technical difficulty (apparently my laptop was configured correctly, so I couldn't get onto the network), but good thing my manager brought her's, so we used that one. The training session was slated for 4 hours. And I managed to finish it in 2.5. Hmmm, OK? With the training session behind me, I had to do 2 assigments for my course. Plus, I had a meeting with the school, and I started Zumba (once a week for 6 weeks).

The last 2 days of my course fell in the final week of September. I had an assignment due, plus I had to prepare for my final presentation. At work, I had to start training a new person (who's replacing the one who left a couple weeks prior - which is good because I was only filling in temporarily and I really don't want to do the daily processing of payroll). I also had parent-teacher interviews this week, and unfortunately I had to miss Zumba.

I haven't had much sleep during this month and it's obvious why.

Now that it's October, I want to say things are slowing down, but really, it's not. I'm still training the new person (which is OK, since she seems to be picking it up pretty quickly), but there's my normal stuff that I have to do. I've been putting in a lot of overtime at work just so I can somewhat catch up. And I know I'll be working a bit this weekend. I know this will be short-lived, so I'm hanging in.

More about this course I'm taking
I decided to take a course called Train the Trainer. When a colleague of mine in L&D suggested that I be the "trainer" for my team, I figured it would be good for me to take this course and learn some skills on becoming a trainer. It was a 5-day intensive course (normally it's a 13-week course, 3 hours a week), which combined both in-class and online participation. The facilitator was probably the best one I've ever had. She made you want to learn more. And what we learned was so practical. If more instructors were like her, I think students would be much more successful. We had a class of 10 students, so it made the learning experience more intimate. The assignments were fairly easy, and when I finally decided on a topic for my final presentation, I was confident that I would do well.

For my final presentation, I decided to do a learning session on Becoming a Packing Pro (thanks to Bern, for coining the term "master packer"!). I did a PowerPoint presentation, even though I had never worked with PowerPoint before, and had props. I wasn't worried about speaking in front of a group of people (I conquered that fear when I emceed my brother's wedding). I was more worried that I wouldn't be able to fill 20 minutes. I rehearsed the night before and I got it down to 18 minutes. Now all I had to do was present it. On presentation day, I made a pit stop at work to print the slides in case we experienced some technical difficulty at school. I got there half an hour beforehand, but as I was getting out of my car and gathering all my props, I realized that I left my jump drive at work which had my PowerPoint presentation. AAARRRGGHHH! There was no way for me to get it and make it back in time. What to do, what to do?! I called my co-worker and got her to email the presentation to me. Being that I only had 3 hours sleep, my mini panic attack boosted my adrenalin. And that's all I was running on that day! It took a while for me to calm down. I would've presented first, but I was bit on edge. I ended up presenting 7th.

The presentation was going well to begin with. I covered my bases, got the rest of the class involved, and gave them some helpful tips and tricks. All that was left to do was an activity that would involve everyone, and then wrap it up. When I looked over at my instructor, she gave me the sign that I had 5 minutes left. I panicked again, so I was thrown off and wrapped before I was supposed to. I even forgot to show the last 2 slides of my presentation, which was the wrap up. Once I was done, it was time for my instructor to grade and critique me. She asked me how I felt, and I told her that I screwed up and explained that I had 2 slides left that would've summarized everything. She pointed out a couple things for me to work on, but in general she was pleased with my presentation and how I delivered it. It took me a few days to get over my screw up, but we're our own worst critic, right? Anyway, I submitted my final assignment, and should get my final grade by mid-October.

Will training be another avenue for me to get into? I'm not sure. If an opportunity comes up at work, I may consider it...

Mamma Mia
I saw Mamma Mia last weekend and it was so much fun! It was very entertaining and I think one of my (many) favorite moments was when the guys came out in their wet suits and flippers and snorkel gear. It's definitely a show that I could watch over and over again!

It's been a while

Since getting back from our trip to San Diego, I haven't had time (or made time) to blog. So I guess I'm due for a post.

August went by too quickly. And compared to last year, this summer was - besides being short - not the greatest weather-wise. It's definitely much cooler than it was last year. Anyway, August consisted of :

• a day at the zoo with Teagan, my friend Liz and her little guy;
• lunch and a pedicure with Liz (who has now moved to Saskatoon);
• Irma's birthday at Jubilations (so much fun!) [Things to note: "GIRLS" (by the Beastie Boys); being served by "Prince" and getting a kettle of hot water; Irene getting extra dessert);
• Black Eyed Peas concert (it was a "good, good night")

And now it's September. It's getting cooler and feeling more like fall. What happened to indian summer? Anyway, Teagan's back to school and I can't believe she's in Grade 1! I wasn't sure how she'd make out on the first day, being that it would be a new classroom, new teacher, new aid, and some new kids. When we got to school on the first day, I was surprised that she knew where to go. Except, she thought she was going back to kindergarten. She knew exactly where her classroom was; where her hook was to hang her backpack and coat; and where to put her outside shoes. I had to explain to her that she was in a new classroom this year (which is right next door to the kindergarten class), so things would be a bit different. Her new teacher let us explore her new class before the bell rang. After the bell rang, the teachers (there are two Grade 1 classes) gave the parents some info on what to expect in the coming school year. And after that it was time for the parents to leave. I told Teagan I had to go, and she seemed OK with it, but apparently she thought she was only "visiting" the Grade 1 class, so she got up to go next door - back to kindergarten. She was making a bit of a fuss, and I finally said to the teacher and her new aid that "the longer I stay here, the worse it will get. So I'm going to leave now. Sorry." After I left, I wasn't sure how Teagan would be, but when I picked her up in the afternoon, they said she had a great day. Thank goodness.

And so a new school year starts. I'm excited to see what Teagan will accomplish this year...