Friday, January 30, 2004

Managment in Training Interview Day

Well I am off to Brampton today, for my managment in training interview. I am not really nervous, excited more so, even woke up before my alarm... at 6 am! Oddly enough the part of my day that I am most excited for is seeing Chris again. The drive is the part that I am least looking forward to since it is almost 2 hours away. The is a major bonus about going east though... according to the weather network it is almost 10 degrees warmer in Brampton than here in London.

2 days to the Super Bowl party at Jack Astor's, which I will be at all day. I am working it, being the GoodLife rep and giving away lots of free stuff, but I still get to hang out and catch the game... not a bad trade off. So if you are looking for some things to do on Super Bowl Sunday... come on over for some good times :oP

Gotta run

L

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

15 minutes before work again

Well today we completed the 4th day of core training. We are officially half way there. I actually feel like I am getting stronger, my posture is definitely better. It is a tough program though. I totally recommend it to any one who has issues with the midsection, poor posture or anyone that is sitting on there but all day at work. It really makes you realize how much we neglect the midsection now adays. Check out this site for a bit of information on the core program.

My boss at work always says that the trick to maintaining a fitness regimen is to have a reason to go to the gym, whether it is a personal trainer, seeing you kids grow up, running a marathon, looking better in a swim suit, or as simple as not letting down the person you have to pick up on the way to the gym. What ever your reason, get there do it for you or do it for someone else. Health and fitness is one of the few things that we have control of as human beings. Maybe it's time for you to take control of your life.

Gotta run time for work.

Smile... because you are alive, now go do something to keep you that way :o)

L

Sunday, January 25, 2004

Check out this Site

A quick note.. Tried Smirnoff Caesars this weekend and give them 2 thumbs up but give this site 10 thumbs up.

Go to the recipes section check out the Queen Bee!

The Weekend Has Come to an End

Well Chris and I went away this weekend. Went and hung out at his Mom's house in the big bad metropolis of Beaverton Ontario. The town is so small that I was totally amazed that it even had a website. I guess that just goes to prove how technologically advanced the world is becoming.

All and all it was a very relaxing weekend. The purpose of the trip was to take drop Chris off for the week so that he can fix the Jeep, an 83 CJ7, the teal coloured one, in the Baja drop down menu > Baja 2001. Well he is still there and I am back in London while he works on repairing the rear axle at the family welding shop. But that is not the point of my story, yesterday we shopped the whole day away. We started off at some random Jeep store where I bought a new hat, a Jeep one of course, and then we proceeded to Ikea!, where of course you cannot go without buying something. We went to the new one on 404 and Finch just north of Toronto. We happened to show up the first day of a markdown sale. Ended up getting a new desk, TV stand and some other random Ikea stuff. All and all a great start to the day. The deal shopping had begun. Next we headed to Chris's Favourite Store, and surprisingly enough only did "research". In other words chatted with the guys in the shop wandered around looking at modifications and basically wasted an hour or so getting other Jeep fanatics opinions on customization that is required to fix the rear axel. After that we headed into Ajax and went to Future Shop to get my parents a webcam, and then to the best bargain place of the day.... Old Navy. They are having there winter clearance event this weekend it was well worth the wait in line. For 68 bucks tax included I got 2 new pair of work pants, 2 wool sweaters and the deal of the day, a pair of cords for 6 bucks! Canadian or American that is one hell of a deal. The deals aside though the store was a zoo and the employees were still in peak attitude and as helpful as always. Way to go to the management of the Ajax store, your employees are a direct reflection of a job well done.

So after Old Navy we did some other random shopping, Costco, Chapters and got some gas for the car at Sunoco and then went on to Montana's where we had reservations for dinner. There was 8 of us in total, Mom and Dad drove from Port Hope, Chris and I came in from Ajax and Joan( Chris's Mom) Nat and the kids all came came down from Beaverton. We figured it was the easiest meeting point for all of us. Unfortunately experience was not up to par. I love eating there the food is usually amazing, however yesterday that was not the case. Our server did not choose her attitude and was not having any fun, nor was she being there! The meal was below par and the restaurant was very cold. All things aside though we all had a great time a bunch of laughs and totally enjoyed each others company. The manager provided us with nearly 40 dollars in coupons after realizing that Joan was not kidding when she attempted to saw through her steak at the expense of one now wavy fork.The manager did her job and made our day by rectifying the previous misfortunes. Oddly enough this also resulted in a server who's attitude was then chosen for her, and the night ended on a good note.

Well that is all I have to chat about at the moment, gonna go relax and have some of Joan's homemade Cabbage Rolls that were sent home with me.

Smile eh! If only to exercise the muscles in your face :o)
L

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

15 minutes to Blog then must Go to Work

Hey all, so as it appears I did not have the opportunity to blog again on my day off. Actually I slept almost all day. I woke up after the inaugural night of DDing and felt like I drank a 2-4! After sleep, and a whole lot of it, I was feeling better. Strange how that is.

So I read Jo's Blog today and had my first honourable mention in the land of blogging again. Thanks Jo :-) (BTW the link is not working). The strange thing that I took away from her entry is that I actually have an impact on the lives of those around me. I remember the day that I gave her that piece of advice, if I recall it was during the days of Assenstein. My how times have changed.... For the better of course.

So since I am short on time today, I want to leave a lasting impression.

~~~ If there is only one thing productive that you do today thank the one that you never thank. Wave back at that stranger who smiles at you, thank the person who holds the door open for you while you rush in out of the cold, or email everyone in your address book and thank them for being in your life. We don't take the time anymore in our busy lives to thank each other enough. Without each other our lives would be pretty dull, don't ya think?~~~

So, thanks :o) to all of you who read this and all of you who should be reading this, I appreciate all of you for the little things that you do in my life.

Smile... It's not Monday :oP

L

Sunday, January 18, 2004

A Night Of Firsts

We went to the Lawyer tonight. Our intention was to meet some friends there to celebrate and unknown persons birthday, however we got stood up! Go figure! My guess was that the crowd there was to old for the originals to partake in. Oh well, I love the Lawyer, always a great time and one of the few bars in the city that I don't feel like I am babysitting a bunch of drunken Co-Eds while I am enjoying a night out. So as the firsts go... Tonight was the first night I have ever successfully completed a mission to be the DD! I have had many failed attempts in the past to be the DD, usually supposedly driving someone else's car home at the end of the night. However, every previous attempted always ended up with me totally shitfaced and all of us in either an About Town or a U Need A cab. I guess the reason that tonight was so different was that it was my own car. The only other person entitled to drive it was shitfaced, at least 3 beers past his 6 beer staggering point, so that left me to be responsible. I am proud to say that I consumed 1 large Blue Light ( mmmm fresh draft beer :oP```) , and 3 glasses of water while everyone else (less LVR and The Google Master who were also DDing it), got completely blazoed. I guess this means that I am maturing! Wow, never thought that would happen.

So even though we got stood up it turned out to be a great evening out. Ran into an old friend, another former TeleTecher, who has since moved on( not on his own accord mind you, but escaped non the less). He always made me laugh when I worked with him, however tonight he made me laugh more than usual. Thanks RD, it has been one of those weeks that I really needed a full on belly laugh, you always manage to get those out of me :-)

Other than that, I really don't have much else to blog about, Chris is passed out cold on the futon, he made it in the house, down the stairs and all the way to the futon before passing out. At least he got his shoes off.

Tomorrow is my day off so I will likely make another entry tomorrow at some point.

BTW, have you had a good strong belly laugh today? Don't you think it's time?

L

Thursday, January 15, 2004

The Auto Show and Stuff

So I went to my very first auto show. Of course my first time had to be with the worlds largest and most famous. It was absolutely incredible. That about sums it up. I was awwwww struck for hours and have been talking about it for days now. You could say that it has had a lasting impression on me.

Good things have happened at work this week as well. I am officially the first recipient at the Sherwood Forest branch of GoodLife Fitness to receive the Platinum Pen Award. It is awarded to the top Personal Training Sales in each divisional group. It is literally a heavy weight platinum pen, with the company logo engraved on it. My first month on the job and I score the award. Yeah Me :)

Got some patch bucks today as well. For those of you who are previous or current TeleTechers, this is similar to the old scratch cards, except..... They have dollar values hidden under the pull tab. Me being very naive and thinking that a buck equals a dollar opened up my first one and got $100! The next two produced 10 dollars each. Not too bad for a few good deeds. LOL. With these Patch bucks we can buy anything that is GoodLife related, proshop stuff, tanning packages, personal training, upgrade courses stuff like that. So I bought a bottle of tanning lotion and a spot in the Core Circuit Training program. The program is 8 sessions with one of the trainers doing a circuit workout concentrating on the abs and back muscles that make up the core of the body. I think I am going to be in serious pain after this one but hopefully it will give me the push to get back into the gymly routine, if you know what I mean. One would think that because you work in the gym that you would work out all the time, this is not the case at all. I have worked out a grand total of three times in the past 5 weeks. Working 60 + hours a week really squashes the desire to spend another 5 or 6 working out. I think I may go back to the principle that I am going to workout at Galleria and work at Sherwood. It amayzes me how many people work at Galleria and workout at Sherwood. This must be the trick.

So my new camera that I spoke of in my last entry is even more amazing then I thought. We currently live in an old 3 storey home that has been renovated into three apartments one on each floor. The floor above us is occupied by two very noisy gentlemen. Both of the two believe that they are up and coming musicians and play their stereo and their guitars ( electric of course) in a very loud decibel range. When I arrived home from work tonight at around 8:15 or so, I could hear the noise before I turned off my car. So you can imagine how loud it was inside the house. So we recorded it, for proof of course, since the cops never believe that there is anything going on when we call because of course them tone it down as soon as the see the car pull in the driveway. We recorded it with the mic that is built into the new web cam. It is so sensitive that it picked up the rattling of the light in the room from the vibrations of the stereo speaker. Another plus for the camera!

Well the camera has now led me into many mssgr conversations so I will end this for now.
More later.

Smile.... You know why

Leanne

Sunday, January 11, 2004

Got a Web Cam :o)

Well the title says it all.

One of the other former Teletechers (aka DJ Biz) got me onto the idea. We chatted for hours last night with him on his web cam. It was great! I have not seen him in ages and I didn't even have to leave my house to do so :) Way more addictive than the regular for of the internet. So Chris came home from work with one tonight. I am now the proud user of a QuickCam Zoom. It is the coolest thing I think I have ever used. It has this auto face tracking option that is crazy precise. Chris came into the room and it picked up his face instantly and moved the camera's focus to him! It also has a built in mic and lot of other cool advanced features. I chatted with my parents for a bit with it too. They are no longer cyber virgins. I think my Dad may become a bit of a cyber slut, his addiction is rapidly forming. From the very first webcam session he is now jonzing for one of his very own! It is a contagious affliction that will soon infiltrate our entire web community. Way to go Dad! I am so proud of you.

I think that the internet should be a mandatory requirement between all parents and their long distance children. It is better than big fat LD phone bills and so much more convenient! It's way easier to get Mom's chocolate ship recipe via chat then over the phone. Hint Hint Hint :o)

So my red little Nissan required emergency surgery this morning. Good thing I have a qualified surgeon living under the same roof as me. A $28.75 repair thanks to Canadian Tire . I blew the clutch cable in the Sentra last night on the way back from Walmart. I had my suspicions that there was something up in the past week due to an odd little crunching noise that accompanied about 75% of all shifts. Well last night I heard the mother of all crunches and then shifting became very labourious. This little course of events led to the surgery this morning before driving Chris to work. All is well now though! I was a wee bit panicked that long anticipated road trip for tomorrow to NAIAS would have to be cancelled for yet another year. However all is well on the auto front, if only the weather would co-operate. We have received about 2.5 inches of snow in the past 5 hours or so, and it is the fine, moist, constantly falling stuff that all drivers dread. It appears, according to the Weather Networks Highway Link that the highway is clear and according to the radar it is almost past us. I guess we will know at 7 am EST if the trip is a go! I hear my next door neighbour out shovelling the driveway again, he was doing it when I came home at 5:30pm as well, it is now 8:47pm and this is his third time today, I wonder how many more times he will attempt it?

Oh a strange fact for you, not really strange, more so a six degrees of separation thing.

So being from Port Hope , population 12 500 last time I was home, now happily relocated in London population 320 000 give or take a few, you never expect to run into people from home very often. I can honestly say that maybe a dozen times in the past almost 5 years have I encountered someone that I know from home. Well I move into my current apartment to see a Honda in the driveway from of all places Cobourg Honda. Cobourg is the rival small town next to Port Hope on the map. The rivallry between the two towns is long standing and very strong. However, the neighbours that shovel the snow are local Cobourgians! Go figure! They are super nice people and I have nothing bad to say about them, I even excuse the fact that I have to share a driveway with a Cobourg Honda, however the fact of the matter is that all rivalries aside, he shovels the driveway after each and every snow fall. Bless his Cobourg roots!

Any way time for Law and Order Criminal Intent.

Smile :)

Leanne

Saturday, January 10, 2004

The First one :0) Of Part Two

Well after a seriously long sabbatical, I now have my own computer, my own connection and my own chance to blog till my little heart desires. First thing I would like to let all of you know is .... Be patient with the frequency of my blogging please. I have since started a new job at GoodLife Fitness and it monopolizes nearly 60 hours a week of my time. The advantage though is, I think I have found my passion. I am really awesome at my job and look forward to going there each and everyday, believe it or not! When I was at Teletech they claimed to participate in the Fish! Philosophy however after going to a company that really takes the philosophies to heart I now understand how it was supposed to be. Choosing your attitude is the biggest one, almost impossible as an agent on the Verizon project because it is chosen for you. A word of advice for those of you who are left there, do not let the size of your paycheck keep you there. Look at your life, look at the important things and go after them. The $$ will come in the form of happiness, and if you have to cut a few material luxuries to create personal happiness then it is well worth it. Trust me I have discovered this and am living proof that $$$ cannot buy happiness, nor is it a substitute for it. Starting at GoodLife has really changed my view on life, for the better, finally. For all new employees at GoodLife you have to read two different books in your first week. This is to determine if you will fit in with the company and it's ideals. The first one is Living the GoodLife by David Patchell - Evans, a simplistic model of how the world needs to rethink health and fitness, I had already read it but the 2nd one I had not. It is an interesting book, has some 'flighty' ideas in it but the core of it and the intentions can be life changing if you let them be. If you are looking for a simple read, or a redirection to a portion of life that most of us forget, lose or have not found yet try reading Happiness is a Choice . try it you may be happily surprised. If you are broke and cannot afford to buy it, or don't have a Library Card , email me and I will lend you my copy.

So a lot of other things have changed since I last attempted to maintain a blog. I have moved, in with Chris. We have a cute little apartment that we got really cheap, and the location is awesome, not EOA and near downtown! Things are awesome between us, took some adjusting, but we are slowly getting to understand each other and how to live together. The first couple weeks was very trying for both of us though. Typical for any new living arrangement though. I bought a car, nothing special 1990 Nissan Sentra , it is red and I got a kick ass deal on it. It is amazing on gas, drives well, and has not let me down yet. No complaints. I now understand why there are two Nissans in my sisters driveway. Ah the freedom of a car!

Just an update for you on Mr. Burns ... We think he may be a pure bread Maine Coon, for those of you who have seen him before check out this site. So he is not so fat after all! The average member of his breed is 18 lbs!

Any hoo I will blog more later, need to get ready for work.

Smile, it won't kill you!
Leanne