Playful banter

One of the things I love about being in a "front of office" position is being the face of the organization. I love the constant interactions throughout the day. The relationships that develop with my "regulars"; the mailman, the couriers, the hundreds of parents.

I love having to smile and be pleasant even when I'm not necessarily feeling it. It keeps me smiling whether I like it or not, and that's a good thing. I'd much rather be working at smiling than easily sitting there with a frown.

I love the communication in all it's forms, or the silly things that are said, the stories that are told.

Today, one of our grade 8s came down because she wasn't feeling well and wanted to call her mom so she could go home. A couple minutes later she told me her mom was on hold and would like to speak with me. I picked up the phone and a slightly exasperated mother says," do you want a kid?" the understood suggestion being her daughter. I replied with, "I'd be glad to as long as you take the other 485 for whom I'm responsible." We both shared a laugh and hungup.

I love moments and conversations like this with practical strangers with whom I have this relationship.

That silly joke brightened my afternoon gave me something to smile about, a story to retell. Just one of the many lovely moments in my job that not only make up my day, but also make me very happy.

Looking forward to the relationships I will build tomorrow!

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Life, the Universe, and Everything

Nope, I'm not talking about a Douglas Adams novel...I'm talking about the power, depth and joy that comes from an 8 hour discussion with one of my oldest and closest friends.

On Saturday night I stayed up until past the wee hours of the morning on Sunday having a heartfelt conversation with a friend with whom in the past few years I haven't spent much time.

We opened our minds and our hearts. We talked about things that meant a great deal to us, we challenged each other, we supported each other and I know I said things I haven't thought about in a long time.

We talked about love, family, friends, life and God. We both opened our hearts and connected on a spiritual level. I saw a side of my friend that I knew existed but had never had the pleasure of being a part.

I thank her for opening my heart and my head. And I thank God, the Universe and Everything :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Caramalized Bacon

Yummmy! My Saturday morning was a smorgasbord of wonder and deliciousness!

Food is something that often makes me happy. Nothing make me happier than new and delcious ways to serve food.

The girls and I headed out to a restaurant in Toronto called Starving Artist. I was told is was a waffle place and I kind of thought "meh", but the birthday girl really liked it so I went with the choice.

And am I ever glad I did. OMG what a fantastic meal and amazing restaurant!!!

The owner is running the little galley kitchen. He is friendly, happy and answering all of my questions about the delicious looking food coming out of the kitchen. The servers are a lot of fun and everyone is so easy-going and relaxed. Changes are easy to make. This sign makes me smile.



The Americano is properly made and tastes great...and the food...OMG...the food! I will let a picture say a thousand words (a couple of pictures).

My meal...a Monte Cristo sandwich made with French toast waffles and a salad w/ avocado. (with a piece of caramalized bacon..yes, bacon, on the side).



Cheddar and chive waffles



Delicious dessert waffles



Eggs Benny w/ avocado instead of ham



If that doesn't make me happy, I'm dead! :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Paton Rd,Toronto,Canada

Everyday

Well, this is something that makes me happy every day. It is something that I am grateful to have in my life. I am truly blessed. It should have been my first blog post and it's the most obvious.

It is my wonderful, fabulous, brilliant and loving husband. There are so many other adjectives I could use to describe him, I could go on and on! :)

I love everything about him, even the things that annoy me. I love them to, due to which they don't really annoy me. :)

I love that not only did I recognize early on that he was the perfect man for me, but so did EVERYONE else in my life. Many of which I think thanked God even more than I did when he came into my life.

I love him so much some days it hurts and then I just want to love him more.

He is so good to me. He takes care of me. Some days he puts up with me :) An every day he loves me right back.

Thank you Ian being the one thing that makes me happy EVERY day! :)

And if I don't say the thank you's and the I love you's as often as I could, know that I'm always thinking them. :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Web Design

The teacher who has been maintaining our school website is off sick for a while...and so the job falls to me. It was half given to me and I half volunteered, not necessarily in that order.

He sent me the login information and an FTP site and so I stumbled around blindly there for awhile, not really having any idea what I was doing. Just knowing not to delete anything (yes, I'm somewhat intelligent).

Today I took the workshop being offered for the school website web design. And WooooHoooo...how awesome was that!

I've always known deep down that I'd like web design. It's all about esthetics and formatting. It's about ease of use and information accessibility. And OMG...was I ever right!

I've never tried venturing into the web design market before because it seems too saturated. However, after having just started trying it out, I'm wondering about how to offer something special (other than low prices) to be able to get trained and then do it for a living.

Basically, it's the exactly the kind of thing I love to do...and now I know how to do it!

And the trainer today wad AWESOME! Love that too :). My new go-to-girl!

With Love
~sarah~

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Found it!

It has been said that fixing a mistake well, makes you look better than never having made the mistake at all.

The same can be said for losing something.

At the end of the day today I realized that some of my paperwork was missing from my to do folder. I keep a manual tracking sheet of all of the time in lieu I bank, along with the confirmation forms for the courses and workshops I'm taking and the confirmed list of the ones I've done. I keep them all together in my ongoing to do folder since they get updated regularly.

Tonight I worked late and at the end of the day went to track the extra time, only the papers weren't there. I checked all of my file folders. I checked the binders where I had just filed a bunch of paperwork. I looked everywhere. Then I saw the shredding box.

We have our shredding done off site and we just ship any confidential information in old paper box. It occurred to me that I might have accidentally tossed my papers in there.

So there I sat going through the shredding box, but to no avail. So I went through all of my papers and files again, and just for good measure through the shredding box again. Frustrated and angry, I gave up, underestimated my time in lieu on a new tracking sheet with a note and started to pack up to go.

A coworker came in and I complained to him, but as I did I gestured and described what had happened and my eyes caught another pile of papers, ready to be filed into last year's audit box in storage and realized that it had also been in my to do file.

I flipped to the back, and sure enough, there they were. JOY! Serious joy in having found something that only in the course of about tens minutes had I lost and then given up hope, but the happiness in having found it was wonderful.

So if I hadn't lost them in the first place I would have missed out on the feelings of relief, happiness and yes, just joy!

I think I'll lose things more often! ;)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Food of the Gods

A couple of summers ago I fell in love with truffle oil. I was at a wedding and one of the passed ordeuvres was a delightful pastry amuse-bouche drizzled in truffle oil and I was hooked. If it said truffle oil on the menu, I ordered it.

A couple of weeks ago I had the best taste ever. Frites drizzled in truffle oil. Could it get any better or any more foodie casual than this?

Oh, but it could.

Our friends who got married that day mentioned that the restaurant where they had their celebration serves popcorn drizzled in butter and truffle oil.

So tonight with enough points left. I popped a big bowl of popcorn, tossed it with salt, then drizzled it in melted butter and topped it off with some truffle oil.

The perfect end to a perfect evening! :)

Their are a couple of foods that I expect I will eat a lot of when I've died and gone to heaven...and one of those items...is truffle oil.

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

The Big Balls

One of my favourite parts of Sunday nights is watching Wipeout. That show has to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV.

There really is nothing funnier than grown adults competing on a giant nerf obstacle course. The hits, the falls, the dives and of course the Big Balls.

It's one thing when they awkwardly try to make fun of themselves while being interviewed, it's a completely different level of humour as they run the crazy course which is set up not only to make then fall, but to do it in such a hillarious way.

My favourite so far in the current season, Winter Wipeout, was the first episode with Nana's house, when the swinging door would hit them in the face. The hillarity multiplied when they would repeatedly get hit by the same door and then not notice the exact same obstacle (another exact door) and get hit again. I wish they'd bring back Nana's house.

And of course, everyone's favourite, are the big balls, nothing beats people trying to cross those giant red balls.

Thank you Wipeout for making me laugh every Sunday night! :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Boxee

Sorry for being away! Blame it on the ol' tv. I don't even have cable and yet the television has managed to overcome my life!

We are running our television through the internet with a program called Boxee which is pretty fantastic! It grabs tv from all over the internet, stuff that is live streaming from tv station sites and brings it in to one place for us to find and watch!

So yesterday I watched more of the Bachelor (haven't watched a season in years) and Merlin which is fun.

Boxee is opening lots of tv doors that I haven't been able to access in many years since I banned Rogers Cable TV from any house in which I reside. I can start following current television like the rest of the world. :)

The real reason I've not been blogging is Lost...just finishing up season 4, watched almost the whole season 4 this weekend. Only one season to go! I can't imagine having to wait week to week to find out what happened!

With Love
~sarah~

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Writer's Block

I am currently enjoying writer's block and I'm not being sarcastic.

I seriously can't think of what to write about today. I'm sitting here thinking what made me happy. And nothing obvious is popping into my head.

So then I have to ACTUALLY think about it. I'm sitting here analyzing my day. It was a great day, so why can't I think of anything specific that made me happy.

But any one specific thing doesn't matter right now, because what's making me happy is thinking about how great a day it was.

How much I love working in a school and working with children. How much I absolutely adore my new planner. How much work I got accomplished today. What a great start I had to the day, just a generally happy morning. What a great night's sleep I had last night. How delicious my homemade chili tastes. What a fun time I had at rehearsal. Just an all around pleasant day

So my writer's block has allowed me to enjoy thinking about how much I enjoyed my day! It's like doing it all over again.

Thank you for such a perfect day! :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Sherwood Dr,Ottawa,Canada

Friends

Yes, of course friends will probably be a reoccurring theme here, seeing as they're always making me happy. :) That's what friends are for.

Last night was a bit of an emotionally rough time for me. Yup even I, the positive, happy, eternally optimistic, has bad times too. Last night was one of those moments.

And then dab smack in the middle of my blubbering my phone bings the high pitch tone of a text message coming through and there smiling up at me are the words and a happy face emoticon from a friend who hopes I'm doing alright. She's freaky-crazy like that. Her timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Don't get me wrong, Ian was with me an comforting me and saying all of the right things, but the text came in at just the right moment and in her wonderfully serious and silly way, she cheered me up, pretty much by distracting me, Which was exactly what I needed.

I am so very blessed to have so many wonderfully awesome girlfriends, I couldn't be luckier. :).

Thank you to all of my friends who I love so dearly for their love, support, laughter, tears, concern, attention, and just plain silliness!

And thank you Jamie...sorry for right f*ckin with your head! LOL :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Kanata,Canada

Organizer!

A couple of years ago, while working in finance, I covetted the daily planner/organizer that the advisor I worked with used to track his days.

Then one year I finally went out and bought one for myself...and it was the best thing I could have done for my productivity. So I kept buying them. I'm not sure what it is about the book.

It's a Brownline, hard covered, legal in length, day per page, 12 hour planner. And I just USE it and it works.

Last year I did not buy one, I forgot, then it was too late. It was a rough year! I was always very busy, and had trouble feeling organized.

So this year, while chatting with my old boss I asked the name and number of the planner. Last night I went out and bought one.

I started using it first thing this morning...and it. was. brilliant. I already feel more organized. I got a TON of work done today, and I can't wait to go to work again tomorrow to use it.

WooHoo! This is definitely THE bookfor me forever! :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Blue Monday

I'm blogging a little late...this is yesterday's It Made Me Happy...and it's a weird one.

I'm happy that my bad mood wasn't real! Seriously! I was having an absolutely bizarre day yesterday. My energy level was shot, I just wanted to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. I wasn't sad, I just wanted to go to sleep and for the day to be all over already. For lack of a better term, I was feeling very depressed yesterday.

It wasn't until later in the day that I was told it was Blue Monday (apparently the most depressing day of the year). And that's what cheered me up...my mood wasn't my fault. It was par for the course! I was completly normal!

And so thank you Blue Monday for bringing me with you through the day and then back out again :)

I'm glad to know that I'm normal.

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Varley Dr,Ottawa,Canada

Awards

I think everyone should have the opportunity to win an award at whatever job they do!

I love watching awards shows, for a number of reasons.

They are beautiful to watch. Most awards shows are beautiful people wearing beautiful clothing in front if beautiful back drops saying beautiful things. What's not to love.

They are about people who are being applauded and praised for the hard work they've done.

Try are offering their thanks and their gratitude for the awards and the praise they are receiving.

Not to mention they're "famous people"...and it's kind if like being a part of their world for a few short hours. They're playing themselves in this performance and we get to see them at their very personal best. :)

It's very exciting and very lovely.

And there's also the little part of me who dreams of being up on that stage, winning an award for an outstanding performance, wearing a beautiful gown and dripping in jewels, being asked "who are you wearing?", and thinking of what I'd say and who I'd thank.

I didn't make it to the end, only until 10pm, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Golden Globes tonight :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Zokol Crescent,Ottawa,Canada

Standing up for that in which I believe

The thing that made me happy today has all made me extremely sad. Ian and I went cross-country skiing this morning. It's a beautiful snowy day here in Kanata north. We discovered that our walking trail is also a great cross-country ski trail, and we headed out for some exercise in a beautiful winter wonderland.

It was so peaceful, like a Group of Seven painting. We were enjoying our morning so much until we came across two giant No trespassing signs. And my heart broke. It really is going to happen, they are really planning to clear cut this beautiful landscape. We continued on our path ignoring the signs and continuing to enjoy our day, but my happy mood had a dark cloud.

Trying to enjoy the after glow with a hot cup of coffee in front of a roaring fire, the dark cloud pushed me to do something I have never done in my life...I wrote the email below and fired it off to every elected official I could think of to try and lend my voice in the fight to save this beautiful environment which is slated to be destroyed.

If anything I say moves you at all, I ask you to take the time and do the same. I will email you the names and email adresses of who to send it to...just ask.

Beaver Pond - South March Highlands

I have sent the "suggested" email to save the Beaver Pond - South March Highlands and now I would like to share my personal thoughts and feelings, in order to stress the seriousness of this matter. I hope you offer me the respect of reading and considering my words below.

I have never been moved by anything in my life enough to send an email to a politician. I have never been so moved to want to act out my right of civil disobedience. I have never thought about chaining myself to a tree to stop large industry.

I have read the stories, the editorials, the blogs about the destruction of the Beaver Pond area and the South March Highlands, but I never thought it would or could actually happen.

Today, as my husband and I stepped out our front door and set out cross-country skiing into our beautiful neighbourhood, we were disgusted by the No Trespassing signs posted. Blantantly ignoring these signs we continued on the trail we've taken numerous times, following in the snow prints of other skiers, walkers, dogs, kids and local residents who continue to ignore the signs and enjoy this gorgeous landscape.

As we skied the trail we saw the orange plastic barrier cutting through the trees like a huge marking from the pen of a giant plastic surgeon who is preparing his patient for deeps scalpel cuts. Only this doctor isn't trying to beautify, his work will be the destruction and disfiguration of something already beautifully radiant into something horrible that cannot be undone.

I know my voice is being raised very late in this process, and I am so very sorry that I did not speak up sooner. Helping all of the fighters who have been working hard to protect what I love and use.

My words cannot express my sadness and heartbreak at the thought of such a horrible waste of what Kanata, Ontario, and Canada prides itself...our greenspaces, our natural landscapes, our love and respect of the environment.

Canada's standing in the world when it comes to the environment has shamefully dropped. We are a nation who boasts artists whose works showcase the beauty of this land. As developement like this continues to ruin the wonder and joy of these habitats and environments, the images we have will be the only part that survives.

If the votes of your constituents matter, please take this issue seriously. Please help us to fight, help our voices to be heard. Do not allow the corporate developers to own our politicians, the way the media suggests. Rather, fight for the people who place their trust, their strength, their voice in you.

This is something I will not forget when I go to the polls, when I speak to others of politics, when I debate what and who I respect and in whom I believe. I will remember your place in this decision, in this debate, in your effort to make a difference to the outcome. Make me proud of my elected officials. Make me love my country not only for what it is...but for who it is.

The Beaver Pond and the South March Highlands are loved, and used, and cherished and will continue to be as long as they continue to be. Please ask of me what is necessary to help you help us on this matter of great importance in our community.

Thank you for your time and your consideration.

Yours very sincerely,
Sarah Stewart
Concerned voting resident of Kanata, of Ontario, Canadian

I ask again that if this matter is important to you, whether it is in my neighbourhood or for yours. Please lend your voice, your vote, your strength for this issue. Stand up and fight. Join the Facebook group, write letters and emails, let people know that our environment matters.

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Varley Dr,Ottawa,Canada

Boardgames

I love playing boardgames! :)

I can't think of a boardgame that I've played that I didn't like or wouldn't play again. I love to learn new boardgames. I also love winning! :)

Tonight we played a favourite, Catan, and learned a new one, Funglish. Both are great games. I find Catan addictive and a ton of fun. Funglish was neat and makes you think.

The other great thing about boardgames is that you play them with people, friends. You laugh, make things up, tell jokes, create inside stories, share strategy.

Tonight we got together with an old friend and made a new friend, we ate a lot, played a little and laughed a lot.

Thank you boardgames for another fabulous and entertaining night!

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Rue Laval,Hull,Canada

Recovery

After 8 long years of poor sleep, chronic back pain and weekly visits to the chiropractor, I finally started seeing a physiotherapist.

And I am finally getting better!

A little over a month ago a coworker was raving about her wonderful physiotherapist to another coworker who was also seeing him. They said he was a miracle worker. And so I asked for information.

After a quick visit to my family physician for a referral, off I went to see Martin. I have now had 6 appointments with him, and although I'm not "cured", I am seeing wonderful results. Less pain, better sleep, easier mobility.

I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner? I have bought new mattresses, expensive pillows, paid for 8 years of chiropractors, changed my mouse and sold my most favourite of favourite cars...and recently I've been questioning the use of handheld decices...so finally after all this...I seek the help of a physiotherapist.

It's wonderful to start being able to see the end, to know that you're moving in the right direction and that you're taking care of yourself.

I look forward to the day without any pain (and without meds to fix it). And I'm so happy because that day is no longer very far away :)

Thank you. I am grateful. :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Varley Dr,Ottawa,Canada

3lbs!

I've been on the new Weight Watchers's PointsPlus plan for 1 week and I lost 3lbs! :)

I expected to do well this week. It was my first full week of the new year, I had just come off the holidays, I had been gaining over the holidays and eating "off plan" for about 4 weeks. I was still trying to track and make healthy choices but I was still going over every week.

Plus to to add a little more pep in my step there's a whole new plan.

All of these things were just what I needed to get my butt in gear. It also helps to have a goal date.

I set my goal weight early last year but was yoyo-ing for the past 6 months. So one of my news years resolutions is my goal date. A goal weight is great but without a timeline there's no real push to get it done.

So...weight set...check...date set...check...and 3lbs right out of the starting gate! I'm good to go.

I now have 13lbs that I want to lose by Wednesday, May 18, 2011. :) I look forward to keeping this happy weight loss momentum going.

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Getting lost again

After a couple months hiatus from Lost, we're back at it again.

Ian and I started watching the show at the beginning of Season 1 early last year, as neither of us had made it more than part-way through Season 2 previously. However, we had heard so many fantastic things about the last couple of seasons that we just had to start back up.

Being the kind of show that Lost is, we had to start from scratch to make sure we had all of the pertinent information, although, DOES IT REALLY MATTER?!?!?

Hmmmm...I'm not sure if "happy" would describe my mood as we start the beginning of Season 4, after 2 months off...wonderfully annoyed? Tickled-frustrated? Fabulously-obsessed?

I just want more answers please!!!! (please do NOT give me any answers...this is part of the joy) ....aaarrrrgh......!!!!!

:) glad to be back at it!

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Varley Dr,Ottawa,Canada

The Kitchen

I love working by myself in the kitchen. Whether I'm whipping up a batch of Ian's favourite chocolate chip cookies, or making dinner or just tidying up, the kitchen is one of my favourite places to be.

I find the kithen to be a peaceful place. Many of the activities are almost meditative in nature. Repeated chopping, stirring, sifting.

On Sunday afternoon we bought two beautiful fillets of Rainbow Trout, and tonight I set out to make a fabulous meal. I found a recipe I had never tried before, and although it had mushrooms I figured I could sneak them by Ian. :)

I oiled the pan, salt and peppered the fish, chopped the veggies, dressed the fish, drizzled it with sauce and oil, snapped the beans, boiled the water, strained the pasta, and whipped up some quick sauces for the beans and pasta.

It's all about timing and flavours, mixing and matching. All the while tidying as I go, so that I don't have to worry about a mess later.

Then it all gets plated just as the timer goes. It's like a little kitchen dance with pace and movement.

And then the best part, not only does it look perfect but it tastes fantastic (if I do say so myself). :)



(Grilled Asian Rainbow Trout, with garlic green beans and gnocci in a pesto sauce). Yummy!

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Kanata,Canada

Exercise!

And specifically cross-country/Nordic skiing. I hadn't been in years!

My husband, Ian, and I have been working at getting two full sets of used cross-country skiis, to get us off our butts and onto the snow. I've been leading a pretty sedentary lifestyle since early fall (aka: a lazy b@st@rd!) :)

Ian and I played Ultimate Frisbee this summer where I managed to I injure my groin, which in turn put out my lower back. Then just as it was healing I played in our playoffs, in back to back games, and re-injured it all over again.

So as much as I've loved the lazy life, it's not a healthy lifestyle and it's been hard to keep weight off. Not to mention that I'm missing out on all of the lovely exercise enduced endorphins and increased metabolism...but not any longer.

Late this morning we headed out with our mix'n'match 1980's cross-country ski sets and hit a trail. It's the one I grew up on, Old Quarry Trail, just across from the Hazeldean Mall, in Kanata.

It was cold, a little difficult and a ton of fun. We did around 3km or so and felt really good afterwards. Now that we know that we can do it we're looking forward to many more cross-country ski adventures.

Even better, no need to drive even the 10 minutes we did today. We noticed on our way home that at the end of our street there is a trail. It looks like we'll hit the snow again tomorrow! I can't wait!

(That is, of course, if either of us is able to move tomorrow!) ;)

What a wonderful day!

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Deliciousness

This evening a friend of mine left her baby with our husbands and off we went seeking cheese, charcuterie and wine.

We ventured a walk through the Byward Market in Ottawa. It was an understandably quiet Saturday night with the cold and snow.

We ended at a lovely spot, at 1 York Street, called Play Food and Wine. The place was packed when we arrived, shortly after 8, and us without a reservation. No worries, there was room upstairs at the kitchen bar; comfortable bar chairs at a high bar like area over-looking the open concept kitchen. AWESOME!

It was very warm, but no complaints from me on a cold winter's night. Smiles were fired off by the kitchen staff as we sat down. The Sous-Chef was putting plates of delicious looking food along the edge and I jokingly asked if he would just keeping putting food up their for us to eat all evening? :) It all looked delicious.

Both of us already having eaten dinner decided it would be best to stick with charcuterie and cheeses. We ordered some wine and then for the next 3 hours sat and drank and talked.

What a fabulous way to spend a Saturday night and what an amazing place in which to do it! Watching and smelling the marvelous food all night while enjoying the company of a great friend, I couldn't have asked for a better time.

I could go on and on raving about the restaurant...but instead of wasting your time with my words...I suggest instead that you check it out yourself http://www.playfood.ca you won't regret it!

I look forward to heading back their soon with my husband, to try the myriad of wonderful dishes I watched come out of the kitchen! I hope they don't change the menu too soon...because I already know what I want to try! :)

With Love
~sarah~

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GLEE!!!!

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

I only have time to type this up right now because my iPhone is charging, otherwise I'd still be using it right now. And WHY...you ask, is my iPhone charging at this early hour, and why would I rather be using it right now?!?!?!

Because of the Glee app. I thought that the new MLS app made me the happiest an app could ever make me...I was wrong. The Glee app has me just tickled pink and giddy. WHAT FUN!

The quick definition? A worldwide Karaoke app with Glee music.

Yup, you record yourself singing glee songs. You compete by achieving higher scores that other Gleeks using the app. You can listen to other Gleeks sing their songs. You can join in and sing along with other Gleeks around the world. Basically for someone who a) loves singing and b) loves Glee...it's the PERFECT app!

My husband might be sick of me singing the same song over and over again in order to perfect the Glee version of a song so that I rank a really high score...but that's okay. It's a small price to pay...and at the end of the day he totally understands competiting online. So...haha! :)

(a bit of a cheat...this made me happy late last night...I just haven't had a chance to post about it because other than working I've been using the app)

But soooooo happy! :)

YAY Glee app!

Being the It for Others

Last night at my Weight Watchers meeting I ran into someone I hadn't seen in 17 years, she was at the meeting with her sister. Not only had we known each other many years ago, but I discovered that she had also known my singing teacher many yeas ago. In talking with her and her sister I realized we knew a lot of people in common including the director of the local musical theatre production. Her sister mentioned how impressed and blown away the director was with the voice of one of the new singers when he'd first heard her at the audition. And my old friend talked about my singing teacher and the pleasure of all of their years working on the stage together.

Tonight at rehearsal I spoke with my singing teacher and upon mentioning her old friend, her face lit up. So happy that she had remembered her and how wonderful things had been back then. She was just so happy that I talked to her and had so many questions about how she's doing...I will be passing the love back at my meeting next week.

Then I was chatting with one of the other students during rehearsal. She was talking about the new musical production she was in, and how it was her first show with the company. She said she was a little nervous and really excited. When she told me the part she was playing I realized that she was the singer with whom the director had been so impressed. So I told her what I'd heard. She was just tickled pink and humble, almost bashful.

In a matter of moments I'd made two people very happy and in passing along that happiness in turn it made me very happy too :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Ross Ave,Ottawa,Canada

Joy and Relief

Today was a day full of happy stuff and I just have to share another of the happy things!

I had something stuck between two of my back molars this morning but didn't realize it until I had already left the house. Once I noticed it I couldn't ignore it.

I had no dental floss or toothpicks anywhere, my desk, my purse, NOTHING! I started asking coworkers and one sympathized, she's always got floss with her, but she had run out. *gack*

At the end of the lunch break she came into the office and said "I've got a present for you!" and sure enough she had bought me my very own dental floss! WooHoo! And she bought me the really good minty waxy good stuff :)

Oh the relief of removing a tiny little speck of food. The rest of my afternoon was stress free.

I am now ready for all jammed teeth emergencies!

With Love
~sarah~

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My Old Boss

And by old boss I don't mean he's OLD, I mean one of my previous bosses.

I used to work in finance in Toronto and over the 8 years in finance both in Toronto and then here in Ottawa I worked for 6 investment advisors/managers. Let me tell you, working for that many A-type personalities over the years (as many advisors are) can be quite an interesting endeavor.

When I left Toronto, he was the only advisor with whom I was working. I even offered to try and work out a way, through all our modern technology, to work for him remotely from Ottawa. There were MANY reasons why we moved to Ottawa, however, this man was one of the few reasons that I would have loved to have stayed in Toronto forever. Although I LOVE what I'm doing now, working in education, I would, in a moment's notice, if there were a way, go back to working with him.

Don't get me wrong...it wasn't always a bed of roses. Our first couple of months together were turbulent to say the least and we didn't always see eye-to-eye on things. I worked with him for 4 years, which until last month with my husband, was the longest male "relationship" outside of family I had ever had! During those 4 years we developed a very solid working relationship. I enjoyed going into work every morning. I enjoyed working with HIM specifically. I had worked for some real "pieces of work" in my finance history, and please don't be confused...he could also be a "piece of work" himself at times, but he had a way of making me forget any of the bad stuff.

I might not work with him any longer, but he continues to manage my money for me (what little of it there is!), and due to the recent markets, I haven't done much of anything, so we haven't spoken in quite some time. There are some changes/advice/etc. that I need to discuss with him, and so I called today. We only spoke for a couple of minutes, as he had a client with him, so he'll call me back later today. But those couple of minutes, hearing his voice, remembering how AWESOME my days working with him were, that just made my day. Not only did it make me happy today, but a little wistful as well...remembering those 4 years.

Miss ya Freddy! :)

With Love
~sarah~

AYCES!

It's hard not to blog when happy things happen now! :)

I had an awesome meeting with the administration at the end of the day today (another whole It Made Me Happy right here), and it ran a little late.

My husband picks me up after work every day (I know, I'm blessed...and yup another It Made Me Happy...LOL), and so he got stuck waiting around. This gave him time to realize that we hadn't taken anything out of the freezer to thaw for dinner, while he became increasingly more and more hungry. Which led him down my favourite thought path..."Wanna go for sushi?"

I LOVE that question...and Weight Watchers or no Weight Watchers I will NEVER say no to sushi! :)

So here I am, sitting at our favourite all you can eat sushi restaurant by our house, Hockey Sushi, waiting for delicious to be served. :)

AYCES = all you can eat sushi

With Love
~sarah~

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Kindergarten Voices

I work in a public school. Every morning at 9:18 we play an instrumental version of our national anthem, O Canada, over the PA system. Both the junior and senior kindergarten classes are around the corner from my office.

This morning, louder than ever, I heard all of our kidergarten students, their high child voices, singing our athem. Actually, belting it out, from their hearts is more like it.

Standing there, listening, their voices just warmed my heart, and put a giant smile on my face!

What a wondeful way to start my day!

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Chesterton Dr,Ottawa,Canada

Getting back on track

After 4 weeks of being off plan, I started tracking again today. Yup I'm a Weight Watcher. I lost 33lbs in 6 months, but then have only managed to maintain 25 of that loss for the past 18 months. Although I'll be honest, I haven't been working at losing all that much.

I decided before Christmas to pay attention, but not to track or attend meetings or worry too much. The plan was and is, to go back to tracking and attending meetings in the new year, with the goal of not only losing weight, but of hitting my goal weight by Victoria Day weekend (which really means the weigh in on the Wednesday before te Victoria Day weekend).

So today was my first, full-fledged day of tracking, and though I went over my points by a little, I am feeling much healthier already! I am not even disappointed in having gone over, as I worked very hard at it today, realized where I can improve tomorrow and plan on fixing it.

Thank you weight watchers, will power and self-control...they made me happy today! :)

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Location:Kanata,Canada

Star Trek

WooHoo! All Star Trek...all the time!

A little while ago I read about a "watch all Star Trek episodes online" website. I didn't have time to look into it then, and so today with some time to myself I googled it and found The. Best. Website. EVER! :)

www.allstepisodes.com

I am in love!

I have always been a Next Generation fan, and so where better to begin than with an episode from TNG's first season, probably one of my favourite episodes ever. The episode where The Traveller is introduced, in Where No One Has Gone Before. This episode also introduces my favourite character, my teenage crush, Ensign Wesley Crusher. I am reminded that posted on my bedroom wall, next to my bed, was an image from a 16 Magazine, of Wil Wheaton.

It's not just Wesley Crusher that attracted me to TNG and continues to intrigue me, but Gene Roddenberry, the creator and how far ahead of his time he was. The storylines, the subplots, the characters. In this episode from Season 1, The Traveller talks about time, energy, space and thought all being part of the same. It's also where we discover that Wesley Crusher is very special. :)

Keeping with my Wesley Crusher theme, I then watched Justice from later in the season. It's another brilliant episode, dealing with a utopian society, an Eden planet. The story deals with law and enforcement along with god worship and other cultures.

It's not only Will Wheaton and the depth of writing that makes me love TNG, but also the characters, the acting and the scripts. The actors make me laugh and giggle. In the Justice episode both Dr. Crusher and Picard tell Data to "stop babbling". Love it. :)

Since I'm on this mini-Wesley-Crusher-TNG-marathon, I thought I'd finish my day off with When The Bough Breaks.

Thank you, thank you, thank you allstepisodes.com! You have made me happy today. :) And thank you Wil Wheaton...for bringing me back to my childhood crush. Thank you!

New app!

OMG!!! My aim was to blog once a day about something that makes me happy every day, and today there was a second thing that just tickled me pink!!!

The MLS website now has an iPhone app... Realtor.ca. It's brilliant! I think it's better than te actual website. I have discovered my new addiction! :) it's THAT good!!!


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Location:Beaverbrook Ln,Ottawa,Canada

Me time

New Year's Day...first day of my It Made Me Happy blog.

There are many things making me happy today. New Year's Day is an easy day to find something about which to be happy :)

My wonderful day started with a little "me time". I love finding a moment or two for myself to enjoy a nice cuppa tea and get some reading done. I'm currently working my way back through the Robert Jordan series to get caught up for the last 3 books of the Wheel of Time. (these books are another thing that made me happy). :)




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Location:Orchard Park Blvd,Toronto,Canada