Sunday, October 17, 2010

More options

 triangle 2

Shapes

Circle 1

Oval think I should crop more?
 Circle 2
rectangle/square 1
 Oval 2
Triangle 1




Sunday, August 8, 2010

Lunch with the mainlanders

So as part of the tour that we did, we had lunch at a restaurant which was part of the package. We stopped in a very nice part of town and I thought things were looking up. As we strolled past the Siberian fur shop, we made sharp left down a little side street and went up some stairs to a restaurant.

I should have turned around and gone to the nearby McDonald's when I saw the dead roach on the stairs but I'd promised I wasn't going to be squeamish and be a spoilt brat about everything so I soldiered up the stairs.

The restaurant was packed with people but they gave us westerners our own table so that we didn't have to do the common Chinese practice of everyone eating out of the same serving dish. Somehow we tend to be a bit squeamish about stuff like that.

When we sat down they basically threw all of the food at us. There were about 8 dishes that were placed in front of us and we had to dig in. That's where the fun started, they didn't tell us before but we had 15 mins to eat. Apparently that's how long most people take to ear and they had another group behind us waiting for the table so we had to shovel the food in and go.

I gotta say I didn't mind be because after seeing that roach on the stairs, I didn't want to have to spend another minute in that restaurant than I absolutely had to.

Onto the next stop.

Lost in Translation

There is much to see and do here and everyday is an adventure.

One night while we were walking around, desperately trying not to go back to our hell room, I mean hotel room, we stumbled into a lovely oasis a 4.5 star hotel and therebwere signs for a day long bus tour of the main sights in Hong Kong. At 400 or 53 Canadian we would be in an air conditioned coach, get lunch and a day of festivities.

Mr. HK thought that was too expensive and instead thought that we should take the tour attached to our hotel for 328 (43cdn), I threw my hands up in the air and said tally ho.

The morning of the tour, as we sat in the lobby waiting for the bus to arrive, I had a quick thought, turned to the bride and asked this tour is in english right? As a native English speaker, she said of course it would be, he knows we don't speak Chinese.

A lady entered the lobby and said something in cantonese then left, Mr. HK said that's our tour guide let's go. Strange I thought she didn't introduce herself or say anything to us but we trudged along behind her and hopped onto a bus full of Chinese people. Of course our tour was in Chinese and Mandarin no less, which Mr. HK doesn't speak.

We trundled along behind our group all day and eventually had a good time but at every stop as I watched the english speaking tours go by, I couldn't help but wonder, would they notice me if I slipped onto their bus and took their tour with them. Hmmm!

Please don't make me go back there.

So for anyone who's reading this blog, you know that I had some serios reservations about where we were staying while here. The words budget and local chinese hotel are not in my vocabulary. Our host, Mr. C's friend insisted on selecting and paying for our accommodation and since he is notoriously cheap, I knew this wasn't going to be a good idea. Well I was right and on Day 4, Mr. C broke down and finally admitted it.

The hotel/backpackers paradise is a DUMP. The was designed for Chinese people and if you are over 5'5 and weigh more than 105lbs, this is not the place for you.

The closet we are sleeping in has two Chinese sized twin beds, which is smaller and shorter than a western twin bed, so everynight when we stretch out, our calves are dangling off the bed.

In the closet, there is a kid sized table and chair from which you can do your make up (me) or surf the net, obviously not at the same time. Cause we're in a suite, we also get a couch which I've refused to sit on unless there's a sheet covering it. Let's just say that the couch has probably been around since the start of the cultural revolution.

Now there is a tv in the room. Well really a computer monitor disguised as a tv but... All of the stations are in Chinese and i only know 4 words so it's kinda useless. There is an armoire, okay really a box you can put your clothes in but.. It's dark and I can't see what lurks inside so our clothes have never left our suitcase.

The bathroom is a special place. The toilet seat lid is broken and the seat itself spins cause one side is broken. You can sit on the toilet and brush your teeth at the same time if you so choose. Thankfully the bathroom is not a fully wet bathroom or you could poprobably take a shower while also sitting on the throne.

This morning as I stood in the shower trying not to hit my head on the exposed water pipes hovering a mere two inches from my head, I felt vindicated cause Mr. C admitted to me that I was right this place is a dump but that was after he found ants swirling around his breakfast pastries.

Guess where we're staying when we come back from Shanghai - not here.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Survival tip #2 - please bring your own napkins to the restaurant. Yes that's right you won't get any here. Apparently HKers bring their own napkins to the restaurant because for some strange reason that's no included with your meal.

Survival tip #5 - don't stand at the edge of the street waiting for the light to change especially if the building behind you is an apartment building. People throw things out of their windows e.g. Dirty water and garbage being just to name a few.

Survival tip #14 - if you have an empty seat at your table someone will sit in it. Now I haven't been to a fancy restaurant but I sure hope that doesn't happen there.

Survival tip #4 - please don't try to look cute or dress fashionably in 50 degree weather it just doesn't work. Get yourself to the nearest star bucks and park it for the day.

Survival tip #6 - don't to go to a Vietnamese restaurant to have salami, apparently in Vietnam salami is white.

The two Hong Kongs

So on my 12 hour jaunt yesterday, I noticed a couple of things there are definitely two Hong Kongs. There is A LOT of money in this city and there is a lot of poverty here as well. In rich HK, Louis Vuitton stores are in every street corner and there are a lot of mercedes, maybachs and I've never seen so many rolls Royce in my life in one place. These people have real money and wear their designer duds with real class and boy the bling - Mags, when I hit the big time you me are sooooo coming here because you would LOVE this side of Hong Kong. All of the money people live in the hills where they've built these sprawling mansions which are all gated with armed guards nonetheless.

Then there's the other Hong Kong which live 6 people in a 600sq foot living area. They are largest producers and consumers of the dollar store shit that makes it's way overseas. They are made up of people from all parts of Asia and are the working staff of rich and privileged upper classes. They live in what we would call tenement dwellings, hanging the clean clothes out to dry in the polluted, smog filled air and living one on top of each other. These are the people who have mainly come in from the rural areas trying to make it in the big city, I think they are really trying to live the Hong Kong big city dream. I wonder how many of them make it.

My calluses have calluses

So today I had a good old fashinoned meltdown in the middle of Kowloon. I had been walking for 12 straight hours non-stop, literally. I just wanted to go back to the hotel and lay down in my chinese single bed and let my poor tootsies hang off the edge of my 5'6 bed, when our intrepid tour guide said "Let's go the night market on Temple street". I just lost it.

Now I'm flexible and adaptable as the next person but... after 2 ferry rides, 12 hours of hard walking, up hills (HK is surprisingly very hilly with incredibly steep hills) through steamy back allys, a fly by of the landmark shopping centre - very civilized place where one could have at least had a cool and refreshing beverage - a quick tour of HK's financial district, a trip to stanley market, two city bus rides, 2 tram car rides, getting drenched (all the way down to my skivvies) in a pre-monsoon rainstorm, getting stared at some more and oh yeah, being soaked by gutter rainwater while waiting for one city bus, I had enough. I was looking forward to just putting my feet up and perhaps letting one of the street massage vendors, massage my well worn feet and all I could think was not another god-dammed street market.

This is not how I vacation. I was looking forward to taking lazy afternoon strolls on the promenade (not sure which promenade), stopping in at exclusive yet affordable boutiques to look for gifts for family and friends and lazily taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Tomorrow I don't care what's on the agenda, that's the trip I'm going out to find and hell yeah, I'm gonna let some strange lady touch my feet but it'll probably be the strange lady at the Yankee spa cause mamma can't come back home with calluses.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Please don't poke me with your stick

So it's been a while since I've been somewhere where I'm in the minority. Let me tell ya here I am THE mother fucking minority which doesn't really bother me but please don't poke me with your stick cause I will poke back.

So we are staying in Kowloon which used to a cargo centre back in the day, so I would think that they would have seen some people of colour at some point in time buuuuttt maybe not so much. Everwhere we go Mr. C and I are pointed and stared at which is really quite amusing until yesterday.

Most people here seem to be at least 5'4 or 5'5 so people like my friend Scribe, here she would not have freakishly short arms and legs, she'd fit right in. But I digress. So yesterday we were taking a casual stroll on the boardwalk at noon in the 45 degree heat, 50+ with the humidity, when I was beset upon by a large group who had clearly never seen a Nubian beauty in all her rubinesque beauty, so after much gesturing i agreed to take a picture with them, probably to be taken back to their village to be used in some bizarre version of guess what I saw on my summer vacation.

It was all in good natured fun until the grandmother in the group pulled out a stick from her bag and decided to poke me and then seeing that I didn't react, she decided to pull at one of my braids. Well, it's all fun and game until some touches mamma's hair. Not wanting to be the cause of the breakdown in Chinese Canadian relations, I calmly reached into my handbag pulled out a pen, poked her with it and yanked on her hair.

See it's not so nice is it!


T

I'll have the Chinese choice please...

Well we finally made it here to the big C, or rather the big HK. Fianlly after months of planning and painful shots we are here. We left our home at 7:30am and 24 hours and two planes later we landed in Hong Kong at exactly 7:30pm at night.

The flight from Toronto to Detroit was largely uneventful. Small plane, smaller seats, piss poor peanuts and not much else. After a painful 3.5 hour wait - painful cause Mr. C couldn't find a wifi hot spot and him without wifi is not a good thing- we boarded the plane for Hong Kong.

We settled into our seats, which were not much bigger than the ones from Toronto just a bigger plane with waaaaay more people, and were handed a meal card which outlined the meal selections western choice and a chinese choice. As the plane took off down the runway, I was finally excited cause I was about to embark on a journey the likes of which I might never experience again. Whooooo Hooooooooo! Oh Yes, I'll have the Chinese meal please!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: A new day dawns

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.

It's time to change directions. It's taken me a couple of months to get to this point but I think that I finally get it - no more swimming upstream. I am exhausted. You sent someone to see me a couple of months ago and they told me what you needed me to do and I've been resisting because I felt that my way was better than the path that you laid out for me. I don't know why I doubted or why I thought that I could do a much better job that you. Today I finally got it and truth be told I'm exhausted cause it's tiring swimming upstream.



I'm putting it all your hands, I'm giving it all to you. I can't do this my way anymore cause my way ain't working, you're going to have to carry me for a while.


*******************************************************************************
Last night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonged to me, the other to the Lord.  



After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.



This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.  “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.” 



The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of suffering, when you could see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”


When words just aren't enough...


What do you say when words are not enough. There are cards and pithy sayings for every momentous occasion in life but what do you say to someone who has recently lost a loved one. What do you say to a parent who has lost a child.

A dear friend recently lost her son who I have never met, but have come know and love through the stories and pictures of him. Today was his memorial service and it was a beautiful send off for a much loved son, brother and friend.

It was an honour to have been there - Thanks for having me and allowing me to share in the celebration of Gus.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Feeling a whole lot brighter

It's a new week so new tings-a-gwaan.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Excuse me for a minute, I just need to cry...

Please note - This blog contains real life emotions and foul language so if this will offend, read no further. I'll be back to normal in a few. 

Well this week has ended with a major fucking bang! I feel really shitty and in need of a good cry!  In Month 5, heading into Month 6 of unemployment and all of a sudden it just feels like I'll never find another fucking job. I am so sick and tired of congratulating other people for the jobs that they've landed and trying to find really positive words to encourage those looking for a job.

I've run out of steam! I don't want to comb my hair, brush my teeth, shower or make witty conversation with people who call wanting to know why I'm not returning their phone calls. Well here's why fuckers - take it personal or don't take it personal I ain't talking to nobody these days. (Except Mags, Shoppers and G  - who are really helping me from descending into sheer madness)

For some reason this month it's hitting me really hard and I just don't feel like doing anything other sitting on the couch in my jammies which is exactly how G found me earlier today. After listening to me wail about my miserable life, he sent me upstairs to put my game face on before we went across the street for a coffee and a good cry (Me not him).

So if you're reading this and about to call please note:

  • I'm not meeting anyone for lunch, coffee, dinner (certain exceptions apply - if you're wondering if you are the exception then guess what you're probably not) 
  • I'm not talking to anyone other than a prospective employer right now (I've heard the pity in your voice and listened to your condescending remarks about why I'm not employed and all I gotta say is Karma is a mother fucker, you'll get yours bitch!)
  • I am not interested in doing your marketing work for free to keep my skills sharp (I have an hourly rate and I actually have clients so if you think it's too high - FUCK YOU!)
  • I'm not calling around to find a painter for you for since you think I have lots of free time on my hands
  • I am not going to pull the dandelions out of your front garden for $40
  • I am not interested in joining your Ponzi scheme
  • I'm not going to run by your house to feed your dog, cat, goldfish or water your plants while you are at a work event
  • I'm really angry and don't have any positive energy for anyone. Why don't you try pumping me up for a change?
  • As well meaning as your suggestion was, I will not submit my application to be a school bus driver or work in the school cafeteria.
  • If you are in any way, shape or form related to or resemble the spineless asshole that fired me (because he has no balls and is fucking his boss) I will run you over with my car.

Well I feel so much better now that I've said my piece, how about you?

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Dear God. Are you listening it's me ....Mim aka Foxy Forties

I was born on a Saturday at 9:56am so if I following the nursery rhyme is true, I have to work hard for a living. Well that just sucks the big one!

Hmmm... if I adjust the year that I was actually born and put in the year that I actually tell people...oh that's much better...

Monday's child is fair of grace....

Patience is not a virtue that I have inherited but I must be patient because all good things come to those who wait...or rather to those who stomp their feet and act like a child.....

Monday, April 26, 2010

Only 24 more hours...

before this




and this





















will be in my hot lil paws!

Sigh....

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Should I or shouldn't I

I've been thinking about getting a personal stylist for a while now cause I'm thinking that I'd like to freshen up my look a bit.

Now I do't think that iI'm completely heinous in the fashion department but I could use some help maybe coming up with a couple great foundation pieces which I could mix and match into some fabulous outfits.

so now i ask myself will the juice be worth the squeeze?

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Am I not worthy....


I am getting really anxious and nervous and can barely contain my excitement. I am a MASSIVE J.R. Ward fan and her latest book LOVER MINE. I was online just now and saw that my local bookstore has 36 of them in store.

It's killing me cause I know that they are in the back stockroom and I'm just a few steps away from the book that I've been waiting anxiously to read.

I NEED THIS BOOK.

Dear Virgin Scribe... I can't wait for 12 days to get this book. You gotta hook me up today or tomorrow, I'll be in your debt forever.

I was scouring the 'net today looking for a spoiler, any spoiler to whet my appetite when I found a review by someone who got an advance copy and inhaled it (the way Butch inhales the Lessers)! They likened it to Acheron's book and I inhaled that several times over.

I WANT AN ADVANCE COPY. I'll review it and blog about it dammit.

Help me please, don't leave me out in the Fade...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

With friends like these...


You can really tell who your friends are when you're down and out. For the last couple of months I've been searching for a job and my lady friends have really stepped up and shown me their love. They are such an eclectic group of ladies but I love them for all of the ways that they contribute to my life so in no particular order

Thanks for being my friend Mags - You're such a good listener as you've patiently listened to me whining about all of the pretty things that I suddenly want to buy. It is fabulous that you've finally understood that the world revolves around me and only me!  You really need to do something about your NASCAR addiction, not everyone loves Tony Stewart. By the way, the change is coming so get ready...


Thanks Shoppers (that's what I'll call you on the blog) - I've known you since I was a young and dewy twentysomething some two or three years ago. You make me howl with your stories about the Fruitarian & weekend road trips. It's fabulous that you share my love of Twilight, the Vampire Diaries and the importance of a good pension - I knew I liked you for a reason. I know that we're going to be friends until we're old and wrinkled :) Heck if the Fruitarian can have a well paying job, I know I can get one too! Love the support! BTW - How do you eat chocolate croissants and stay so slim...



Bless you Scribe - I swear woman you must have X-ray eyes or mood sensing radar 'cause whenever I seem to be really low, the phone rings and it's you. I really look forward to our coffee and convo - sometimes I think that you must be an earthly manifestation of one of my spirit guides. But then I look at those freakishly short arms and legs that I love so much and think...nah my guide's gotta be taller. No offence but...

Dreaming about you Doris.. - Well it's 40 below and I don't give a cluck....I will forever have Brewsters and Motherclucker burned in my memory. Because of you and ONLY you, I broke my hard and fast karoke rule (never sing in public) and laughed so much that night that it carried me through the entire weekend. Now if only I was coming to the DR with ya, honey. Have a Gran Ventana special for me...


Bella - My personal Heroine - Bella Swan's got nuttin on you chica! I wanna be just like you when I grow up. You are the most fearless woman that I know and always there with a helping hand and a ego boost when needed. How the heck did you learn so many languages... I can barely remember what I had for dinner last week. 


Jacques - My oldest and dearest friend who knows me almost better than I know myself and although we don't live in the same city, you've always got my back and I have yours. I'm really hoping that sometime before I die we will both end up living in the same city or at least the same time zone. This year I hope all of your dreams come true.  


If it wasn't for these ladies I would've gone 'round the bend a long time ago. Then again maybe I've finally gone around the bend to meet them too.

I have many things to be grateful for

Rainy days - now I don't have to wet my lawn - The neighbours were starting to give me the evil eye cause they were all out in their gardens last weekend and I was actually OUT enjoying the weather. To my neighbour who was out mowing his lawn on Sunday, you might wanna consider taking your Xmas garland down...It's April..I guess on the plus side, only 8 more months to Xmas.

A supportive,loving mate - All of my blog readers (all 2 of you) know by now I'm entering month 5 of looking for work and I'm on such a roller coaster of emotions, I'm sure Mr. C doesn't know who he's going to come home to meet... happy bubbly me or dark and twisty Ms. C. I'm looking for a fairly senior position and according to the experts, it takes about a month for every 20K you're looking for. I wonder if I should be factoring that into my salary negotiations...hmmm

New friends - GH and CLF have kept me company during some of the long days and are a constant source of humour for me. Now that CLF has found a job - yay for her! GH and I will continue with the time honoured Friday afternoon drink. 

Travel plans - An upcoming trip to China for a good friend's wedding and a weekend in New York with Shoppers Drug Mart - as soon as I find a job - NY that is, China is on job or not :)

A snoring, farting, loving dog - Along with his horrible bowl manners - excessive slurping when drinking, crunching with his mouth open and burping in your face he seems to be developing a flatulence problem as he gets older. On a good day you hope it's a SD - Silent and Deadly one but sometimes it's LFF - Loud and Fragrance Free, so loud someone asked me once if I was farting while on the phone and I had to say it's my dog, but I have a feeling they really didn't believe me, thank god it wasn't a prospective employer...


Friday, March 19, 2010

Namaste

I seem to be going through some kind of spiritual shift, awakening. 




Ever since I was a little child, I've always had a fascination with the Hindu religion but when I expressed my fascination with the religion and my desire to experiment to my grandmother and father quickly quashed those desires.  


Over the years, the feeling has raised itself several times and over the last couple of months I've felt a really strong pull to explore the teachings of the gurus and explore the wonders of Vedic meditation. For the last 2-3 months, I've been meditating every day or almost everyday and as I grow in my practise and become more confident in my chants, so does the desire to switch from Catholicism to Hinduism.  




My dear grandmother passed away a couple of years ago and sometimes I wonder if she's looking over my shoulder while I'm in the lotus position chanting the miracle mantra from the Guru Vashista...



Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Desperate to go somewhere, anywhere

That looks like this or,

like this,

Sunday, March 14, 2010

I love little pussy

Sunday Reflections

Some funny things that I found while surfing the net on a Wet n Wild Sunday







Saturday, March 13, 2010

Saturday mornings

So I'm relaxing, drinking my morning coffee, listening to the rain and wind knock against the window - wild yet strangely peaceful.


When suddenly I hear, the words that every woman wants to hear when they are relaxing. "What's for breakfast this morning?" 




My morning reverie is clearly over.  

Friday, March 12, 2010

This was a great week!

Nothing overly special happened but I had a great week.


I met an old friend

Heard a great joke

Celebrated a birthday 


Got a phone call



Had a Glass of Wine



Have a great weekend everyone!

My Vision


I have a new job and new sources of income,
I love my job
I love the people I work with
I work with terrific, supportive people
My work takes me to interesting places
My bosses love my work
We work well together in an easy, collaborative environment.
My office is really nice and has a great view
My home office is in Mississauga or Toronto.
My work nourishes me spiritually, emotionally and financially.
I am paid very well.
I earn all the money I need and want.
I have plenty of money to spend and save.
I give thanks for my new job & sources of income.
I am open to what the universe is creating for me.
It is creating my new job effortlessly. 
It’s happening for me now.
People who want to work with me are finding me now.
People who want to pay me money find me easily.
This or something better is now manifesting for me.
I am deeply grateful, for not only am I powerful and creative,
I am open and receptive.
So be it. 
For so it is.
I send 
this susbstance of love 
to bless and prosper all who receive it knowing
it returns to me VASTLY MULTIPLIED!
The end (is only the beginning)

Monday, March 8, 2010

Counting my blessings!


It was a really tough week last week, the lowest I think during this process of job searching. For some reason, I slid into a funk and felt like there was going to be no way out of this situation and no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of it.

Now believe me, I have no desire to go back to the place that I worked. It was a really toxic environment that was eating away at my spirit so I’m very glad that it is over. The thing that I miss the most is the paycheque! For a while I was toying with the idea of self employment but I don't think that the time was right for me to go down that road. I haven't closed the door fully on that yet but I need to have a steady paycheque for a while because I've got some other plans.

This morning when I woke up, I awoke with a new attitude  - I'm determined to embrace all opportunities that come, I've surrendered to my job search to God and most importantly I'm counting my blessings. I've had some really good things happen to me over the last couple of months and I need to really acknowledge that

1. Blessing #1 - Mr. C has been really supportive and often has to talk me down off the ledge when I start feeling a bit anxious about this situation.

2. Blessing #2 - I have a great network of friends that have been incredibly supportive both emotionally and financially. One of my friends has even hired me on to work on a project for her company which has helped in topping up my severance.

3. Blessing #3 - I have been getting interviews. I seems to be averaging an interview every 1.5 weeks since I really started looking from the last week in January. I had initially thought this was pretty bad but after a conversation with a career counsellor, it seems that it is better than average. So I think I'm due for another interview sometime this week,

4. Blessing #4 - I've been able to devote a lot of time meditating, praying, reading , trying different visualization techniques and trying to focus on manifesting to get the position that I want and bring abundance into my life. 

With all these blessings, I'm confident that something new and fabulous job wise is on it's way to me soon.


Saturday, February 27, 2010

Nǐ Hǎo

OMG - The dates have been set, and we're getting ready to purchase our tickets. We're going to China this summer!

Our very good friends are getting married this summer and we are so honoured to be going to their wedding. He's Chinese and she's Canadian so they are having a traditional chinese tea ceremony in Hong Kong and then a Canadian ceremony back here in September.

We were there the night he proposed so there is no way that we were going to miss either one of these ceremonies. We are meeting them in Hong Kong and then from there we are going to Shanghai and perhaps Beijing.

Ever since they told us two weeks ago, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on in advance of the trip. Mr. C is not prepping for anything he says he doesn't need to cause he's thinks he's going home cause he thinks that he's chinese.



Babe - Sorry to say but you're not!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

My Get up and Go just got up and went

To say it's been a while is a complete understatement. I don't even think anyone drops by here anymore but nonetheless I've got to get back into the swing of putting my thoughts down on a page again.

A lot has happened since I was last in the blogosphere - let's see.

1. I lost my job (not the worst thing in the world to happen to me - it was time to move on and I got to do it with a package - YEAH!)

2. Mr. C's Aunt passed away after a short but valiant battle with cancer. That really put the job loss into perspective.

3. I've become a lot calmer and more balanced (on account of number 1) which is a great thing because I've been able to take up a lot of activities that I otherwise would not have had the time to do. For example meditating - i've been doing that for up to 1.5 hours a day and it is a great stress relief and really keeps me focused while I look for a job.

4. I'm looking for a job and I feel really fortunate because I'm averaging at least one interview a week since I really started looking - I'm looking for a Director of Marketing position or a Senior Marketing Manager position in Toronto or in Mississauga so if you know of anyone hiring, please let me know.

5. I've got a contract that's bringing in some coin and helping keep my sanity and keeping the coffers topped up.

6. I've become a serial networker and have met some really cool people that I know I'll be friends with for a while. One of my goals every year is to meet new people and I've met some great people that I'm looking forward to developing friendships with.

7. I GOT A MAC - Whooo Hoooo! I haven't named her yet but she's never far from my side when I'm at home.

So that's it for now. I'll see you all soon.