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I LOVE DAYS OFF!

Not that I’ve done much with my time. Mostly all I’ve been doing is watching tons of Bob’s Burgers and Suits and making and eating food, haha.

We haven’t done Christmas yet. We’ve made up our own arbitrary holiday and it happens on January 1st. This means we could wait for boxing day sales and get MOAR PRESENTS for less $$. The day is also going to involve the polar bear swim, an egg hunt, a big meal (not sure what yet), stockings…. basically just all the fun parts of other holidays.

Did I ever write about how our TV broke and was deemed unfixable by the repair shop? Well that happened. We went to Costco on Boxing Day morning to replace it. I was expecting it to be a madhouse, but actually it was totally quiet. I have never seen Costco so empty, it was lovely. We ended up getting a cheap 32″ TV. It’s nice being able to watch TV during daylight hours again.

I don’t work again until 2014. I have two and a half weeks solid of training in January but then I’m not on the schedule after that. I’m sure I’ll pick up some shifts here and there but I think I’m not going to be very busy for a while. Perhaps I’ll go back to nights at the data centre? We’ll see we’ll see.

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I quit my data entry job, kinda. Working 55+ hours a week at two jobs was really bumming me out, so after much deliberation I told my boss that I was too busy to work there any more. It was a hard decision because once my training at the hospital is done, my hours will drop off a lot. Thankfully he said if I want to come back later… I can! Great news!

Working at the hospital is going great. I am pretty much working full time until the new year. I am getting tons of training, and also covering some vacation. It’s been nice working on my own. Injections seem SO MUCH EASIER now that no one is watching me, haha! So far I have done a week on the MIBI cameras, and two weeks of hotlab training. Next week I will be doing cardio.

Skeleton last weekend was super fun. I was pretty nervous before the first session. I wasn’t sure what the coach was going to get us to do. Thankfully he suggested doing a few runs from Maple Leaf (curves 11-16) and then deciding if we want to move back up to Lower Ladies (curves 7-16). (Here is a little track map/infographic.)

I did three runs from Maple Leaf. The first one was crap because I was way too far forward on my sled. Then the second and third one were awesome, so I moved up to Lower Ladies. I did three more runs from there, beating all the boys, with a top speed of 117.51 km/hr. Then my neck was too tired so I skipped the last run.

The next day I started from Lower Ladies right away. I did four runs from there, beating all the boys again. The track was a little slower, so my top speed was only 116.09 km/hr. After four runs my neck was tired so I did the last three runs from leisurely Maple Leaf. Even though Maple Leaf seems so slow and boring I think it’s still worth doing because that is more track time for me. I can use those runs to think about things like making sure my heels are touching and what the corners look like.

I can’t wait until the next session because I am finally figuring out where I want to be in each corner (last year I was just along for the ride, haha!), and should be able to improve my times and speeds a bit. It’s been hard for us to get ice time though, because of those dang Olympics. Fingers crossed I get to go again by mid-December.

Morgan and I had a nice ladies night with wine and a fire and a movie and popcorn.

I finished a few more audiobooks since my last post.

  • Paper Towns by John Green, a YA novel that was entertaining, but nothing remarkable.
  • Allegiant by Veronica Roth, the third book in the Divergent series. I heard some people say they didn’t like it, but I thought it was fine.
  • 1984 by George Orwell, which I enjoyed, once I figured out that this was NOT the book with animals.
  • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, a pretty boring book about small things that turned small things into BIG things.
  • Steve Jobs – The Biography by Walter Isaacson, an interesting book that convinced me that I really do not like Steve Jobs. He was such a jerk to so many people!! And all those characteristics of Apple products that I strongly dislike (closed systems, glass screens, high prices etc. etc.) were pretty much all due to Steve Jobs himself. I would not have got along with him in real life.

Kevin asked me at work the other day how Scott was, and I replied “I have no idea.” because 1) I was only home for about 3 minutes in the last two weeks, and 2) he is growing some kind of horrific mustache and I refuse to look at him.

We have to clean out the pantry this weekend because we leave for Hawaii on Wednesday after work and then Rosemarie will be coming home with us! As far as I know she will stay with us in December and then find her own place for January. I’m looking forward to lots of sister time next month!!

Also HAWAII!!!! I can’t wait, I can’t wait!!!! (said Arthur)

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The last fortnight was pretty unusual. Brett was visiting, and I started working at the hospital. Visitors and working so much meant eating a lot of meals away from home.

november 3rd, 2013 – mr. noodles with egg and sriracha

november 4th, 2013 – crunch wrap and taco from Taco Bell

Scott picked this up for me on his way home from Seattle. TRU LUV.

november 5th, 2013 – yam tempura, spicy tuna roll, salmon roll, salad and miso from Sake Cafe

november 6th, 2013 – salmon sushi, spicy tuna roll, spider roll, and unpictured salad and miso soup from Sake Cafe

november 7th, 2013 – leftover sushi

So much sushi. The leftovers didn’t taste great… I’m kind of sick of sushi at the moment. O_O

november 8th, 2013 – queso fundido (and tacos) from La Mezcaleria

Now THIS tasted great. I want to go back to this restaurant really bad!

november 9th, 2013 – caramelized salsa pumpkin with black beans

This tasted a lot better than it looks. It was only burnt on the outside. The insides tasted delicious!

november 10th, 2013 – vegetable lasagna

november 11th, 2013 – caramelized butternut, kale, and pomegranate salsa pizza

THIS IS THE MOST DELICIOUS PIZZA EVER!! Or at least one of the best things I have made in a while. I highly recommend this recipe! The sweet pomegranate tastes awesome with the salty garlic kale. I wasn’t sure it would (why it’s only on one quarter of the pizza in that picture), but it totally did. By the way I didn’t have pine nuts, parmesan or fontina as the recipe calls for, and it still tasted AMAZING. So you can save a little money by leaving out a few ingredients. We used naan bread as crust.

november 12th, 2013 – leftover vegetable lasagna

november 13th, 2013 – leftover scotanoff

November 14th, 2013 I ate leftover sriracha mac and cheese and sausage at work but forgot to take a picture.

november 15th, 2013 – green olive, sausage and mushroom pizza from Domino’s

Pouring rain and didn’t feel like cooking so we ordered delivery for the first time ever. What luxury.

november 16th, 2013 – crescent rolls stuffed with cheese and green onions, and unpictured popcorn

Lady dinner with Morgan up at Whistler. We watched The Way Way Back and stuffed our faces with popcorn and pinot grigio. Fun times!

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After a long (short!) week of work I am off to Whistler for a skeleton weekend. It’s my first session of the season and I am excited and also scared. I wonder what we’re going to do this weekend and I wonder how it’s going to feel! I’ve got better clothing this year, so hopefully I stay a little warmer. I’m also stronger this year, so hopefully things are a little easier. We shall see!

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I GOT A JOB!! I have been hired as a casual at the hospital I went to in my first summer, and I start tomorrow. I am so so happy and excited and also petrified. When you’re a student you can make mistakes all the time because there is someone watching you and helping out. Now if I make a mistake it’s all on me! But I am very happy because the team at the hospital is great. I feel so lucky that they picked me. :)

I will apparently get a bunch of shifts this month to get re-trained, and then it will die down a bit after that. I have no idea how much work I will get… it could be anywhere from 0 to 40 hours a week. So for now I am still going to work a few nights at the data centre. If(/when) I get hired at a another hospital I should be able to quit the data centre.

Hey we also have a new niece!! This is very very recent news, I don’t even know what the name is yet or anything!

Scott’s brother Brett arrived the other day. In the first few days of his visit we: set off fireworks, went to a CFL game, ate poutine, shopped, watched hockey on the projector Scott borrowed from work, played Munchkin and Settlers, and more. Right now him and Scott are in Seattle going to an NFL game. And on Tuesday they’re going to a Vancouver Giants game, where they have rinkside seats for about 1/10 of the price of a Vancouver Canucks nosebleed section seat. That should be fun. I would’ve gone too except I will be at my second job. :/

I had fun watching skeleton with Brian the other week. The race had less effect on who gets to compete in the World Cup as I thought it did though. Some people were already qualified from last year. Cassie Hawrysh did awesome, but Jon Montgomery and Melissa Hollingsworth didn’t do as well. A person crashed, unexpected people did great, and two ladies tied for first and had to share a medal. I am looking forward to the upcoming season even more now!!