So long, 2010

As seems to be the popular fashion today, everyone I know is writing their "goodbye" to 2010 and reflecting on the year they had. 

Never one to buckle to peer pressure (haha) I am going to follow suit. 

Only, though, because I want to.

Not because everyone else is. 

I swear. 

So, one of the Blogs I read belongs to B.A. and you can find it here

Today, she posted a great lil post about the year, broken down by month, and what happened in each month, complete with links and photos going back to her posts that she's done over the year. 

I love this idea. 

But, as I have not put nearly enough thought in to the year to break it down by months, I will merely attempt a chronological retelling of the year. 

Without cool links to my previous posts. 

So, to recap my year ...
Winter...the first half of the year started out a little rocky. I split with my longtime boyfriend whom I complained about quite a bit on this blog. He was messy, lazy and didn't work consistently. 

We went through some pretty major financial ... shit. And it sucked. And at the time, I blamed him. A lot. For everything. Whether that was right or wrong, at the time that was how I felt. 

Looking back on it, you know, it probably wasn't entirely his fault and I was a little hard on him. But at the time, that was how I felt and there was precious little he was doing to change that view of mine. 

So, we made the decision to split up. 

Actually, truth be told, I think I made the decision when I woke up on "Christmas" day to find that he had left in the  middle of the night and wasn't returning my messages, answering my calls or emails. Oh, and did I mention he took my car, to boot?
Thus, the new year began with me at my folks place, and found me in the coming months looking for an apartment of my own.

Spring...And I found one.
Coincidentally enough, in a little building my father had lived in when he first moved out here. It was furnished and paid for by his company and served as "home" before he and my mother purchased their new house.
Funny how that works ... just about 4 years to the day, I moved in to a brand-spanking new apartment. And I live there still. Though I still haven't made it my own. Yet.
That was April.

May found me on a plane to visit a very dear friend that I hadn't seen in four plus years. The rest of the summer found me on that same air-route to the same destination to see that same friend ... and as it turns out, her fiance's best friend with whom I had developed somewhat of a romantic relationship.
Those first few months on my own were tough. Really tough.
So tough, in fact, that I spent the first night in my apartment not in my apartment at all.
I was lonely and scared and sad and just. couldn't. do it.
So I packed up and spent the next few nights at my mum and dad's.
When I finally thought I had the nerve to sleep in my own place, I realized I was wrong and begged my little sister to stay the night with me. It wasn't until night 5 that I slept there alone.
But I started a lot of searching for me and doing things for me and spending money on me and made those first few months about me. A lot about me. And it felt good.
I started walking to and from work and also going for walks on the weekends and in the evenings. Long walks. Like more than an hour long walks.
I felt great.

Summer...A really good friend of mine got married in July and I spent two weeks away from work, away from home, vacationing back east, capping my trip off with her wedding.
Her fabulous, beautiful wedding that I was so honored to be invited to.
Though it was only fitting, considering 5 years before I had introduced her to this man that she would eventually marry.
Matchmaking success!!

Fall... came, and with it some decisions about my life. I was given the opportunity to plan this fabulous event. Well, really, it was just an event until I took it over. (haha) then it became fabulous.
It gained me some international recognition within my company and put me in a position where I was offered a job in Houston. Sadly, once I had made the decision that I could uproot my life and start over and that it was a good time a great opportunity, etc etc, I was told that the company had decided to go in a different direction.
This got me started thinking about a new tattoo. (Odd? sure. Left field? Definitely. But I promise, in a year, when I finally decide whether or not it's something I actually want to do, it will ALL make sense.)

Winter...got me thinking about my worth within this company and what I wanted to be doing in the next five to ten years. So what do I want to do?
Well, the opportunity for me to take on a bit of a Human Resources Role was presented. After a chat with the president of our company (where he told me that he appreciates everything I do and that he sees a greater role for me in the coming years...!!!) I decided that I needed to head back to school to gain the knowledge to succeed in this potential new role.

And here we are, on the precipice of a new year which will bring with it some new opportunities, new friends, new experiences and new heartaches. I greet it with open arms having blown my kiss to 2010.


Your closing night has come, 2010. Take a bow.
It's time to strike the set and get ready for the next show.

Elsie P

PS - what did you learn in 2010?

November, where did you go?

I was really awful about posting for November, wasn't I?

I promise, I have a good excuse reason.

I was busy planning a large event for work.

Intrigued?

Thought so.

It was our annual User-Client Conference.

This year, held in San Antonio. Home of the Alamo.

And the River Walk.

Which smelled a lot better than I thought it would.
I nailed it, in every sense of the word.
So  much so that my boss now wants me to plan all our staff events.
Saaweeeeet!!

The view from my hotel room, the Palacio Del Rio - Hilton

That's the Tower of the America's and the four spikes

sticking up to the left are the tips of the AlamoDome

Here's a quick preview of where we had our Welcome Reception

And of course, because I left here on a Tuesday and wasn't
flying back til the following Saturday morning.....

I needed all of these

 Eight pairs.

And I wore every.single.one.

Stay tuned for a photo tour of our trip to San-An.

Elsie P

PS - Have you ever been?? You should go...

That tastes good!

On Tuesday I went out for dinner with a friend.

We had a great time.
Some laughs, some good chats, some fantastic food!

I stumbled upon this restaurant, Taste somewhere in my internet travels. On Tuesdays they serve a tasting menu; 3 courses for $30 or pair each course with wine for $50.

It.Was.Awesome.

Totally exceeded my expectations -- and we went without the wine.

Here's what it looked like:

The first course was a roasted red pepper hummus with house made

basil infused pita chips. The hummus was a little sweeter than

usual. Thus the chef had sprinkled some black sea salt

to combat the sweetness of the red pepper.

The menu was a blind tasting menu.

That means they didn't tells us anything about what we're going to eat.

They asked if we had allergies or aversions to anything.

We both said no, though in hindsight, T said that he hoped he wouldn't eat his words.

So I guess we found one aversion. *wink*

The second course (which yes, I do realize is out of focus...

 and also partially missing) was a venison something-or-other

(help me out here!)

that reminded me of prosciutto, with a lil baby arugula salad

with house made blueberry vinaigrette, which was quite strong -- in a good way.

(I ate a piece of the venison before slamming my fork to the table in disgust of myself for having forgotten after only one course that I needed to take a photo. And that was withOUT any wine!!)

 

The third course.

Ahhhhh the third course... it.was.delicious.

After this course, T remarked that because of his underwhelmed-ness towards so many of the ingredients in this dish, he never would have ordered it if he'd seen it on the menu. But he loved it. LOVED it.

What was it?

It was a Black Truffle and Wild Mushroom Risotto topped with deep-fried Oysters and Lamb bacon.

In order to cut the richness of the risotto, there was some type of lemon infused oil that matched so perfectly the overall texture and taste.

Doesn't that look divine!?

No meal is complete without that little something sweet.

Whoops, didn't mean for that to rhyme but it dii-iid.

So, this was a trio of teeny-tiny creme brulee.

YUM! Those are 1-inch ramekins, BTW.

The three flavors (from right to left) are

Butterscotch - a classic and beautifully done.

Winter Spice - this was like pumpkin pie, eggnog and a sugar cookie all converging on my tastebuds for a few blissful moments of sheer and utter awesome. That one was delish.

And thirdly - wait for it - Maple Bacon.

Yup, Maple BACON creme brulee.

I had a lovely Americano and it really complimentd this last lil guy nicely.

But this was my favorite part.

These little guys were spongy lovely vanilla cupcakes

with a beautiful cream-cheese-bailey's icing.

They came with our william.

Their purpose?

"To ensure you leave with the right taste in your mouth."

Brilliant.

Elsie P

PS - Where have you been recently?

Santa Shuffle

This year I decided I wanted to help out a charity.

Namely, the Sally Ann.
Or the Salvation Army, if we want to get all technical.

This worked out well, 'cause I was also doing this thing called the C25K.

(More on that, though, in another post.)

Knowing that all the guys in my office are also very health conscious folks (They work out EVERYDAY at lunchtime in the gym facility our office building is equipped with) I asked them if they'd like to join my endeavour. I sent an email to our entire Candian team (yep, all 12 of them!) to see who might want to join in.

Hey guys,
I know a lot of you having been hitting the gym at lunch almost every day and I thought what better way to celebrate your success on the third floor than to participate in a fun, 5K race for a great cause??
The race takes place on December 4th 2010 at 10am.
There is a fundraising component to this as well, in order to support the Salvation Army and their effort to feed some families.
It costs about $50 to feed a couple and $100.00 to feed a family. It’s not a requirement for the race at all; feel free to solicit donations from family/friends at your own discretion.
Please let me know if you are interested and I will get us registered! It should be a ton of fun – a little chilly perhaps – but a ton of fun!

Then, the President of our company sent me a follow up e-mail offering not only to pay for the entrance fee of $150 but also to match dollar for dollar everything we raised.

As a team, we put up a pretty impressive $1060.00 which in turn was doubled. It was more than I expected from the company but it was certainly a welcome addition to the event.

I was speechless, needless to say, and overwhelmed by the generosity that so defines the company I work for.

Here's a few shots of us before the race:

And after:

It was a mild -12 degrees C that morning.

Not too bad, actually, for running!

I finished in a time of 42:40 which beat my time of 45:00 that I was aiming for!

Next one I am aiming to shave about 11 minutes off that time and going for a 32:00min run.

Elsie P

PS - Which do you prefer, running indoors or out?

Extra-curriculars

Disclaimer - I am an uber procrastinator and though I started working on this post in SEPTEMBER I am just getting around to finishing it now. So bear in mind that this was started on the 20th of Sept.

It's that time in Canada.

That time where we see peoples names emblazoned on billboards, buildings, roadsigns and lawns.

It's Municipal Election time.

The official Nominations are closed; if you applied to be in, you're in.

How does this tie in to me, though?

Glad you asked.

I am working on a Mayoral campaign right now in a small-ish city of 40,000.
The current mayor has been in office too long and my candidate is looking pretty promising.

How does one campaign, you ask?
Well, it's simple.
You just do what needs to be done!
What needs to be done is you need to let the voters know who you are, why you're running and moreover why you would be the best choice for them.

This is achieved - in our case - through a series of literature drops and doorknocking sessions.
Doorknocking is my forte.
I love it.
With a passion.
You get to knock of doors and talk to the people
You get to tell them about your candidate
You get to show them how they think just like your candidate
and then you get to ask them for their vote.
It's exhilirating and lovely and educational!

Update: The election is long over - almost 2 months to the day - and we lost.
By a lot.
But if you want to hear the story of election day, let me know and I will write it.

Oh, hi there!

Hello Internet!

How are you?

I am well, thank you!

It's Christmas on Saturday??

Really?? You don't say ....

Yes, folks, it is that time of year once again.

Christmas, followed closely by the close of the year.

And here I am, stuck at work, with basically nothing to do.

So of course, I will blog.

I have so. many. things to catch you up on! And pictures of (almost) all of it!

I've been trying very, very hard to remember to take photos of blog-worthy things.

I think I have succeeded, but you can confirm that for me.

Let's start by chatting briefly about Christmas.

Here is what it looks like in my office right now.

The engineers got together at the beginning of the month, I made cookies, someone brought eggnog and they call decorated our company Christmas tree.

THAT's right.

It's not a holiday tree.

It's not a seasonal tree.

And it's certainly not a non-denominational-seasonally-appropriate-politically-correct-religiously-neutral tree.

And under the tree are our donations for the food bank

Pretty decent haul for an office of only 12 people.

A few weeks ago, I celebrated (what has become an annual tradition) Fake Christmas with my family.

I have a sister that went and got herself hitched and subsequently moved away.

Every year, she comes back either before or after Real Christmas and we have our usual Christmas celebration.

What does that entail?

Well, going to see a movie on Fake Christmas Eve, eating delicious finger type foods with an essential being spinach dip and fondue. Then, in the AM, we have breakfast - usually scrambly eggs and croissants - and then open gifts, play with gifts, making a wonderful feast - this year was roast beast - eat said wonderful feast and pass out in front of a movie.

Super fun.

I got tons of fun stuff from my sis and her hubby and I am very thankful!!

So, now it's time for real Christmas ... and we shall repeat the aforementioned process. But with Turkey.

Elsie P

PS - What's your Christmas Tradition??

Thankful Thursday

Oh.

Hi.

I didn't see you there.

How ya been? I know, I know, I haven't been around.

I'm sorry.

I'm back, though...

And no, I didn't forget about you.

I have been busy and I have so so so many things to write about.

And so many blogs that are in draft status right now.

I promise, I will finalize and post.

I promise.

But today is Thursday.

And I am supposed to be thankful today .

So, what am I thankful for today?

Well, my job.

And the people I work for.
And with.

They really are some of the highest calibre folks I've ever had the privilige of calling colleagues. Or co-workers. Or teammates.

And our COO is second to none.

Well, mayyyybe to the CEO ;)

ANYWAY, I digress.

Here are the top five things I am thankful for about my job:

5. The Paycheque.

It's not outrageous and huge, but it does come every month. And has done so for the last 2+ years. I know that a job shouldn't be all about the money, but let's be honest, it helps. And it makes a difference.

4. The recognition.

Everynow and then it's nice to hear, "You're doing a great job," Yesterday, I heard not only that but also that I have a greater potential that has been noticed by upper management and that they'd like to work with me to get me to achieve my potential within the company.

3. The Opportunity

This one you'll be scratching your head over once I finish my other posts. But, I've learned that when one door closes (Or one opportunity vanishes in to thin air like clouds burst up by psychic warriors) another opens in an unexpected, more lucrative way.

2. The office space.

I love our office. Our building has had some issues, but our office is gorgeous. It's vey high tech looking. It makes me excited to come to work everyday.

1. The people.

We have an incredible culture here. And the people are what make it so. I wouldn't trade them for the world. WELL, maaaybe the world.

Elsie P

PS - What are your top three/five/tens for YOUR job?