The Monkees.....

I did not have any topic to post when I heard about Davy Jones of the Monkees death today. I remember when I was younger (a lot younger) we used to watch the Monkees and loved the shows.

We also enjoyed their music. It was one of those shows we watch every week and play their songs on I would guess the turntable, playing their LPs as we would call it then.

This topic is making me really feel old. But it brings back good memories of my younger days. Anyway, it is sad to hear of his passing.

So a tribute to him, one of the songs I quite like then and now, It's Nice to be With You.

Busy week.....

It had been a busy week for me. I did not get a chance to post anything for a few days.

Winter is back and it has been snowing since last night and will continue until Monday. I am glad I have underground parking at work and at home. There has been 20cm of snow fell in the city and could get higher. Another shock.....the price of gas, I am glad I had gassed up a few days ago. Maybe, I will start to walk again.

I have no set plans for this weekend so I am just staying home and relaxing. I thought of going to some stores to find some lady bug items but the weather was a bit nasty.

Sunday I probably will bake one or two things depending on how I feel.

I have been watching tv a bit more on the weekend. Last week I bought new set of duvet cover and will change a bit the decor in my bedroom. I have not changed a thing there for 2 1/2 years so it is time. Not a lot of changes, just a few. Will take pictures once it is finished.

Enjoy what is left of the weekend.

Midweek.....

A short work week. Yesterday was my first day at work with a new company. It was hectic with training, meetings and just learning my way around the office.

The office occupies the whole floor and it is still finishing with the renovation. My work station is by a bank of windows so I can see the whole of Jasper going East.

I have parking underground which is good, not have to worry about clearing snow off my vehicle. I noticed my name is already on the phone with my extension number and they have set up my email and was told I have my own drive for my computer.

Today will be more training and I know it will be a bit overwhelming but I already have learned new stuff.

This will be a short post. Enjoy your day.

A new start............

Today is a new start for me. I am excited and anxious at the same time. I am going to walk 10 blocks to get to work. They have given me parking but I do not know exactly where so until I know I have decided to walk.

At the same time, we have continued the losing weight dare/bet so I have to lose another 5 lbs for the next month. Maybe I will end up walking the whole month and hopefully that will help lose the weight faster.

Last Friday the whole staff went out for lunch at Tropika, a Malaysian restaurant on the west end. The food was delicious and we ordered a lot not knowing the size of the orders were enormous. But we had a really good time. To the ladies at Laidley, thank you very much for your friendship, support, encouragement, generous advice and the wonderful camaraderie. See you sometime and we can have lunch.

I hope to make new friends at my new work place though I believe there are more male staff there.

Enjoy the short week.

Talent......

I was reading a good and very close friend's blog and he uploaded a song from a Filipino singer and it is one of my favorite songs.

There are so many talented people around and it seems like there are a great number of singers from the Philippines who are really good.

So every now and then I will feature them and readers will hear them and maybe like them and can go on Youtube and listen to some of their other songs.

The first one is a song by Basil Valdez "You". I hope you enjoy it.



Beginnings.......

As another chapter in my life is over, I am excited to start a new chapter. That last chapter was different in some ways. Professionally, it was a first; working in an all female staff. There is something to be said about women working together. I felt you can almost say anything and it will be accepted and every one has something to say about it and sometimes we disagree or have different opinions but in the end, whatever was discussed could be something you learn from.

We were lucky to be working in a really wonderful office with all the bells and whistles. Nice kitchen and wonderful ladies. I will miss them all and promised to stay in touch and I will. I have received a wonderful send off present and I truly love it. Thanks to PS who I am sure decided on what it would be. It is now resting on top of my dresser.

Personally, I have tried to really take it seriously about my health and although I gained weight from when I started there, I have managed to still lose 15 pounds before I left there. Nine of those pounds I gained while working there.

Being diabetic, I cannot afford to carry extra weight so I really have to be careful with that.

This weekend, I am starting to be a bit anxious about the new job but I know it will be what I have been looking for. Thank God it is a long weekend and I have just been relaxing and enjoying the time off.

Last day......

As previously posted, today is my last day at work. It is a bit sad because I will miss the ladies at work. It seems that we enjoy working with each other even though at times we are also stressed out with each other.

It is also exciting going to a different ompany which is bigger where there will be the chance to go somewhere and learn new things.

On another note, today also is the day of the weight loss dare/bet and I am happy to say that I will not be doing karaoke in a sleazy bar. The one who dared us will sing two songs, each one picked by me and the other lady. Now, I will have to choose a song that is difficult to sing and an old song.

The ladies and I had buffet lunch and it was good....they liked the food so it was fun. I know I will miss them all but I hope I could still come and visit them or they could come and visit me or just have lunch together.

This is a long weekend for us, we are celebrating Family Day on Monday and we do not have to go to work. I think it is only in Alberta and two other provinces. I could be wrong.

Spend the weekend with your family and do something fun.

Shopping.....

As posted previously, I went shopping with two of the ladies from work on Friday after work. I was looking for shoes or boots and maybe dress for work.

I was lucky as there was good sale at The Bay. I got a pair of boots. We also checked out tne new Crate and Barrel but I did not buy anything there.

We had fun after what was a very stressful day at work.

On Saturday, I went to a friend's place and we decided to go to the German deli to look for meat so she can make rouladen. While there I found diabetic item and bought some.

We did not go out for dinner as I am still on this weight loss bet. It was a good weekend.

Diabetic cookies, pineapple and mango jam, German version of Nutella and tastes just like it at half the price and Himalayan pink salt. I have different kinds of salt and adding to it when I see different ones in the store.

My last week at this company and on to the new one after the Family Day long weekend.



Update...weight loss bet/dare....

As I have posted previously, three of the ladies at work are on a bet to lose 5 lbs in a month. Whoever does not lose it will sing karaoke in a sleazy bar. The one who bet will sing if we lose the weight.

Final weigh in would be this Friday.  So there will be no cheating, I have taken a picture of the scale when I am on it. And will take picture again on Friday.

I am so happy, that as of today I only need to lose 1/2lb and just maintain it until Friday. I hope to lose it in the next two days. Because I do not sing at all even if my life depended on it, there is no option for me but to lose the weight. Now I feel good about it since it would help me on my way to not being put on insulin which I greatly dread as I am sooooo petrified of needles.

The temperature will be around 6 degrees today so I might go for a walk down by the river valley, hoping that would help me lose the weight.

It has been a good weekend and shopping last Friday was successful. I bought a pair of knee length beige suede boots for $37.00. Pictures later.

A tribute to the late Whitney Houston....another one dying too soon.

Lunch time shopping.....

I work downtown and it is very convenient if one wants to do a bit of shopping. Usually it is just something to get for lunch and our favorite store is Sobey's, the deli section. It has a lot of choices and you can go there everyday and get different meals for weeks and not run out of choices.

Once in a while we go to a restaurant and try different ones and have our own favorites. One is the Vietnamese one, just can't remember the name. Lately it is a rush to eat lunch and drive to the consignment store on High Street. It is fun but I am not sure about slightly used clothes as I believe the prices are still high for used items.

Although I bought a pair of sunglasses yesterday and there was a Michael Kors dressy sandals for $78 whicn I think is a good price being a designer shoes. I am still deciding. There was another dressy sandals but it was George (Walmart) for just $12.

It is walking distance from my home so if and when I get bored, I can go out there and browse.

One more week to go....

Lastly, welcome to new followers/readers....you know who you are. I hope you enjoy reading my
blog.  Just be sure to read it at lunch time J.

Friday, let us enjoy the weekend...shopping again tonight.

Office potluck lunch.....

This year, the office started potluck lunch every first Monday of the month. This is the second such lunch and my last one.

As always there were a lot of food and I did not take pictures...the list of food, pyrogies, Singapore noodles, Japanese chicken, deviled eggs, samosas, quinoa salad, broccolli salad that you get at Costco, Asian slaw salad, blueberry cheesecake, different pound cakes, home made ice cream and eat more bars.

So how am I to lose weight....by making sure I did not eat a lot, one pyrogy, 2 little pieces of chicken breast, 1 samosa and maybe 2 tbsps of the Asian salad and one tbsp each of the other salad to taste. Hopefully, I did not gain any pound......can't and won't do the karaoke.

I made artichoke dip yesterday but did not serve it so I just tasted a bit of it tonight and that was my dinner.

The Voice is really getting interesting as the coaches are getting really aggressive especially Christina and they are making sure they get the best singer for their team. I still like Adam and I hope he makes his choices well or Blake. I watched Smash just to see if I would like to follow it....have to watch another episode to see.

Nine more days left.

Super Bowl Sunday.....

As I have posted previously I do not watch a lot of sports. This Sunday was no exception. I prepared something to munch on. I cooked the noodle dish for the office pot luck and cleaned up.

At 4:00pm I changed channel and watch the first 20 minutes and after the introduction of the players, I changed channels. I flipped back just to see how much longer for the half time show.

Then I watched it and it was ok, nothing much to post about. The ads I did not bother to watch as they show different ones here in Canada so I may at some point in time look for it on Youtube.

I am waiting for The Voice while I am posting this.

A picture of the bacon cheese bread pull. If I make this again, I will add more cheese and bacon and maybe more garlic butter but it is still good and easy to make.

Back to the grind and for me, 2 more weeks at this office and on to the new one.

Enjoy the work week, I guess it will be a warm week again here.

Super Bowl weekend........

WHAT? you may ask. She is posting something about a sports event. I don't regularly watch any sports, I might flip the channel and watch Australian Open...lately or check out how the Edmonton Oilers are doing. I suppose not that great.

Super Bowl to me is about the half time show and the commercials and the chance to make/something to munch. I have been getting different Supper Bowl recipes on my email and there are a few I might try this weekend.

The first time and I believe the last post about sport is when I won tickets to the Edmonton Indy which I enjoyed.

There are three recipes I am interested to try and will post the result. I am also preparing a main dish for our pot luck in the office, my last one as I am moving on to a different job in two weeks.

Well, for you all sport fans, enjoy the game...I know at least it will be New England Patriots  and the New York Giants, Madonna will be performing at half time. I don't really like her but probably will watch. If I miss it, not such a big deal.

Will you be making munchies or just have pizza and wings or whatever you can order out?

Rewind, Reconnect, Reminisce...

Rewind to 1979 in the Philippines and Christmas music can be heard over the radio and the stores and everywhere was decorated with Christmas lights and decoration. It was Christmas season and I believe  my sister and I were visiting my cousins on my father side. We were invited to have dinner or lunch with them.

We have not seen them for years after we immigrated to Canada. I remember it was fun as my aunt/Tita Lydia was funny. It was supposed to be some sort of family reunion but she decided, it was just going to be us and them so the rest of the relatives were not invited.

Sad as it sounds, that was the last time we saw each other with hardly any kind of communication. Then last night my sister forwarded an email to me from my cousin Nodie. It was a shock and a big surprise at the same time. Again, it happened through internet and facebook and seeking and googling people and sometimes you get lucky and find the people you are looking for.

Now, we are trying to update each other on what is happening in our lives and reconnecting and starting to reminisce. I am delighted to hear my aunt is still alive and hopefully I will be able to talk to her one of these days. But also sad to hear that the rest of the relatives have passed on.

I am sure my dad would be beaming knowing we have reconnected with his side of the family. And we will continue to do so, this is only the start.

Moving on....

Well, after all the interviews, 3 just with one company, I am moving on. And as they say to bigger and better place, hopefully.

I was offered the job today and I am pretty sure I will accept it.

Sometimes, we don't realize what is out there until you go out and look for it. I was scared but I want to grow and have more challenges. It is still with property management but now in the commercial side of it. This a bit new to me but I have some experience.

The fun part is that the lady who I work with now is also moving on and to the same company. That is just great.

I will miss the other ladies at work but that is life....I will still be in touch with them and have lunch once in a while.

Almost weekend, I and two of the ladies at work will be shopping for clothes for my co-worker. I am sure we will have fun.

I have started another page and it is devoted to recioes. Will post more there soon.