MEMO from Messy Desk Woman

This is so telling...

My sister gave me the notepad pictured above one year in my stocking. Interesting timing eh?

While cleaning up my desk/office/filing system today; getting rid of a lot of unnecessary papers, shredding, recycling, etc; and putting all of the remaining stuff into my new cabinet system I found that notepad. Somehow, because my desk had been so messy, it got lost in amongst all of the other papers and got filed away somewhere only to be found again one day (today) when I got around to trying to get organized - yet again.

Note to everyone: a notepad that states it's coming from the messy desk woman will likely have a short lifespan before it finds itself lost in the abyss.

Organization?

Uh-oh! I've been shopping at Ikea again...

Yes, I spent the better part of - hmm, I lost track of how many hours - yesterday building yet another piece of Ikea furniture for my little place.

Yes, it was yet another attempt at better organizing myself and my office space. PLEASE if there is a power greater than me in the universe let this be the last piece of Ikea furniture I build for my office!!! I don't mind building Ikea furniture - I've become quite adept at it. :) And I find it kinda fun! This time I even had to measure and drill holes. It's the staying somewhat organized that seems to keep escaping me and toying with my precarious level of sanity.

I'm willing to pimp out my Ikea furniture building skills at a reasonable price. Inquire within. ;)

Move on down Nutcracker

Now that Christmas is over I need to push that post down...

...and bore you with my past few days' activities. I actually kept up with the biking. It was hard to get back into it after being sick, but I pushed myself to get into it. I tried something different...

(this is what I look like lately except I've been watching the 2006 Tour of Flanders - I don't have a computrainer)

I'm not supposed to do intervals til near the end of January according to my own periodized plan (and I double checked to see what the professional scheduled for me last year and it was the same). But I'm really itching to drop some poundage and I needed something to shock my legs and my body and my brain. So not only did I do intervals, but I did "Pukervals". And no, I'm not referring to overconsumption of special Christmas drinks in the last few days. And I'm quite sure I didn't make that word up myself. I think someone else who trains told me it once upon a time. The afternoon of Christmas Eve I decided to do intervals that are suggested by Chris Carmichael in one of the articles he wrote in Bicycling mag recently. It's a quick workout - only an hour. And you do 2 sets of intervals: 2 mins as hard as you can (the pukerval part), 2 mins recovery - 5 times, then do it all over again after a 6 min recovery spin. Since it was my first interval ride of the season and thus far I have only stepped into zone 3 briefly in a couple of rides (and this ride would mean maxing out) I tried not to push too hard, so I only felt like puking on one of the intervals (HR>190) but I pushed it hard enough to really need the 2 minutes to recover my breathing and my heart rate (only back into zone 3 ~150). I may be pushing it too soon, but I don't care. After doing that ride I felt awesome and I really realized how I will never improve and never shed poundage if I don't push myself like I did that afternoon. So I'm thinking of changing my program a little based on how I felt Monday. I'm going to start adding in pukervals about once per week (maybe twice - only because I can't seem to resist) and increase to twice per week for sure by end of January.

I spent Christmas Eve dinner with one of my close friends and her family having something called raclette. It was fun and delicious! Then we all played Taboo and couldn't stop laughing. There were far too many swear words coming out of people's mouths in the presence of Grandma. Poor Grandma was a good sport about it. Maybe grandparents are getting used to profanities these days.

Christmas Day was spent having more laughs with my sister, her hubby and the dog. With silly fleece pants and my brother-in-law wearing a new hoodie like a goofball and maybe a little too much hot chocolate, maple syrup, and Ferraro Rochers - we got the giggles. I got some really great presents - including (but not limited to) a bunch of stuff for the bike! :)

Then on to dinner with another close friend of mine and her family. I was starting to get tired by that point and instead of having a nap when I stopped home to finish making sweet potato casserole to take to dinner and change, I decided to do a 45 min recovery ride. (I'm hopelessly addicted) After eating far too much food, doing a book-stealing exchange, and being entertained by her second cousins' fiddling and step dancing, I was ready for a long sleep.

Which brings me to today where the only real accomplishment I've made is to wax my skis. I was hoping to get out skiing today (and teach myself how to skate ski). However, the conditions were only so-so after the rain we got on the weekend and the teaching facility will not be grooming til tomorrow (and I didn't want to hit the park for fear that there would be far too many people who might get annoyed with me not knowing what I'm doing). So tomorrow I plan to either 1) ski with my friends in the park (classic) or 2) go to the complex where they teach and learn to skate ski. I'm going to decide what I feel like doing when I wake up. Hopefully I wake up earlier than I did today.

Merry Christmas

I found this a couple of years ago and went looking for it today again so I could post it. :) Voila!
The last day of work before the holidays is now behind me. I look forward to some R&R and some good training!!

Carbon Offsetting

OK. Since my little fevered (quite literally) rant last Friday I have learned about a few resources for offsetting the carbon footprint we leave on the earth when flying. And now I'm sharing them. Thanks to those who shared with me.

Offsetters (can be used with various airlines from what I gather)
Aeroplan (just learned about this today via their newsletter)
Carbon Reduction Fund

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I came back from the Big Smoke last week with someone else's virus in tow. Thank you to one of the many ill colleagues of mine for that special gift. I spent the whole weekend, starting Friday afternoon literally the minute I landed in my living room, on the couch or in bed. Fever, aching, coughing, and a sore throat so swollen that I actually put an ice pack on it a few times. Go figure that someone who has gotten used to icing sore shoulders and calf muscles would think to put an ice pack on their throat.

Today is my first day back in the real world - and man! the real world is a bit of a mess! I knew that I'd avoided dealing with a major snowstorm while I was in convalescence, but wow - manoeuvring out there is slightly nuts! And it just keeps snowing! Now, I should confess that I'm not all that sad that it's snowing. I'm really looking forward to being in full form by Friday (that's the goal anyway) so I can learn skate skiing!!! :) However, I do have a few things I need to get done - like buy a printer cartridge so I can print my final expense report and send it to my manager - but I ran out of time today since it was so difficult and took so much extra time to get everywhere. And then tonight... well, frankly there were like 20 vehicular accidents listed on the news as I drove home (which, BTW, took me 50 minutes to get home from somewhere that was only 10 mins away!), so I'm not driving out there again tonight. There is an office supply store about 5-6 blocks away, so I could walk there, but the sidewalks aren't plowed and people are resorting to walking on the street... no thanks. Especially not in the dark. Hopefully things will start sorting out overnight and I'll be able to get the many errands I need to do done tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

A Heady Post to End the Week

In keeping with my latest theme (see yesterday's post) I have to say that I've been feeling very disappointed... No. Wait. Maybe that's not the right choice of words to describe it, although it's not totally off...

I have to say that I've been feeling - for the first time - a little ashamed of my country. Wow. That's definitely a first. But no. No. That's not totally accurate either. I'm not ashamed of my country - of the people who comprise it. No. I love this country - a lot.

I have to say that I'm ashamed of the government that is representing this country right now. Yep. That's pretty much it.

It's an extremely rare occurrence for me to get 'political' about anything. I'm not stupid. I know politics are a part of life - of almost every aspect of it. Work, school, even within groups of friends there are politics. But I try to avoid getting into it. Politics are very frustrating. Maybe because there's just no one way to please everyone. However, after a week of listening and reading and watching news about how our country - or rather the political leaders of our country - are still refusing to take any leadership on changing the way we live, produce, and consume (see the video in my last post... likely that didn't help my attitude on the topic this week - although maybe that's not a bad thing), I'm feeling really disappointed and ashamed. I know I can do more - personally - and I'm endeavouring to do so. But this thing is bigger than me. And while I also realize that the sum of our individual efforts is much more powerful than any one of us taking something on alone (not unlike voting... i.e. I won't NOT participate because I feel like I'm too small to make a difference), there still must be leadership.

As I sat down to write this, wondering if I'd even bother publishing it to the blog since it's just a bit of a barf-up of my thoughts into a little rant to end my exhaustive week, I realized that I have learned several lessons this week about leadership. I've been learning more and more about being a good leader over the past few years, actually. Anyway... the company I work for decided recently to make a tough decision and lead on an ethical issue. When this change was announced to us this week lots of people were upset because the decision might put us at a competitive disadvantage. Now, I'm not saying the people I work for make all the right decisions - they certainly don't, and I haven't always agreed with decisions that are made. But this decision has come at an interesting time for me personally as I think even more about leadership and making tough choices. Are all decisions these days based on 'preserving the economy' and selling and consuming and, and, and... me, me, me... ? Yeah. Exactly. Taking the high road is rarely the easy, smooth, comfy ride we might prefer, but it's usually a short-term commitment to endure hardship for an important long-term goal that gets easier later on - you know... no pain no gain. Any big change I've made in my life was hard at the beginning, and then it got easier as it became more routine - like changing dietary habits. If I didn't spend some time doing intervals on the bike (where you do hard, intense minutes over and over) I wouldn't get stronger or faster... short term pain, long term gain. Anyway... I'm sure you get this point. I know you're not stupid either.

The point I wanted to make, or come back to is this... leaders don't wait for their neighbours to make changes. Leaders do what they know to be a good, fair, perhaps difficult, but right decision and don't worry about what other people think. And they do it with confidence even when they are afraid that it might prove to make things more difficult for a time, while they figure out how to do things differently. Leaders don't bury their heads in the sand and hope that things will miraculously change - they take action. Leaders find solutions. Leaders make change happen. And when leaders do this, others follow.

"Stuff"

Mir sent me this video last night and I had to share it...

The Story of Stuff
(it's about 20 minutes in length, so sit back and relax)

It's interesting. I made a comment last week when I was skiing with my friend, Ruth, about wondering whether things are changing, or whether I seem to just be surrounding myself with like-minded people more and more... not sure since I've known Mir since I was fourteen. ;) Perhaps with us it's just a case of growing up together. At any rate, I've definitely been changing my way of life in terms of chemical pollutants, how I eat, a little bit of what I buy (although this gives me even more pause for thought). Something else I've thought about recently (after listening to David Suzuki on CBC a few weeks back) is the impact that air travel has on the environment. It also makes me think more seriously about making my trips more meaningful by contributing something to the places I visit so that perhaps my footprint on the earth when I fly isn't in vain - or at least not just all about me and my pleasure. Hmmm. Anyway... I'm a bit too tired right now from meetings to get overly philosophical about it. Perhaps another time. Just to say though, it gives me pause for thought - and the fact of the matter is, I've already been thinking about this stuff. So in actual fact it gives me more reasons to act. Which I will continue to do. I've already started simplifying my life and consuming less. I know I can do more though.

Work, Travel and other fun stuff

Well folks... here I am again - in the Big Smoke. Trapped inside all day today in a ballroom enduring meetings, feeling claustrophobic with no fresh air. Granted, the meeting was actually really good this morning. I just can't get used to breathing recycled air for more than a few hours at a time. So after the meeting concluded this evening and we had a couple of hours to ourselves before heading down to an organized dinner in the same ballroom where we spent the entire day (sigh), Janette and I figured we'd go buy our manager a Christmas card so the group of us could sign it while we're together and get some fresh air. So much for that idea: it's raining and neither of us had an umbrella, and we still have to look good for dinner (otherwise, frankly I'd have gone out there and gotten soaked). They have this underground tunnel system here in T-dot and we were able to find a card store. We were starving for air though, so we went outside and stood at the doorway like a couple of smokers on a smoke-break just to get some oxygen.

I have to give another airline-other-than-AC endorsement today... I flew Porter Airlines yesterday for the second time and it's very enjoyable. I actually feel like the seat in front of me is a little far away... my knees don't bang into it and I had to reach for my Bicycling mag that I had inserted into the leather seat pocket. The staff was so nice and accommodating too. There was a comedian at our meeting this morning (a real one - seriously) and he made the funniest joke: "On Air Canada we're not happy until you're unhappy". LOL!!!! So true. When you fly with another airline you really realize how surly the majority of the staff are at AC (even though I should acknowledge that due to the sheer number of times I've flown with AC I have encountered some very nice staff). I think it's part of their recruitment strategy.

I've been reading like it's going out of style lately. So I finished yet another book and I think I'm about 5 books in arrears posting on the book blog. But if you didn't already notice, I did post recently there. I'm onto another book that I brought with me for the week. I'll get some time in the next few weeks I think to get some updates because I've read some really awesome ones lately!

And I've been out xc-skiing again since my last post. Wow. The conditions are absolutely FANTASTIC!!! Every time it snows I am giggly like a child. I love it! When I get back from this trip I plan to learn the skate technique. So I'll be practicing both disciplines this winter. Don't worry - the bike hasn't been missing me at all. I've been getting on it about 4x/week right now. Next week marks the start of "Early Base" phase. I will have 8 weeks of that - heavy weight time with Jessica. :) I'm already seeing some major differences since I stepped it up in the last month. Wicked!!! (I don't think I've said that since I was a student)

Winter Wonderland

Wow!!! I can't express how excited I've been the last week with all the snow we've been getting. Last winter I remember blogging about not skiing in January and it being so warm I seriously considered getting out on my bike - outside - first week of that month. Well, old man winter has arrived early this year and it looks like he's setting up house. Tonight we're going to have a big snowstorm. And guess what I did today??? Well, I almost titled this post "hip flexors", because man, they are tight tonight. Yes, I went for my first xc ski of the season today. Even though the wind chill was minus 20 or something, it was actually quite nice out. There was light snow most of the time, and I only felt the wind a few times really. I'm conquering my fear of going downhill this season. Starting today. With a nice wipe-out due to my hesitation and attempt at slowing down. Got back up and continued down, reminding myself the whole time to relax and not hesitate (the hill was quite long - funny how I'm willing to climb it far more than descend... exactly the opposite of being on a bike!). It was super fun!! I absolutely love being outside in the fresh air. With so much cycling in the summer, I'm so accustomed to fresh air on a daily basis. Being couped up inside really gets to you. Breathing recycled air. Spending a few hours outside, being active - you can't imagine what it does for the soul. Now it's time to stretch I think, because you also can't imagine what it does to the shoulders and hip flexors! ;)