Welcome to 2012!!

Well, here’s to another year over, the one they called 2011! This post is in two parts: A – the retrospective, and B – the resolutions. Now A will be different from years past. I usually listed it month by month, but the months were so scrambled, so the format now is uppers and downers.

A) Uppers: Calgary Stampede trip, Rollergettes, the job at Lafayette Bistro, my return to CLC, the pastoral visit at our church in February, my new instruments (acoustic bass, piano keyboard, flute), returning to WordPress (big ups to WP!!), the forum cover designs, returning to Nordic walking, a most AWESOME Christmas (finally), the Knifty Knitters club, and many great friendships!

Downers: Our band being let go by QYR, my 8 month shoulder injury, not being able to go kayaking or disc golfing (because of the injury), snacking too much, the end of my course at Working Skills Centre,  the lousy start of 2011, drinking WAY too much coffee, and the oppressive summer heat.

B) The  Resolutions: Writing a journal from beginning to end, charity above all else (no more grouchiness), snacking healthier, losing 20 pounds, stronger devotion to God, doing at least one good deed a day (my aunt usually does three a day), taking the Life Skills Coaching course in June at GBC, entering a half-marathon (Scotiabank…hopefully) and training for it, and more knitting.

Happy 2012 to all my family, friends, co-workers and generally…everybody!!!

Nik

 

Back in the Saddle Again

OK, time to dust off this blog and come back to active blogging!! It’s been what…almost two years since my last post. Here is a brief synopsis of life since then: I’ve been in a career college all last year, so my studies took me away from this blog. I graduated a year ago Friday from their Office Clerk/Receptionist program, and I volunteered there for a short while as their receptionist (thank you Working Skills Centre for everything…miss you great folks!!). Once I finished there I returned to my old job, but now I have these little projects which keeps my Desktop Publishing skills sharpened. Fast forward to October of this year, and I was approached by one of my former co-workers, who opened up a French bistro with her friend. She told me she needed help in the kitchen, washing all the dishes, cookware and utensils. Now I work Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights. 2012 is fast approaching, so stay tuned for my 2011 year in review post soon. I promise I will keep you all posted, especially for my new journaling circle Meetup group starting in January in the Parkdale area.

Peace to all!!

A New Year, a new start

No, I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, but 2009 was THE busiest year I’ve ever been through.  For the new year’s resolution for 2010, I will blog more (even through my busy schedule), get back to training for this year’s Toronto Waterfront marathon, snack less, and work out starting in March.  Right now, I’m experimenting with a new logo for the Brainwave Toastmasters newsletter I will be starting because our current one is difficult to print.  When I come up with the design, I will post it.  I’m also working on the newsletter layout and eventually starting a website for my designs.  So far in my studies I received a B- in the Intro to Digital Publishing course, but an A+ in both the Illustrator and InDesign.  Next stop: Photoshop.  Who knows?  Maybe I can start a business in photograph restoration (I’m already restoring my aunt’s old pictures).

Until next post…toodles!!

A Ride Into the Past

I started my busy Sunday by going to the Horse Palace to see the competitions put on by the mounted unit of the Toronto Police during Doors Open Toronto.  The most interesting part was the obstacle course where they get the horses used to the obstacles they would encounter on the daily route.  It was interesting to see some horses actually going through the course without a hitch.  Here is a picture of one of them:

During the obstacle course

I realised I had to go to Susan’s candle party up in Scarborough, so I decided to travel on the Harbourfront line.  I spotted an old PCC streetcar (circa 1952) and decided to wait until he pulled up to the stop if the driver was actually letting people ride in it.  To my surprise, he said that the streetcar will operate every Sunday on that line between 11:30 am to 7:30 pm until Labour Day!  I jumped at the chance and rode in what felt like a time machine and a lot of memories played in my mind all trip long.  Ironically, it was four years to the day me and my aunt took a railfan trip all around the streetcar network (except for St. Clair because of the Right of Way hullaballoo, and Bathurst due to track replacement) in car #4549.  If I would have known this, I would have brought my plastic canvas streetcar bank to show him. Here is the shot of a real classic!:

At the end I thanked the driver for the ride into history.  Susan’s candle party was really fun and the turnout was great, but I had a hard time finding the place.  She told her niece to look for me and it didn’t take her long to get there.  It was situated behind a mall.  Once I got there, the items were so beautiful I couldn’t make up my mind what to get.  Once again the weather was gorgeous!  See you next post!

I Love a Parade!

Yes, but I love being in a parade even more.  Yesterday me and my fellow band mates (we went as the Unity Flute and Drum Corps)  went to Woodstock for their annual Victoria Day parade.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather (16 C and sunny).  Lots of people turned out to watch the festivities.  I felt a lot better than I did at the Pickering parade.  Here are some pics:

Me posing with the lance after the parade

The Phillipino Heritage Band

The Simcoe Marching Band

Our band was first to march in the parade (oh, the pressure!), but the advantage was seeing the rest of it after we finished.  We practiced twice before the tattoo, and once we entered the arena, we immediately got the crowd going.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself the whole day.  I want to do this again next year (this time playing my glockenspiel!).

I haven’t been able to post all week (it’s been so hectic going back and forth).  Last Tuesday I started my pre-employment course at PTP Toronto.  I have to travel to Kipling and Dundas three days a week but it is totally worth it.  So far I’m learning a lot about myself and my talents and finding which one will give me a great career in the near future.  Friday I replaced the screws on my glockenspiel, which took me three hours to accomplish.  Saturday was spent walking only five dogs in bad weather.  Oscar, Zeus and Smiley are still there, plus there was a cute pom mix that fit into both my hands (her name is Boo), and a huge Great Pyrenees named Laurie.  All weekend long I looked after Cindy, my upstairs neighbour’s cat while her owner was in Michigan for her granddaughter’s graduation.  Sunday I went to look for paint to paint my Pith helmet for the parade, fixed the buttons on my uniform jacket, and rewarded myself later with a trip to Medieval Times at the Ex.  This time I was in the blue section, but my knight didn’t win.  I received a flower from him, and thanked him for it later.  I even had a nice long chat with the MC before the show.  We were very glad to see each other.  Here are a couple of pics:

Andrew, our MC for the show on Sunday.  He rocks the house!

Me and the blue knight and my present from him.  A huge THANKS!

Well, that’s all for now…until next post!

My Creative Side Revisited

Sometimes it’s hard to decide what to do when you have different talents.  I had to decide between making a crocheted wrist warmer and a folk art popsicle stick lamp.  I started the wrist warmer on Thursday after the Beaver meeting using a simple pattern. I started with chain 38 for 23 rows, sew the top 6 stitches to the thumb and then sew the bottom part for 19 stitches leaving a hole for the thumb.  I completed them last night while watching the Nascar Darlington race (congratulations to Mark Martin by the way!).  Here’s what they look like:

Here’s a limerick about my next pet project:

A young lady with the nickname of Nix, wants to build something from popsicle sticks, she decided on a lamp, from an artform known as ‘tramp’, well Nix with her sticks is the chick!

Clever huh?  So far here’s the base:

I will update everyone on how it’s going so far.  It won’t take long (I promise).  I took my mom out to the Dufferin Gate restaurant for some chicken wings and fries and we had a great time.  I will end the day with a Mother’s Day hug for her.  Happy Mother’s day to all the mothers out there in WP-land and abroad!!