A fun tag!

Instructions: Remove the blog from the top, move all blogs up one, add yourself to the bottom.

Jersey Mum
Full Plate
Misadventures of Mommy Laural
Michael's Blog

Five people to tag: I don't really have any blogging friends to tag, so anyone who wants to do this, go for it!

What were you doing 10 years ago?
1997.. Lets see.. that would have made me 21... I think I was just finishing my second year of university, and trying to find a job. I had moved back home, and probably getting ready to party the summer away.

Five Snacks You Enjoy:

1. Homemade Nacho's
   
2. Peanut butter on toast
   
3. Wine
4. Smart Food
   
5. Beef Jerky
   

Five Songs That You Know All The Lyrics To:

1. Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
   
2. If it be your will - Leonard Cohen
   
3. What do you do for money honey? - AC/DC
   
4. Heaven - DJ Sammy (orig. Bryan Adams)
   
5. Add it up - Violent Femmes
   

Five Things You Would Do If You Were a Millionaire:

1. Pay off my debts.
   
2. Pay off my friends mortgages / student loans
   
3. Buy a large home with a 7 car garage.
   
4. Take a long vacation
   
5. Purchase 7 really nice cars, one for each day of the week.
   

Five bad habits:

1. Not getting enough sleep
   
2. Eating too much crap
   
3. Avoiding phone calls
   
4. Procrastination
5. I'm a packrat
   

Five Things You Like To Do:

1. Drive fast and yell at other drivers.. :)
   
2. Listen to music
   
3. Cook (well.. BBQ counts!)
   
4. Play with Matty
   
5. Facebook stuff
   

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again:

1. A Tracksuit
   
2. Jelly anything
   
3. Cheesecutter caps
   
4. Anything in pastels
5. Silk shirts
   

The ABC's Of Me!

Thanks for the tag sweety!

A - Available or Single? Nope.. In love and married.. Plan on keeping it that way too.

B - Best Friend? Does anyone truly have only one best friend? Today I'll pick Zac, as I've known him the longest.

C - Cake or Pie? Pie... Blueberry or cherry.. Mmm.. Cherry pie..

D - Drink of Choice? Vodka - straight shots or Gin & Tonic

E - Essential Item(s)? Fingers, toes.. and my wallet..

F - Favorite Colour? Purple

G - Gummi Bears or Worms? Gummi bears!

H - Hometown? Peterborough, Ontario

I - Indulgence? OHhhh.. Homemade nachos as a midnight snack.. so baaaad...

J - January or February? Although my Birthday is in January, I  much prefer February.. more miserable weather, and Valentines Day! I love Valentines.

K - Kids? Just one.. for now ;)

L - Life is incomplete without… Love, devotion, trust & companionship.

N - Number of Siblings: 1, my sister who lives in Australia.

O - Oranges or Apples? Apples.. Oranges are too messy.

P - Phobias/Fears: Being alone & Being buried alive.

Q - Favorite Quote:
“I love you, and because I love
you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than
adore me for telling you lies.” -Pietro Aretino

R - Reasons to Smile? Laural, Matthew, compliments, & smiles.

S - Season? Winter.. Nice, cool, curling.

T - Tag Three: Wow.. I really need to de-lurk from a whole bunch of blogs before I do that..

U - Unknown Fact About Me: If I told you, it wouldn't be unknown anymore would it?  ;)

V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? Complete oppressor of animals.. Mmmmm.. GO MEAT!

W - Worst habits? Um.. Road rage, lack of sleep, snoring, eating, not exercising.. shall I go on?

X - X-rays or Ultrasounds? X-Rays... So much cooler!

Y - Your Favorite Foods: Lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and sushi... how very random of me.

Z - Zodiac: This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius...

Angel

When you go looking for something special,
a goddess concocted by some lonely night fantasy,
and you find it,
and she’s everything you ever dreamed she’d be,
don’t forget the precious reality of a dream come true,
so many are out there dreaming still.

If you begin to treat her like a novelty when the newness has warn off,
reject her emotionally and bodily,
forget your ears have ever heard her needs,
leave her alone to the reality of her own thoughts,
take for granted she has human needs,
beyond trophy packaging,
the crown is bound to slip,
the wings are sure to weaken,
and the angel that you’re pushing away
will surely fall.

-Unknown

I've been tagged?

So apparently my beautiful wife has tagged me. So without further ado:

THE TAG: FIVE REASONS WHY I BLOG

FIVE REASONS WHY I BLOG:

1. I'm a man of few words, and this is apparent in my on-again off-again blogging style... but no one bugs me about my lack of posting when I do have something to say.
   
2. I think it's cool that people out there have any interest in what goes on in my life.
   
3. The odd comment I do receive is one hell of an ego boost.
   
4. It affords me opportunity to showcase my best renovation helper, Matty.
   
5. It helps me to keep this jello-esq mass of a brain from turning completely to mush..
   

I think I shall tag... hmm.. lemmie think about that..

Exercise is a drag...

Having managed to survive to my 31st year, it's come to my attention that things are not as easy as they once were. I've noticed that the learning curve of new knowledge is gradually getting steeper. I'm sure this is the technology generation gap beginning to catch up to me. There is so much interesting technological knowledge out there that I really just can't be bothered to keep abreast of anymore.

My ability to learn and adapt to new technologies is about be tested in an extreme way. Back in December I started working at a new architectural firm., and last week it was announced that we would be changing the way we work. The good old standby AutoCad (which I have been using ever since I learned how in grade 10) is being replaced by Revit. Not only is it new software, but an entire paradigm shift in the way buildings are designed and documented. Initially I was excited by the chance to learn this new way of doing things, and then it hit me. What if it's not as easy as I think it will be? What if I just can't? Of course I dream of diving into this, and rising to the top, soon to become the Revit superstar in the office... Only time will tell.

Since I titled this post as exercise, I guess I should get around to that too. It's amazing how you take your body for advantage, until one day you realize that a few trips up the stairs isn't as easy as it once was. How there are aches and pains in places you didn't even know you had... How you get up from the couch with a grunt or groan, as your wife looks on in horror trying to figure out what kind of furry animal decided to die over in the corner... And the snoring! Or so I've been told. I hadn't even realized that in the last 5 years, I've managed to put on 50lbs of additional weight. A quick trip to the doctor confirms that yes indeed, it is time to loose weight, get some exercise, and stop the sleeping habits of a 20 year old insomniac (well, actually, no one should be living on 3-4 hours of sleep a night). So I've started taking a good look at what I eat, mostly portion wise. I make sure to take my vitamins every day, eat/drink as many servings of vegetables as I can, and watch my portions. No more midnight snacking, and lots of water.

I've also started exercising... Nothing major yet. Just some walking (2.75km a night, increasing gradually). I'm certainly not going to be out running a 5k anytime soon (proud of you for wanting to do the 'rat race' this year sweety!) I've also managed to assemble some weights, figure out the timer on the rowing machine (20min of rowing is not like it was in high school...bleh), and even grabbed some fitness videos (I know you're laughing when you're reading this Laural!)

"It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck in a sense of our limitations. If we go into a darkened room and turn on the light, it doesn't matter if the room has been dark for a day, a week, or ten thousand years - we turn on the light and it is illuminated. Once we control our capacity for love and happiness, the light has been turned on."
-Sharon Salzberg

Birthday Weekend!

So, I managed to turn 31 this weekend. Caught me quite by surprise actually. New years resolutions (the secret ones I told no one) are coming along quite well.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Laural for giving me such a great weekend. My first birthday gift was really quite a surprise, and early surprise... A new digital camera! I was floored. I'm loving our new Kodak C743 and all it's 7.1 Mega pixel goodness! Of course, it replaces our older Fujifilm FinePix 2650, a definite workhorse of a point and shoot digital camera. Of course, I had mentioned at some point over Christmas how the camera needed to be replaced, especially since the tiny LCD display was beginning what I was sure was the "shimmy of death". I guess one too many trips bouncing across the floor, and Matthew using it as a hammer every now and again was beginning to take it's toll.

The new camera's proving ground was today, at Monster Jam! (A Christmas present I would definitely recommend to anyone out there that loves noise, trucks, and children looking on in awe). Of course, that wasn't the end of the weekend goodies... Gift cards to my favorite store, cash, and...

Pink Floyd Boxers!!!! (Dark Side of the Moon indeed!)

But that wasn't the end of it... Since Laural was commuting by train to work in Toronto everyday, my big Christmas idea for her was an iPod Shuffle. I picked the shuffle, because it was small, cute, and super lightweight (for working out, etc.). Almost immediately I was jealous of Laural's technological superiority, and she took ample opportunity to make sure I knew I didn't have an iPod. Of course this was apparently her way of dropping subtle hints that her parents and she had split on ....

a 4GB iPod Nano for me. Mmm... Green.. This is by far one of the sweetest pieces of electronic crack ever developed. I am truely addicted to music, and this is just what I needed! I will fill out the rest of todays post with pictures from the new digital camera of Monster Jam, and other assorted birthday shots.




Matthew posing with the "sugar coated cake of doom!" I swear this kid will be on the Food Network decorating cakes in the near future...

Laural, thanks for such a great birthday. All the thought and effort you put in really made my weekend. I'm so lucky to have such a great wife... and such a great friend... and a child that loves loud things and wrecking trucks just like daddy!