Room with a View

Can you imagine my surprise when I pulled back the curtains in my hotel room in Montreal and this stared me in the face, big as life.

I think my exact words were "holy shit". I was especially shocked because upon check-in I was told that they couldn't guarantee that I would have a view from my room.

Wow.

It was really wonderful to see this every morning when I got up, and then again at night after returning from a very very long day.

So, yes, I'm back...and now I have to pack. Shit.

Ugh..I Suck at Posting

One comment asked me to elaborate on why July (and March and October) suck the big one in my industry, this is why. In general I put out about 35 proposals a year for new work. This should break down to about 3 a month, which would be manageable. But. the deadlines don't always fall into that nice 3 a month spread, they usually pile up on given months, for example so far this month I've had 7 requests for proposals for new work - 7, so about two a week, this is on top of preparing for a few interviews that are coming up in the next few weeks. So, that's just the proposal and interview part. Then there is the conferences that I have to travel to and attend. My company is often invited to present at conferences around the county - all these conferences seem to fall in the three months mentioned before, so not only do I have to prepare 7 proposals, and at least 2 interviews, I need to bounce around to these conferences that we are presenting at as well, to see existing and potential clients. It's tiring and a bit nerve racking, but it's also fun, I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it, it's just a lot of work in a very small period of time.

That, compounded by the fact that...thank you sweet Jesus...we are finally moving into our house in two weeks, I am now faced with the fact that I for the second time in 10 weeks need to pack all of my belongings and put them into boxes and move them. AGAIN. I can't wait, I really can't wait, but packing and moving again, ugh.

So, posting...not going to be much of that in the coming weeks. I do apologize, I know you all wait with bated breath for my new posts...NOT. But I will try and post when I can, come August, the posts will be much more frequent and will contain actual recipes. (Damn it where did the summer go?)

Also, one more thing. because CB and I were only going to be in the retirement village for 10 weeks we didn't have cable installed. Thank God for Netflix. Here is just a sample of what we have watched since moving in:
The Ice Harvest
Love in the Time of Cholera
Amazing Grace
Ocean's 13
The Brave One
Cloverfield
American Gangster
Charlie Wilson's War
Juno

Back Soon. Peace!

Summer Lovin

Remember when summer seemed so long...when it was relaxing and slow. I looked at the calendar this morning and was completely dumbfounded by the date...July 15th. Where did the summer go, how is it that the fourth of July has passed and I'm making plans for the fall. 12 precious weekends stud the summer months and I can't find one that will be filled with summer sun, laying on a blanket and reading a book.

I hate NPR and their list of the best beach reads, because to me it's like a bratty kid with it's tongue stuck out saying "na-na-na-na-na-na...you don't have time to relax and read any of these books".

Ugh, what I would give for one sweet smelling, relaxing day at the beach, with no fear of sunburn and my nose firmly planted in a good book, and maybe, possibly, a cabana boy delivering frosty pina coladas to me every 45 minutes or so.

Remember when summer seemed so long...

Jesus Promise aka "What Are You Giving Up for Lent?"

So last year I gave up chocolate for lent, it was tough, but most definitely do-able.

Well, it seems that this year the gastroenterologist has pretty much taken the goodness out of my life for four weeks of the Lenten period anyway, so this year will be even tougher than last year because not only do I have my Jesus Promise to contend with, I have the uber strict diet from the gastroenteroligist.

This year my Jesus promise is "NO PEANUT BUTTER". For those of you who don't know me. This is fucking huge. I eat peanut butter everyday, I'm not kidding here, everyday. In the morning before my run I have a tablespoon of peanut butter. At night before yoga I eat another tablespoon of peanut butter. There is not a day that goes by that I do not ingest peanut butter directly from the jar on a spoon and then into my mouth. I repeat, this is huge.

But I like giving something up, it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something, no matter how small or remote.

CB gave up desserts, all desserts. This too is huge because he eats dessert everyday. After dinner, everynight he has some sort of sweet, be it a cookie or ice cream, or a piece of chocolate. He has something, so this is definitely a hard give-up for him.

We'll see how it goes. 9 hours down 39 days and 15 hours to go.