A new change

I thought that I'd go along with this new change in my life (read: employment) and switch up the colours in my blog. I like this new template. It's kind of fun! We'll see how long this one lasts (I was very tempted to go for the Barbie pink one that was a close 2nd to this one). I forgot to save all of my personal links in the change though, so I will have to get those back up when I get a chance...

I have a job! :)

As of 2pm today I officially accepted an offer of employment from Maplesoft in Waterloo. I will be starting next Monday in the position of Technical Support Analyst. Apparently I have to know a little something about math!? ;)

I am definitely looking forward to routine and structure in my life (I learned these past 4 months that I can't handle having no plan). A steady income is probably a good thing too. The brand new office has indoor bike racks for easy commuting, showers, and an onsite gym with spinning classes over lunch. Woo hoo! Time to get back into shape!

I will be moving into my sisters' place on Friday. Looks like I will shack up with Laura and Mike for a bit. It's nice that we can help each other out in this situation -- they can give me cheap accomodations while I can help them a bit with their own cash flow.

I can't wait to get started!

There is hope!...

I just got off the phone with my mother in a painfully slow task of trying to teach her to upload something to my yahoo briefcase account. (I am currently in Montreal right now visiting with Andrew and working on job searches and applications from here). Realizing I needed a cover letter that I had saved on my desktop at home, I had no choice but to call mom and step her through the process. After her first attemt at typing in the url appended to the 'http://www.cbc.ca' that was already in the address bar, we managed to log in. From there, teaching her to navigate to the relevant documents was certainly fun, and waiting for her to use the scroll bar to get to the bottom to hit the upload button was excrutiating. But with 1 minute to spare on my calling card, we managed to achieve the desired result. I'm proud of my mom for her attempt to use technology and can't wait until the day when we can chat on MSN between emails.

Pictures up!

I have posted some pictures to my new online scrapbook. You can access them at www.imageevent.com/hledwards. I have opted to password protect the scrapbook out of paranoia -- I realize it might be a bit unnecessary, feel free to let me know if you think it is. For now though, I will post my password for everyone's viewing pleasure: heatherpics. enjoy!

Michael Jackson

This weekend I met a guy with the honest-to-goodness, no-lie, given birth name of "Michael Jackson." I thought that was pretty funny. He was born in '79 though, so there was no intended link to the popstar as we know him today. On that same night I also learned that my sister's boyfriend, Mike, has the given name "Michael Jackson Nevill." Interesting...

As far as I know though, neither one of them are child molestors ;)

Bike ride to the beach

On Tuesday my parents were heading out to our cottage at Sauble Beach and wanted me to go with them. I decided to join them, but opted for a bit of a challenge that day and biked out to meet them there. The trip normally takes 25-30 minutes by car (approximately 32 kms). I decided to take the "less travelled" route to avoid heavy traffic and failed to look at our Ontario atlas beforehand. 2 hours and 15 minutes later I arrived, but discovered that I had added on close to ten extra kms in the process of avoiding traffic. All in all it still felt good. I'm severely out of shape right now, and my ride has inspired me to try and "get back into it". I will have to try that ride again and shave some time off next time.

On a side note, I have pictures from my Algonquin trip posted on my friend Trina's website. You can check them out here. I am still in the process of completing my evaluation of which site I am going to use to post my pictures. Being unemployed, I have the time to complete all the investigations I would like to complete to help make such an *important* decision ;)

Photo sharing

So the choices are narrowed down:

1) http://www.imagestation.com
2) http://www.imageevent.com/
3) http://www.flickr.com

Positive thought for the day

I was walking down Yonge Street yesterday (yes... I'm in Toronto right now), probably off in my own world of thoughts, even more likely dazed with some dorky expression on my face. When I came to the corner of Yonge and Wellesley, some guy sitting on the side of the street made eye contact with me and held up his cardboard sign displaying the phrase "McHungry" and then gave me a totaly weird look. To be honest, the guy kind of creeped me out a bit, but I still smiled cause it seemed like such an odd sign for him to be holding and I seriously wondered if that helped him to get more food than others with the traditional "need money for food" signs. The guy liked my reaction and yelled out "keep on smilin' -- it makes the whole world wonder what you're thinking!".

I have to admit -- it made me smile even more as I realized how entirely true his statement was. I kept on smiling for the rest of the afternoon.

Close Encounters of the Moose Kind

So I just got back from a canoe trip this weekend with Trina and her friend, Tim. We went up to Algonquin as an "escape" from reality -- and boy did I need it.

Although we left 2 hours later than expected since Tim had an emergency concussion to deal with at work that afternoon, we arrived to the access point around midnight. After learning we couldn't camp there without a permit, and afraid of what the consequences might be, we opted to find a car camp site just back the road a bit. $29 for 5 hours of sleeping for the 3 of us, we were on our way.

Starting from access point #3 we traveled through Hambone Lake, to Daisy Lake, across the Petawawa River and into Misty Lake. Dinner that night was a wonderful chicken dinner with fried veggies. Yum yum! And we had Bannock with dinner that night too -- it took me way back to the first (and last) time I tried it in Brownies. If anyone is going on a camping trip again soon, I HIGHLY recommend trying it. So simple and so good. You can cook it on a stick right over the fire and slather it with PB and J! My fav!

The next day was adventure filled with more portages and a moose encounter. While travelling down the Tim River, we encountered a moose stopped for dinner in the middle of the narrow, boggy river. After freaking out at first, we were in awe at what we saw. We took lots of pictures and even some videos (thanks to my swanky new digital camera!) and then started to wonder how long this moose would block our path (going around him was no option). Banging on the canoe and yelling at him didn't do a thing. Finally, after Trina started "nagging" the moose, he started to move forward and climbed up the embankment. We made a "run" for it with our canoe, and while Trina prayed for our safety aloud, we bolted past -- the fastest I have EVER paddled in the my life. The moose stood atop and watched us pass by. I swear to God I could have cried at that moment I was so scared. Just a wee bit short of peeing my pants!

After that excitement I helped to drag our canoe through SEVERAL shallow parts, and then we finally made it onto the big lake. By this time it was dusk and the sun was shining low, and the water was beautifully calm. We encountered a mother loon with her baby. I don't think the baby knew how to swim and the mother was calling out as if she were afraid of us. We continued on to our site and had another yummy meal and an early night to bed.

Although the next morning was totally crappy and overcast, we packed up quickly and had a nice paddle out of the park. Arriving home early, I got a yummy salmon dinner at Trina's place and then went to catch the bus to Waterloo to visit my sister. After inconveniently missing the bus after it pulled up, dropped off 2 people, and pulled away without taking any new passengers on, Laura and Mike came to my rescue by picking me up and taking me to their place.

Today I got to eat lunch with my two sister-in-laws and cute little nephew. Andrew really is adorable. I think I am the proudest auntie out there.

That's all for my random stories today. Better go help with dinner since it's free tonight.

Italy again?

So I "re-lived" Italy all over again tonight as I visited a local Gelateria in Toronto. I'm visint Andrew for the evening and figured that since I had little opportunity to do souvenir shopping with such short notice of my return home, I figured this was close to the next best thing. A true taste of Italy. Mmm.... so yummy!
I had my favourite flavour: Pistachio and mixed it with a wonderful fruit flavour called Wild Berry. So delicious! BUT... I have to admit... It just wasn't as good as the *real* Italian thing... ;)

So after some quick calculations, I think I have close to 200 pictures from my trip (as short as it may have been). I am looking for the best AND most cost-effective method for me to post them to the web to share with others. Given my lack of knowledge and desire to build something in java script, I am looking for advice from others on where to look. I have heard that Imagestation might be my best bet, but am looking to see if anyone knows of anything else that may be better or more user-friendly. Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated.

Change of plans

One thing in life is certain: You can never predict everything to come. This is one of the many lessons that have been reinforced during the last 12 days of my life.

I am now home from my journey, cut short by 16 days. My return stemmed from a sling of bad luck turned especially sour when Dana's pack was stolen from an Internet cafe in Florence. This pack not only contained our tickets to the Olympics but just about every single other thing of value that was required for her to begin grad school in Norway (something that was supposed to happen upon the conclusion of our trip).

After contemplating the possibility of staying behind on my own to travel Greece solo, the decision was made for me to come home. In this case the majority ruled that it was too unsafe for me (a small, defenseless female) to be traveling Greece by myself. It was such a tough call and a decision that had to be made quickly. Although I am still pretty bummed that I had to return home, I can only look forward to the next time that I may get the opportunity to travel.

I'm off to bed now. Just got back from a friend's wedding reception that I otherwise would not have had the chance to be at if I were still overseas according to plans.

In Italy

So my adventures have begun... Despite getting to check my email a number of times, this is the first opportunity I have had to actually send an update.

Dana and I arrived in Italy (Milano airport) at 10am on the 3rd of August. We quickly learned that our luggage did not make the connecting flight from Heathrow so we had no choice but to spend the day in Milan. £10 return bus trip later, we spent a beautifully warm and sunny afternoon taking in the sights and smells of Italy for the first time. Milan is apparently a city to shop in but being the broke students we are (or were), we settled for a nice authentic Gelatti cone. yum yum! so cold and refreshing. Later that afternoon we went back to the airport to discover that our bags were late, and that another package Dana had sent still had not arrived. After deciding to move on, we ended up going to Bologna for the night with our American friend Vince that we had met in the 2 hour baggage line. Our train ride there was hilarious with a 3 hour trip trying to speak broken Italian with some crazy Italians trying to speak broken English (after 36 plus hours of no sleep and a long hot train ride). The Italians particularly loved the "love" section of the Dictionary in our Let-s Go travel book! Bologna is old and historic but a relatively small quaint town. It was a nice start to the trip.

The next day took us to Levanto to go see Cinque Terre (as I have learned to pronounce "Chinqwuh Teaaadeh"). A beautiful, mustsee for everyone in Italy. It is a hike along the north west coast along 5 old cities. So beautiful. A mixture of vinyards and lemon trees scattered with olive treees, apple trees, flowers, and ramdon coniferous. If anyone understands how they can grow grapes for wine along the coast without the salt damaging them, please let me know. We are curious. On our hike we stopped at the 2nd city to have lunch and cool down from the very warm day. We also stopped in the last city for a final cooldown. It was here where my wonderful luck brought me my first ever jellyfish sting. It really hurt but was just more so scary cause I didn't know what else it might do to me other than sting my elbow really badly. We found some local guy renting boats and gave the universal symbol for "jellyfish" and he understood right away. He grabbed some amonia from his store and wiped my arm clean with it. It was only then that I finally gave in and cried. I was ok though... the stages of the bit are kind of cool the next few days. I got a picture of it the first day!

Our next day took us to Florence. After having some more trouble with the trains, we finally found our way and met up with some Americans that we had met the day before on the trail. Zack showed us some really cool card tricks (can-t wait to try them at home) and Stephan showed me how to use my digital camera features (that I am still trying to learn). Arriving in Florence was quite an experience and we learned a very important lesson: arrive early to find accomodations and look at the place before paying. At the first hostel we tried, it was booked, so a lady across the street at a "tourist information center" called us over and told us about a hostel for £18. We thought great. When we arrived it looked alright and paid our money. It was only then that we found out we had to go next door and through some sketchy hallway to arrive to a very dark, dirty, unfriendly looking place (empty of all human sign of life except for about 25 beds scattered about with a bunch of backpacks all over) with one unkept bathroom (so illegal in Canada). We decided to spend as little time possible there and headed out to see the town. Florence really is a big city with just tonnes of people. There is a beautiful canal to walk along and so many old buildings and winding streets. This first night we ended up meeting an American and his friend that was teaching English in Italy through some mission program. We chatted with them for quite a bit and learned a lot about the city and Italian culture.

After surviving the night at the sketch hostel (and having some laughs with every single other person staying there that felt they got screwed), we met up with the Americans again to go see the Science Museum. This was a very cool museum that I coud have spent hours in. Dana and I went on to see the Uffitzi (famous museum filled with old historical art), the 3rd largest church in the world called the Duomo, and then checked in at a much nicer, cleaner hostel called Archi Rossi. After a much needed shower, we head up to the Piazza Michalangelo to get a magnificent view of the city by night. So gorgeous. Since we spent the evening with our American friends once again, they showed us the nightlife and we hit up a pub in the old city. Even tried a "Sex in the Duomo" which as you can imagine was quite like a "Sex on the Beach" with tequila. Quite tasty!

I better run since this is already a long update. I will try to keep them coming.

Getting back into it

I participated in my first highland class last night for the first time in 5 years! It was absolutely awesome. I have always known that I missed dancing, but being a part of the class last night reminded me just how much I missed it. It was surprising how much I remembered, but also surprising how difficult it was for me to point my toes. I was blown away by my cardio shape. I was able to do a 2&1 sword through with the music without dying. I guess that training was good for something!

Although the Go train/bus adventure there was certainly an "adventure" I am gonna do it again next week. It is so much fun. The teacher is not only fun, but a really good teacher (the daughter of my teacher from Owen Sound). Plus some of my old dancing friends are in the class too. I saw Melissa Riseborough for the first time in close to 6 years and the craziest part is, she hadn't changed a bit!

Now... my muscles are just going to have to get used to this, cause my body is SORE today!

More pics from my race!

So I found out that there is yet another link to pics from the race I did in Ottawa. You can check it out here.

Andrew even managed to sneak in a few pics too!! Hope that lady isn't too mad! ;)

Sushi in Toronto

I worked my first morning shift today at "the cup". 8am-1pm and loved it! I got to work with the infamous nazi-ish Frank (who likes his store ever so perfect while on shift) and was kept busy from the time I walked in to the time I left. Also made $5 in tips which was nice for a 5 hour shift.

Today I came home to a locked house, and without a key and the backdoor being locked, I was forced to rollerblade up and down Yonge Street to entertain myself and find something to fill my terribly hungry belly. I found some random store/deli/whatever-you-want-to-call-it that sold sushi for $2.99 (6pcs). It was actually pretty good given the price I was paying! yum yum in my tum!

When I came home, my house was still locked (Colin had yet to arrive back from work) so I sat outside and read the Metro. After realizing there had to be a way in, I found a window that was unlocked and I managed to break in. It was actually a bit too easy. I looked around before jumping through cause I didn't want anyone to call the cops on me, and especially didn't want some random person to see my trick and try it out themselves someday.

I'm going paddling tonight down at the docks. I'm filling in as the "fourth" for Andrew's AR team while they train for their next race. Aren't I a good girlfriend? ;)

My first half-marathon!!

This past weekend I traveled to Ottawa to compete in my first half-marathon. After 5 months of training it all came to a close on Sunday morning after completing the race (21.1kms) in 2 hours and 28 seconds. You can see me cross the finish line at 2:06:18 on the official clock (I am on the left hand side in a yellow tank top and Andrew is just to the right in his bright orange shirt).

The race was definitely a challenge as I was pushing hard to hit my 2 hour time goal. The weather was a bit warmer than I was used to training in, and my adrenaline rush set me out a bit faster than I maybe should have in the beginning. I was feeling great up to the 10km point and started to fade around 13 or 14. By 18kms I was ready to start walking for good but kept on pushing. I am pretty sure I was close to hitting the wall but I persevered to the end and was very pleased with the outcome. My legs literally felt worse than jello after crossing the finishing line but I think I would be upset with myself if I felt any better.

Now I'm looking forward to next year when I can start the training all over again. Time to beat my current record (and my sister's first time of 1:59:47)!

ps. congrats to my sister for finishing her first full marathon this year in a time of 4:04.

And the Olympics too??!!

Funny how things work... I met up with a couple of friends today that I literally have not seen since we left highschool. We have stayed in touch through email occasionally
(ie. a few times a year) and somehow found out we were all in Toronto this weekend so we decided to meet for lunch. It honestly felt like we hadn't changed a bit. So weird.

Craziest part is, I was somehow talking about my ideas and options for where to travel this summer and asked them if they had been traveling themselves... As it turns out, my friend, Dana, responded with "why don't you come to Athens with me to see the Olympics?" Apparently she bought 2 sets of tickets last year when they went on sale and figured she could find someone to join. So... as it turns out... I'm thinking about joining her on that trip too!

Crazy how things come about...

Traveling to India?

I have an opportunity to travel to India with a friend for 3 weeks. She is going with her church to Calcutta where they are going to do work in Mother Theresa's home (freedomizeindia.com). She has to come back to work afterwards, but I believe that some others plan to stay and travel while they are over there. I am seriously considering this opportunity. Although I have yet to be hit with the travel bug, I am told by many that this is an opportunity that I should jump on and take it while I can.

A new erra... working at Second Cup?

Well, this is it I suppose. I am done school, and have "entered" the real world. Only thing is, I'm not sure I'm ready. I know that I'm glad to be done with the looming deadlines, numerous tests and stressful guilt each weekend I used to sit on my ass and do nothing when I really should have been doing something -- but I'm not so sure I'm ready to start with the next phase of my life.

One thing that I am sure of is that my degree has certainly left me with a broad range of options to choose from in a career. The biggest problem is that there are too many to choose from! Right now, as I search the internet for my "dream job" I realize how little focus I have. I am experienced and qualified to do a variety of jobs, and am also interested in a significant number of them as well. What I am trying to figure out is what it is that I really WANT to do and what I will be most happy doing. I'm still trying to figure out how to find the answer to this one.

For now, I have found myself a job working at Second Cup in Toronto. I interviewed last Monday and started 3 days later. So far it's going well -- lots of fun, I get all the free coffee and funky drinks I want, and I'm working my way to becoming a qualified barista! It's a great way to make a little extra cash while I hang out in Toronto with Andrew and make up for some lost time over this past year of our crazy lives.

If anyone can see into my future and give me some advice as to which direction I should head with my career, please send me the vibe!

Who knew graduation would be this confusing??!!