Spring in my step!

Wha-whaaattt??? It's the spring solstice already? Well I shouldn't say 'already'.... It has seriously felt like things should be turning green for several weeks now. But the fact that we are nearly a quarter of the way through yet another year.... Yeeeesh.... Life - slow down! Please!!

So do you want to know what fun stuff I've been up to lately? Of course you do! It feels like all I do is work work work, but in between the hectic weeks at my job, here's what's been shakin':

Lisa and I got VIP tix to Ian Thornley....

Yes, that's a dirtbike! Chris finally did it.



Of course immediately, some
modifications were made.....



Green Beer Day was celebrated with these girlies!

Again... this view NEVER gets old!

Spring skiing is in full swing! Woot!

Between listening to live music and attending St. Patty's Day festivities and spending some quality time on the slopes, the month is flying by. Being that next weekend is Easter, I will get to end off March with a four-day break from the grind - which I'm so looking forward to! Talk about putting some spring in my step.... Woot! It's good to be me!

Cheers.

Bluebird day! The only 'cloud' in the sky is from our plant.

February??

It's hard to believe, but it is supposed to be the MIDDLE of winter. You'd never know it here in the Rockies though.... There is snow, but the temps are mild, mild, mild! And I've been trying to enjoy every second of these strange but amazing conditions that I can!

Last weekend was a delectable mix of chilling-slash-going-hard.We spent a super-fun day wandering the river trails around Canmore.....

The local wildlife!

The beauty views are endless!

Wandering turned into stopping for beverages and snacks downtown....

Alright, if you insist!

Yum!

We also spent a day skiing our legs off at Sunshine.... It was fantastic! And not busy!

 

Simply lovely!

This week at work was nothing short of horrendous, so I'm crossing my fingers and toes that this coming weekend will be a repeat of the last - or at least something similar! Yeah!

Cheers!

A weekend of love!

And of laughter! And of music!!

What a stellar Family Day long weekend I had! Four glorious days away from work... doing some minor home improvement projects.... and spending time with my besties.... It was truly nearly as righteous as being in the mountains!

Friday night, about ten of us went downtown to a groovy little speakeasy pub called Fratters, and we laughed our asses off at the two fabulous comedians!

 

Excellent comedy!

Saturday, I got a bit ambitious and decided to upgrade the light fixtures on the main floor of my townhouse. A selection was finally made, after I spent a good couple of hours driving the salespeople crazy in Red Deer Lighting....

Let there be light!

New tools for the job!

Oh, the irony!
Bought a screwdriver....

....needed a screwdriver to
get it out of the package!

Of course halogen bulbs are uber *BRIGHT*, so the follow-up project was installing dimmer switches on the said fixtures. Between Google and my good friend Lisa, nobody ended up electrocuted and there were no electrical fires. So far. Woot!

Sunday was a most unexpectedly wicked evening of live music - The Trews played at the Memorial Centre, and they put on an incredible show!

It was an eventful set of days off, and I loved every minute of it! Now it's a three-day slog until I get to do it all over again - only this time Canmore is on the agenda for the weekend. Righteous!!

Cheers!

The sound of music.....

I've always loved listening to music... especially when it is loud, clear, and has depth.... and I've always been appreciative of a great sound system. Like when I was in high school and spent my scholarship money, not on my education but on a Harman Kardon tuner, dual cassette deck (remember those??!) and a set of Polk speakers.

So it shouldn't be surprising that, when my trusty bookshelf CD player (which put out amazing sound for such a little rig by the way) cratered a few days ago, I did not hesitate to replace it with something much, much more grand.

Yamaha tuner and CD player, and
of course Polk Audio speakers.
More useful than a microwave I'd say!

I needed help retrieving the discs that
were stuck in the old unit....

Took a bit of work, but we got them out!

Should I instead have treated myself to some very important new appliances like a washer and dryer? Yup. But it's all about priorities. And I personally will never enjoy doing laundry in the same way that I relish listening to music, so for me the decision was a no-brainer! Woot! Rock on!!


Cheers!

Randomness....

The last couple of weeks have given me a few different things to write about - none of which are really earth shattering mind you, but.... still entertaining!

First off - the fun stuff! We got out for some skiing and some winter hiking, as the Rockies are finally getting a bit of snow.

This is the debris net which has been installed in
Cougar Creek, post 2013 flooding. Looks like
someone is heeding the warning signs hey! Tsk.

Beauty day!

Everybody JUMP!

Check out the fog in Simpson Valley!

There are Wi-Fi hot spots all over Sunshine now!
I could have texted this pic to you all! Haha.

Secondly - more fun stuff! Last week, my unit work team (from work of course!) had a teambuilding day - at a great place called the Cooking Room. What a fab way to spend the day!

Thirteen of us collaborated on an amazing lunch of
homemade pizza, tomato basil bisque, and arugula salad.

We did also do some work... however after this
feast, we were all moving a little more slowly....

And thirdly - yes, even more fun stuff! In December, I put a silent auction bid on a painting of an incredibly beautiful polar bear, and just before Christmas I received a phone call that mine was the winning bid! Woot! It is breathtaking, and it is by far the nicest piece of art I've ever owned.

It looks great in my den - check out
my new purple velour chairs too!

So January is two-thirds of the way done.... Oy.... Time just continues to buzz by! Things are going well thus far though, and I'm looking forward to doing more skiing and am planning to squeeze some traveling into the next few busy busy months. Where to, you ponder? Well stay tuned - I'll provide an update soon!

Cheers!

Life... As I Know It....

Two thousand and sixteen.... the brand new year is off to an interesting start I must say! Many big changes are underway for me personally - not all of them exactly of the 'happy happy joy joy' variety either. But hey, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right? Except for bears of course... bears will kill ya!

I'm not going to go into much detail, as this is my public blog after all, and anyone who knows me, knows that I am a fairly private person who is not a big fan of drama and oversharing. Suffice it to say that sadly, things in my personal world have not worked out as I had hoped or planned - promises were made and not kept, and I've learned a couple of very important life lessons. The hard way. Oy. As a result, I will be approaching things a bit differently from now on.

Something that was very enjoyable this past weekend however, was this great guy's birthday celebration....

Rich turned ONE! Haha!

Cake and presents and beer and rum....
Pretty stellar evening!

Lisa was the usual gracious hostess-with-the-mostest and had us all over to watch the fights last night. And something as important as successfully making another trip around the sun could not go unnoticed.... hence the goodies and gifts! Woot! Go Rich!!

Well, who knows what this upcoming year has in store? What I do know for sure is that I have an absolutely fantastic family and mega-super fabulous friends, and from now on I will be focusing on doing more of what makes me smile and makes me feel happy. Let's see what you got, 2016!! Bring it!!

Cheers!