A Little Culture in My Life

Wow! What a crazy week and weekend it's been for me lately. I didnt travel last week but i was preparing for my garage sale. Garage sales always seem like such a good idea until it's time to do it. You have to go through all your stuff and sort it out, i had to haul it over to my friends moms house where the sale is, then you got to set everything up on hangers, tables, etc, make signs, get up at crack of dawn , and then haggle to get 50 cents for a 90 dollar ski jacket. We had our sale both Friday and Saturday and i'm whooped! I am saving for an iPad so any money made is handy. We had the sale in a suburb of Dallas that passed a law prohibiting all to use signs advertising the sale. That's crazy! We're in the middle of a neighborhood with no way of letting people know we're sitting in the back garage with lots of stuff to sale. Anyway, we snuck signs out when we could and the city would pick them up and keep them. I made a little over 300$ so i'm good. My back is aching though and i did overdo it.
I added a little culture to my weekend last night and went to a chorus and opera show. I have this coworker (Fred)that sings in the Turtle Creek Chorale and has invited me to watch them perform many times over the years. I honestly am interested in going but i never quite made it for various legit reasons. Last week i heard him talk about his upcoming show with someone and i asked him about it. He replied " you never come so i didnt think you were interested". I replied" i'm always interested, i just havent made it yet but i dont want to NOT be invited". So i called a friend (pam) that day, asked her if she would want to go (my boyfriend didnt want to) and i bought us tickets that next day. I am so glad i did. It was such a fun evening and it was nice doing something so different. Fred was very happy that i made a point to come.
 Pam and I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that's been around FOREVER called ElFenix that's just a few blocks away from the Dallas Arts District. I had never been to the Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center.
Its a gorgeous building and concert hall and the acoustics were spectacular. The performance was Messiah so it was Faith based and amazing. There's something about hearing 300 voices singing Hallelujah that brings chillbumps to the surface. There were a few that belted out opera and it was terrific but i am not fan of hearing a lot of it in one sitting. I respect and am wowed at their ability but still only good for maybe 3 songs.
I will go again because i really enjoy doing things outside my norm and it was nice to appreciate some of Dallas' most awesome talent here in my own backyard so to speak. The pics are blurry but again we're asking strangers to take for us with our phones.

Pam and I with Meyerson on the wall behind us

Am i wearing cowboy boots? Why yes! yes i am. My back ached after wearing my heels for 5 minutes at home so on came the boots. Thank GOD I live in Texas and can get away with this anytime!

Dog Tired

Last night I attended my very first Twitter party. Have you even heard of those? I had not until I joined a website called She Speaks and I saw the invite there. Have you ever heard of a TweetGrid? Me neither! It was a total new experience for me. I must admit at first it was overwhelming but within the hour that it lasts, i think i got some of the gist.  There is a host for the party then they have a subject of the party and we post our hearts out. It goes so fast its crazy with all the tweets. I had more fun seeing all the other participants and now i'm following quite a few more than i was. I need to join a few more before i really know what I'm doing. There's even door prizes that were given but i was not so lucky. There is a tutorial i need to watch a few times to get a better understanding.
The twitter party was the most perfect thing to do while being in Canada on a rainy night in the hotel. I wish i could attend a party every week that i travel. I did go out to eat with Wendy and a coworker from Montreal. We had dinner at Moxie's and i had the best broccoli cheese soup. My hamburger was awesome too! It was a nice meal to end my trip on. After the twitter party in my hotel, i still needed to pack and get ready for an early morning. Wendy and I planned to leave hotel by 4:30 am and we left earlier by 4:15. I do not sleep at all when i have an early early morning. I am so afraid of sleeping thru the alarm that i wake on the hour.
The process at the airport was crazy yucky!! I stood in line for exactly an hour to get through customs. Then our plane was delayed because we waited for more passengers that were stuck in that line.

Wendy travels to Canada a lot lately and she has one of those special Nexus cards. You can walk right by that awful line and to a much shorter one to have your retinas scanned. Freaky but cool right?! I have filled out application for that and waiting for my interview anyday now. I will be traveling back to Canada the first 3 weeks of November so it will help alot. Aye!
After i landed this morning (almost 4 hour flight), i showered and laid down for about 45 minutes for a nap. Now, i'm working from home and realizing that i have no plans this weekend.  I like that! We'll see what comes up.

Good Night

Today was a good day. I had a full day of training a new group and i think it went pretty well. It was a long day though because we had lunch brought in (sandwiches-boo) and i never stepped outside once. It did start raining today and is still raining. My hair is crazy frizzy this week! I love it because it's cooling down now. I packed my dress boots and dresses and i was afraid i was going to be too hot. I am so hot natured and i stay warm all the time.
I will eat sandwiches as long as the bread is toasted and there's melted cheese. I will eat a coldcut sandwich every now and then but not often. I know i know-picky! I had dinner tonight with Wendy and another coworker who traveled this week from the US too. It's the nice thing to do when we're all foreigners and traveling alone to try to eat together. It's sad and lonely sometimes eating alone. We went to a restaurant called Canyon Creek Chophouse and had an awesome Ceasar salad. I had the flatiron steak with a mushroom sauce but it honestly wasnt great. The steak was much too rare for my taste and a little chewy. I had a local wine from Niagara falls and it was delish.
Now, i'm hanging out at the hotel blogging and watching some TV. I love love love the show Modern Family. I was laughing out loud tonight. I'm sure my neighbors think i'm crazy.
Tomorrow is a repeat at work of today except to different audience. I hope it goes as good.

A Good Day

Did you know that Canada has over the counter drugs that are not available at all in the US?  My great friend/boss Wendy is a genius! Today she went online and Tylenol has a product called Body Pain Night. We went to the nearest Rexal drug store and i bought a package. It's supposed to have a mild muscle relaxer in it and I'm so excited to see if it helps. I"ll let you know. I just took 2 a few minutes ago. AND  BTW, i scheduled my Dr's appointment for Monday morning.  I found out the hard way last Saturday night that i cant take anything with Codeine in it. I took a Tylenol 3 that has codeine in it and boy did it make me so sick! I had no idea i would react so badly to it. Fingers crossed for tonight.
 If you only knew that it takes an Act of Congress for me to take ANY medicine at all. I am so bad at swallowing pills. This is not good because i have hypo-thyroid disease and have for 13 years. I take a pill every morning. Yuck! Last year i decided upon myself that i just didnt want to take my thyroid medicing anymore. I have no idea why i did that. Come to find out it can cause depression if you dont treat it. I had never gone through depression before and it was so awful. I would cry every day and have no idea why until i went to my Dr.
When he asked how i was doing  with my synthroid - i said oh that, yep i quit taking it.
Dr- Why? Did another Dr advise you not to?
Me- Nope.i have taken it for years and thought maybe i didnt need to anymore. It's a hassle to get it refilled every 3 months and i dont like swallowing pills.
Dr- Did you know that hypo thyroidism can cause clinical depression?
Me- i had no idea and i guess that would explain my crazy crying. Ok- I'll start taking again.
Dr- you are my second most difficult patient.
Needless to say i take THAT medicine every morning no matter what.

I had such a delicious dinner tonight! I had dinner with one of my Canada coworkers here in Toronto. We went to Alice Fazooli's and I had swordfish. I dont get it very often but its one of my most fave fishes to eat. The fish had an olive caper butter sauce but it was very light. My appetizer was a flaming cheese that I want to go back and have again.  I am so lucky to travel and try new places to eat.
I have a very full day tomorrow with training and no plans for tomorrow night yet. We shall see.

Out and Aboat (about but the canadians pronounce it like boat)

I'm in Toronto ,Canada this week for work. The flight today was almost 4 hours long and i could not sit still because of my back. Seriously, i have no choice but to schedule a Dr appointment for next week. This is the longest i've gone with so much pain in my back. I am walking crooked and i hurt so much every day. I feel like the biggest baby complaining about my back but y'all i'm just not myself lately. I went to dinner with Wendy (my boss-and friend) at SpringRollsSpring Rolls . It's a PanAsian restaurant and it was very busy. Today was a holiday here in Canada-Thanksgiving Day. We worked from our hotel room after we landed because the office was closed.
How was my weekend? I drove to East Texas on Friday to go stay the night with my sweet grandma (Nanny). She lives2.5 hours away one way and that was not good for my back. I had great visit with her but we didnt do much at all. My eyes watered from my back and i just laid on the floor alot. We did sew some of my 2x shirts though. I took my sewing machine with me so she could help me with my hemming. I paid a little boy that lives in my apartment $1 to carry my machine down the steps and into my truck. Best dollar spent for sure.  I am so not good at sewing and i want to be! I have so many ideas in my head that i need to get better at.
I drove home Saturday afternoon back to Dallas because i had dinner plans with a few friends that night. You know i was so close to cancelling because of my back. I thought about it and thought that i could be in a restaurant getting caught up with my friends in pain or i could be sitting on my couch at home alone in pain. So yep- i went! I had a great time but my friends kept saying you must feel bad - I can see it on your face. I had such an awesome drink- it was a frozen drink called a Dragonberry. YUMMY!! That made me feel better. We had dinner at  Sambuca 360 a bar/restuarant that also had live music. My friend Vicky works there in payroll and other admin stuff.

Vicky and me

Me after my Dragonberry drink

Yesterday (Sunday) i managed to go to both my churches the nursing home Autumn Leaves and then to Horizons. I went home after that, took a long nap on my heating pad and then got up and packed for my trip. I have never been a napper but i think my pain wears me down. My neighbors made a pot of chili and invited me to bring my bowl over and grab some. It was very spicy and he added corn to it which was a little different. It was still very tasty and i was so happy not to cook or drive to get something. It started raining last night too which is so very needed in Dallas. I love listening to the rain while snuggled in bed.  I went to bed a happy girl!

Just Kicking around

You know i noticed i dont blog much when i'm not traveling. It's so much easier when i'm stuck in a hotel room at night to whip out the ol laptop and fire off a post. Oh well.  To get caught up from this weekend - i had soooo much fun last Friday night. After work i had to host our monthly womens CMA get together (we take turns every month). I chose a local Italian place called "Italian Villa". It is yummy and their portions are huge. I think I did good because all the ladies seemed happy. I ordered the chicken carciofi that had mushrooms and artichokes in it. TO DIE FOR! I could eat artichokes on anything. I am so picky but the things i like are funny. I hate most all vegetables. Not Good.  Anyway back to subject, I only got to stay for 2 hours because i was meeting some other friends for the concert. We just created our CMA chapter at the first of the year. We all really dont know each other all that well but we're trying to. I can just say that most of these women make me heart happy to be around. They have such a unique difference about them and so different. I like being around strong Christian women that can show me and guide me to keep me on the right path. 
My friend Dyan picked me up at my place and she brought a friend of hers Deb who i had never met. I liked Deb right off the bat and she was fun to be around. Dyan and I were serious party girls in college at North Texas. We got connected again thru Facebook about a year ago and we saw each other in person on her birthday. It has been at least 18 years since i had seen her last.  Isnt it great to find a good friend and pick up where you left off? We went to BillyBob's in Ft Worth to see Robert Earl Keen in concert. I love him y'all! Such a fun laid back performance. His music is so Texas and fun. I bought another T-shirt that said "Road Goes On Forever". It was on sale for 10$ and it's a 2x. LOL. I will cut it off and sew it so it wont look like a nightgown. Afterwards we walked a little thru the stockyards but it was pretty late and we're an hour from home. We had a bottle of wine and a few cocktails but i wasnt even snockered at all. I look that way in the pics. It was a long week and it showed this Friday in the pic. These pictures are blurry but its something.

Dyan,me,Deb

Have I mentioned that one of my goals is to pick up guitar lessons again and play a song with my Dad? Daddy bought me the coolest little Martin guitar 6 years ago. I took lessons but then started traveling like crazy and couldnt do it anymore. Unfortunately, i did forget nearly everything i learned. One of the couples in my CMA chapter (Ray and Jaye) are very musically talented. I once loaned my guitar to Ray for our meeting and told him i didnt know how to play and he offered me some lessons. Yay! I took him up on one last night and boy was it hard. I have so much respect for musicians. The finger placements are just not natural and very awkward. I have to practice like crazy. Another thing is that my strings are steel strings and it was much harder to learn on. Ray suggested to buy a cheap guitar with regular(nylon,plastic) strings to get used to it. Who knew? When i practiced with his it did make a difference. Wish me luck on this. I have to travel again next week so already will be missing a week of practice.
SSSHH- i'm shopping tonight for a new pair of dress boots. I feel like that should be a secret because most people who know me will freak that i'm buying yet another pair of shoes. I dont have a pair of tan/beige knee boots and i think i need them for some outfits i have in mind in my closet. I'm on the search so we shall see....

Life is something else!

SO its only Wednesday and it's been a very long week! Monday is never the best thing to look forward to anyway but this past Monday was the suckiest ever. I am on a team of the most smartest,amazing coworkers that are also trainers like myself. When i first joined this team 7 years ago, there were 12 of us.  We had some people transfer into other positions along the way and for a while we've been down to 6. Due to company cutbacks that had NOTHING to do with performances we had to cut 2 from our team. This hits home in so many ways. First of all, when we travel with each other it makes you much closer than even sitting next to someone in your office. You're having to share cars, meals (hence the car sharing), stays in same hotels(own rooms of courses), etc.  We become family. You're far away from your own family and during good times and bad- a fellow trainer was there with you. I kinda have that survivor guilt where i feel weird that i have a job. However, i'm praising GOD on the hour for blessing me with my job. On a side note, the 2 friends that were laid off are both in a really good place financially and i know they'll be ok. AND now with only 4 trainers,i'm going to be so crazy busier than ever.
Ok, on a happier point, another coworker  Rashmi is due to have a baby boy any day now. She's been on bedrest for the last month and we gave her a baby shower today. It was a great success! We decorated the office with bunches of blue balloons, signs, and we all brought her gift cards and presents, and FOOD. We get excited to have a reason to bring food. LOL.  Rashmi and her family recently moved to Dallas from Atlanta and she has no family here. She was so excited and touched that we did this for her.
I brought a most yummy dish i found on Pinterest (my addiction) that is Pizza Dip. It was a hit and literally was an empty pan left.
Here's how easy it is: 1 block of cream cheese, a 1/2 cup of sour cream, a bag of mozzarela cheese, a jar of pizza sauce, pkg of pepperoni's, sprinkles of oregano and garlic flakes, and whatever veggies you want to add. I used a can of sliced black olives.
Mix the cream cheese and sour cream, and seasonings together and spread thin in  bottom of a small casserole pan, add the pizza sauce over that, layer the pepperonis and veggies, then cover with cheese. You can layer 1/2 of the bag of cheese on top under the sauce and then remaining on top. I love it cheesy and gooey! Bake for 20 minutes at 350 (preheated). I served with crostini's and it was good but you can use chips too.
I'm having dinner tonight with a member of my team that lives in Illinois but is here for some meetings. We're going to LaMadeleine. I love this place. They have the best chicken ceasar salads and i need something on the salad side after all the crap i ate today at office.
I am soooo excited for Friday to get here. I am hosting my CMA chapter womens dinner that evening for a few hours which should be good.  After dinner, i am meeting an ol college friend of mine (Dyan) whom i got reacquainted via Facebook this past year. The two of us are going to Billy Bob's in Ft Worth to see one of my most fave singers Robert Earl Keen. Woohoo! I saw him 2 years ago and had him sign my cowboy hat. Yep, i'm wearing it!!  He doesnt come on stage until 10:30 pm which is kinda scaring me cuz thats kinda late but i'll get my second wind. Should be tons of fun and i hope i have pics to share.  Gotta run...