We have a little planter, it’s about 4′ by 5′, that is completely in the shade and I’d kind of been avoiding dealing with it, but today is a sunny day and it felt like a day to tackle an ugly project. The hole was full of broken glass, beer bottle caps, w-d-40 cans, plastic water bottles and cigarette butts. And it’s got cement cylinders buried not too deeply…I cleared out the garbage and tidied up our old planters and dug them in too, and made a flower with bricks. Then we went to Rona (yes, open on Victoria Day, but only the gardening centre) and I picked out 3 different hostas, a fern, an astilbe and something else that’s escaped my memory. Ooh, and a gnome.

The long planters will eventually have small plants in them, ground cover type things, I just need to find ones that are shade happy, maybe violets would be nice. The pebbles are just filler for now.

Much improved!

Today, at work, I did a double work out. Let me explain:

Normally I do a 20 minute bike ride-it’s a recumbent type bike-and I average 4.5 miles and burn about 400+ calories. So I did that today, but I was done with 35 minutes left to go on my shift, so I thought, what the hey, do another 20 minutes, so I cranked the difficulty down one notch and pedaled at 130 rpm instead of 145, read a magazine and…the grand total? 8.5 miles and 778 calories burned. Yes, I was very sweaty after. But I was neither tired nor sore. If I can do that 3 times a week I will be skinny before my birthday-May 11. Haha, just kidding.

Then I met Ari at school and we walked home, another 2.2km. Plus I am back onto wii fit. Now I am relaxing with a bottle  glass of wine.

I know I’ve said it before, but I am amazed by how much I enjoy the gym. And gym clothes.

My boss and I have agreed to go to the gym 3 days a week. She works at a community centre, so we get to go for free during off hours (when the weight room is closed). It’s great and way less embarrassing  than with an audience (although I think some people prefer it that way). Not me.  The first time we went, I did the elliptical machine for half an hour and I thought I was going to die. I actually had to sit down for  5 minutes before I felt like my legs would hold me up.   Then last week I  did  it again, half an hour, and burned only 200 calories. What  a rip, eh?  At least I could walk after that time.

Today, same work out (half hour on the elliptical) and I burned 280 calories! Sweet, eh? Not only that, but I did some free weights after AND 10 minutes on the rowing machine! Ha ha! It was great, I practically skipped home after.

This is me, I have never, EVER worked out in my entire life. Sure, in middle school I did track and gymnastics, I took one gym class in high school (grade 10) and did gymnastics until grade 12, then I used to go dancing twice a week in my early 20′s (the hard livin’ years, booze and dancing, it was fun!) but haven’t…well, let’s say that when I turned 30 (6 years ago, mind you) things started sliding down hill. I didn’t care, and I still don’t care, but it turns out I like going to the gym. Who, in a million years, woulda thunk?

I even bought workout pants. Thanks, Megan!

I said I would write a complete review of the book Twilight when I finished reading it. Sorry, folks, I lied. I finished it a while ago and it immediately slipped my mind-that’s how vacuous the book is. Instead, I will provide a couple other peoples reviews of the book/movie. This one is good, he uses further reviews to make his point, and this one is great. Exactly how I feel.

Remember the Queen St West fire? I worked on that block at the infamous Stainless Studios (which is where I met Shannon!) and that fire made me really sad, it really drove home how that era has ended. I walked past the location yesterday-the building Stainless was in is still standing, although who knows how long. It’s been graffitied:

The pile of rubble hasn’t been cleaned up and there’s a mountain of garbage too, what mostly seems to be purple plastic shopping bags:

When you get to the corner of Queen West and Portland, that parking lot is gonzo. It’s being excavated, presumably to put in some big box store, which is a huge shame. What’s interesting is that the parking lot must have been slapped on top of old buildings that hadn’t been dug up, just smashed down and paved over. It’s neat to see the old brick work and wonder what used to be there, what businesses and people and history is being buried under Home Depot:

Part of me feels sad about all of it. Part of me embraces change and thinks that looking to the future is healthy. Mostly I want to get out of the city and live somewhere that I can see stars at night, collect fresh eggs in the morning and breath air that isn’t full of pollution.

Oh, and while I was taking these pictures I was accosted by what can only be described as a mentally disabled transvestite. She was really nice, although at first, made me a little nervous. Here’s the conversation as I was rummaging in my purse for my camera:

Her: “Excuse me, can I ask you a question?”

Me: “Sure!”

Her: “Uh, why do they have those walls at street car stops that block you from going in the street because this morning I was talking on my phone and I tripped on it and almost fell down so why do they have them I could have been hurt?!?”

Me: “Gosh, I don’t know, that sounds dangerous. Are you ok?”

Her: “Yes. But I almost got hurt.”

Me: “Good that you didn’t. I have to go to work now, have a great day!”

And we parted ways. This is the one thing about living in a big city, you get to meet nice, interesting people who only want to make contact with other people.

I hadn’t been to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in forever, so going with T today was a real treat. I love anything farm or farm related, so I was in heaven. Also, any fair that gives away so much free stuff that we had to hunt down an extra bag to carry our loot is good. And we had full bellies too. I think I scored 4 free rolls of toilet paper! Woo!

One of my favourite parts is the giant vegetable contest. Nothing like a 38 pound beet to make one’s day.

I could make a ton of pickled beets with that monster.

Above are giant carrot, crazy giant pumpkin and a huge something. I don’t know, it’s so warped, maybe kohlrabi? Haha, I really don’t know but it weighs 61 pounds, and that is big for whatever it is.

I also love the klansheep. They are so chill.

I wish Alpaca were friendlier. They don’t really like being patted. Maybe they are worried that their ‘do will get mussed. And whoever doesn’t love goats must be pure evil. Goats are the best things since sliced bread.

I love my job, I really do!

I had the funniest conversation with the woman I work for today. She loves being vague, as you’ll see:

Me: Did you get an email from Julia lately?
T: Not yet.
Me: Did you get one yesterday?
T: Almost.
Me: You almost got one yesterday?
T: Probably.
Me: Are you trying to make me crazy?
T: Haha.

She really is trying to make me crazy, she fully admits it. Also, she’d drawn a self portrait on her wipe-off board, so I drew myself beside her:

You can’t tell, but she’s a full foot shorter than me in real life. I crouched down for the picture, haha.