The Best Policy

A couple of weeks ago, Jen from 3 Little Monkeys gave me my first ever blog award.

Yay! Bloggy bling!

We're supposed to list 10 honest things about ourselves. And then pass along the award. So, here goes...

1) I am not a patient person. Anything that impedes my progress throughout the day results in much grumbling, muttering and general cantankerousness. Thankfully, I'm also not an outspoken person, otherwise I'm sure I would have been taken down by some large biker dude long ago. I tend to keep my opinions of how inefficiency and disorganization are at the core of everything that is wrong with the world to myself.

2) This being the case, my children are often at the receiving end of my mutterings and grumblings. "Come on", "Let's get going, please", and "Eye on the ball!" are often heard around our house in the morning. Because, let's face it, children are not known for their efficiency. At least mine aren't.

3) I love my job. When I graduated with a Geology degree 10 years ago, I never dreamed I would be supervising a team of 2 engineers and a junior geologist. I never dreamed I would be spending less than 25% of my time in a geological role, learning more and more about engineering and management every day. And enjoying it. I've got some great young people working with me.

4) I love my company. I graduated in April of 1999 and joined them in October of the same year after a brief stint at my Dad's small oil & gas company. I haven't looked back. Not once have I thought I would have it better finding oil and gas than being a consultant. They have believed in me, they've walked beside me as a junior geologist, to professional and senior geologist, to supervisor, and to partner. They had the faith in me to ask me to invest alongside them and help take the company to the next stage as the original partners start to retire. I cannot express what that says to me.

5) I am a morning person. I chatter, I bounce, I annoy Hubs and my night-owl friends. I want to have in-depth conversations about the passing priority on the Autobahn. I can often do this without the aid of caffeine. When we drive to work in the morning, I am often shushed in favour of the sports report. Sad.

6) I can watch Food TV all the live long day. I love them all (well, ok, except for the 'reality shows'. And Rachel Ray). French Food at Home, Barefoot Contessa, The Main, Fresh, Chef at Home...I could go on for pages. Canada has such great kitchen talent (yes, I know Ms. Garten isn't Canadian, but the rest of the list is!)

7) I'm a bit of an Okanagan wine slut. If it has the BC VQA label, I'm all over that bottle. None of this Niagra stuff for me. Hey, Canada has great wines! BC has great wines!

8) I am scared of clowns. They creep me out to no end. Oddly, Cirque du Soleil clowns don't. But, a rainbow afro, giant red shoes and colorful clothes? Gah! And don't get me started on the haunted casino clown on Freemont Street in Las Vegas two weeks ago.

9) I love, love, love having two sons. No, we are not planning to "try for a girl". No, I don't want "one of each". I am looking forward to years of Lego, comic book superheroes, and sci-fi geekdom.

10) I want a tattoo. I know exactly what it is, and where it should be. But I refuse to do it until I have lost some weight. About 35 to 40 pounds to be exact. Hey, I've lost 2! I'm on my way!

Thanks for sticking around! Now, to pass along the award. I always enjoy reading what these ladies have to say. I hope you do too:

G's Blue Eyes
Interrupted Wanderlust
Just Another Mommy Blog
Kami's Khlopchyk
Mimi on the Breach
R Royal Family

Cheers!

Spectrums

In class we learned about personality types, and the different testing that determines them. Myers-Brigg, True Colours, all those sorts of tests.

I remember taking a Myers-Brigg test back in Grade 11 (ack! 18 years ago!). I don't remember what I scored, what my personality combination was. When I look at the definitions now, and take the protracted test, I think I would probably be INTJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging).

In class we did a shortened Insight Colour Energies exercise. I ended up as a "Cool Blue", again Introverted Thinking, analytical, detailed, objective, etc.

I also know my True Colours "Gold" designation. The Organizer, purposeful, respectful, details-oriented. We did this at work a number of months ago as a team-building exercise. A company full of Organized Thinkers.

Each time I take one of these tests, I find myself attempting to fit Hubs into one of the slots. He did Myers-Briggs at work. I don't remember his full designation, but he's definitely one of the 'E' crowd - Extroverted.

See, we're opposites, him and I. Hubs gets his energy from being around people, I need a lot of downtime. He's spontaneous, I am an intense planner (so much so that the other day he voiced his concern that I was developing OCD). He is creative in the kitchen. I need to follow a recipe at least the first time, if not more. He dives into projects headfirst, I need to have a roadmap, an outline, some sort of timeline.

On some level I've always known I'm an introvert, but never really knew what that meant. Often I would wonder why I had trouble striking up conversations at parties, public speaking can keep me awake for many nights in nervous anticipation. I always thought there was something wrong with me. Hubs never has trouble talking about his feelings, and often thinks I'm not being as open with him as I should be.

A couple of articles sent to me by a close (introverted) friend recently really spoke to me, and since then I've embraced my introversion. I am proud of who I am, my quiet. I have few very close friends and that suits me just fine. You will never find me on Twitter because I don't think the world needs to know what's on my mind every quarter hour that I'm awake. Besides, I don't think I could keep any tweets short enough. I am an in depth analyzer. Sometimes to a point of detriment.

But, I'm okay with that.

Look Better in the Shade

Cars, cars, cars.

Estimates of how many cars were there ranged from just under 900 to around 1,100, depending on who you talked to. Due to the terrain and the flora, I have yet to find a good spot to take a picture of the whole event. However, the local paper usually has a good view.

The driving range of the Radium Springs Golf Course was turned into a parking lot for one day, and they sure packed 'em in. We were right near the 150 yard marker (well, my Dad and Hubs were). My father drove out his blue 1957 Chevrolet BelAir convertible, while Hubs drove out his brother's Corvette (Z06, I believe). One of those orange-brown-metallic-bronze colours that's hard to describe, and I can never remember the factory name for it. My Corvette, having come down with a case of "Dead-As-A-Doorknob Battery" Syndrome was left at my parents' home. A new battery for a leisure car is not in our budget this year.

My brother-in-law's Corvette.

Trying to be artistic.

My brother drove up Dad's Mid-Life Crisis, but arrived late and was near the back of the driving range. I never made it over to take a picture.

My Mum and I took the boys for a couple of hours to see all the cars. Beautiful paint jobs, gelato, gorgeous weather and scenery, friendly and fun people. Although, next year I will opt out and stay home with the boys. It's not fun trying to keep a four and two year old from touching the pretty cars. And the owners kind of frown on it too (unless you're naked). But, oh, wow, the attention to detail on some of these beauties. (And now, Blogger has decided that my photo-add button should stop working.)

Saw a great baby tee though, at one of the kiosks:

"I spent 9 months renovating my womb and the family kicked me out!"

Priceless. I wish I had seen that when my boys were small enough for it to be cute.

We also celebrated my brother's birthday, and his wife came up from L.A. for the weekend. A nice little family reunion (sans my brother's daughter) in the mountains.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I just happened to look and see that two years ago I started this blog! September 20, 2007 was my very first post. (Though I see now that the type colour didn't update along with the rest of my blog. Thanks Blogger!) I've had times where my posting drops off significantly, but lately I've been really enjoying putting my thoughts out there. And I love the comments. Thanks! And keep them coming!

I've also been really enjoying my daily blog rounds! I love reading your blogs! It's especially great when I stumble across a new blog that captures my attention and becomes a new daily favourite.

So, here's to another great year! May all the world be an inspiration!

P.S. My new gadget? The Spock Quotes on my sidebar. Not sure if I'm going to keep it or not.

New Gadget

(Sigh) Yes, I'm a geek.

Memories

I was feeling nostalgic tonight and was browsing around my iPhoto files after paying some bills. I came across two pictures of my oldest son that I absolutely love. I feel they capture his mischevious, playful personality, even at such a young age.


The first one is at about 2.5 months. This fabulously soft Winnie the Pooh "blanket" that my Mum bought when she found out I was pregnant quickly became a favourite. He still has that smile today. I think he's got one of the best smiles in the world, but perhaps I'm biased.


This picture is a couple months later, about 4.5 months. Not staged, he did this himself, soon after he learned to roll around. He still gets that stunned look on his face that just cracks me up.


And, this is where we're off to this weekend. The annual Radium Car Show. Every year a few hundred cars descend on Radium, British Columbia, and park on the driving range at the golf course for a show and shine. Unlike most shows that tend towards strictly classic cars, all sorts of makes and models can be seen here. Old, new, import, domestic. The Mercedes Benz convertible in front
is my Dad's. That was his mid-life crisis. The '79 Corvette is mine, a university graduation present from my parents.

The yellow '57 Chevy BelAir behind that also belongs to my Dad. That was his first car. My parents dated in that car. It was our wedding car. It originally belonged to his father. My Dad has a whole gaggle of '57 Chevy BelAirs in his garage, in various states of repair. This year he'll be driving out the blue convertible, which he recently finished.

It's the first time we've been out there since 2005 for the car show. I'm excited to take the boys, especially our youngest. His head will explode at all the "beepums".

Will This Do?

Okay, it's moments like this when I feel like a horrible mother.

Our oldest son has been in school for almost two full weeks now. And I still have not taken a picture of him in all his finery. You know, backpack, new jeans, new runners, new jacket.

I don't remember my Mum taking our picture on the first day of school when I was growing up. Ever. Maybe she did though. I'll have to ask her. Maybe she only did it when we were really young. But, I think I would have remember at least seeing the pictures. I've seen all the other pictures of my childhood. And I remember them pretty well.

So, for now, here is a picture from last year. He's gone from two mornings a week to four full days a week. I've gone from preparing two snacks a week to four lunches and eight snacks a week.

I go back to school on Monday too. Night classes for a management certificate. The company's paying. Maybe I'll get Hubs to take my picture.