I can’t concentrate because about 2 hours ago I was asked (read: ordered) to let someone go this afternoon. She’s nice but useless and I understand why she needs to go but I thought it would be far nicer to do it in the new year… my boss feels that “he doesn’t want to pay someone for being useless!” and I don’t have much choice but to comply. This dismissal goes against what I know to be good HR practices – that terminations should happen in the middle of the week and away from annual events.
But this is his common business practice… make a decision and want to see action now! (I mean NOW!) These decisions are made regardless of the implications that this may have on the other staff in the office, the employees mental health and the general morale of the office.
Not only all that (wasn’t enough I know) but the prospect of being such an evil woman has my tummy churning in all the bad ways. I’m feeling overly warm and I can’t concentrate on work at all – I think tonight I’m going to need some serious anti-stress activities.
Update: Well it's done, I've switched some staff around and it's going to suck but I've made one staff member very happy... and I think she deserves that happiness. Now I'm off to the mall to bury this guilt in shopping and then something alcoholic shortly afterwards.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Roasted Beet Salad
Well the salad was a hit... next time I think I'll try putting the beets in a sealed Ziplock bag.
2 bunches fresh beets (with tops)
1 red onion
Olive oil
Dressing
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Sea Salt
Pepper
Caraway seed
Peel beets & slice into sticks, peel & slice onions lengthwise – toss with olive oil and roast in a 400 degree oven (about 45 minutes or onions are brown tipped).
Place Dressing ingredients in a blender and hit high speed for a couple of minutes. Add dressing to beets (at this point you can let it all sit for as little as an hour to 2 days).
Wash the beet tops, tear the leaves off to use as greenery (if you just bought regular beets you can use spinach) and create celery like sticks out of the stems.
Just before serving add the greens to the (room temperature) beets… mix up and sprinkle roasted pumpkin seeds on top if you wish.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Next time I’m making latkes…
Or anything other than what I made for our “Heritage Potluck”
When it was announced that we were supposed to bring a “dish that reflects our cultural heritage” I knew I had a ton of options… my family being what it was and my personal kitchen history being fairly prolific. I tried to think of something nice (preferably vegetarian), fairly easy to eat, yummy and that I’d be able to make enough for 20 people to have a taste. I had options from Ukrainian, German, Jewish & Scottish/Metis… while not all known for their gastronomic prowess there are some good solid options in each culture that can be shared successfully.
I was more than happy to contribute and thought about getting creative… however in the end I decided to go with a dish I’d already successfully prepared for guests (well the quilting girls). I decided to go with a Roasted Beet Salad (those Ukrainians sure love their beets, so do the Germans for that matter!) that I found in the fall Food and Drink magazine… it’s sweet, hearty and settles surprisingly light. I roasted the beets in advance and prepared it all last night, settled it into my reusable sopping bag in the fridge and focused the rest of my attention on finishing up some Christmas presents to send home to Winnipeg.
This morning when I actually remembered to grab my bag I was happy… the train wasn’t packed and I was happily reading the paper when I caught the whiff of rice wine vinegar – it took only a second for my brain to process that the scent was from my salad dressing. It took another couple of seconds to realize that must mean that I was leaking salad dressing… and indeed when I looked down there were what looked like little drops of blood on the floor of the train - the beet salad was attacking me!
I now have a red stripe on part of the butt on my winter coat (that’s light green and cream – of course), my reusable bag is stained a fetching shade of pink and sadly I became “that guy” because it looked like I dripped blood all the way from Spadina station to Queen… it looked like I had a head in a bag or at best was carrying a bunch of fresh steaks that I didn’t know how to wrap properly. I should have known better because the dish leaked a little on the way up to Collingwood, clearly I’m either dense or incredibly optimistic.
So if no one likes the salad I’m switching over to latkes for potlucks, they travel well and with a food processor are easy to make. If they do like the salad (and chances are they will) then I’m taking suggestions on how to prevent another massacre on the TTC.
When it was announced that we were supposed to bring a “dish that reflects our cultural heritage” I knew I had a ton of options… my family being what it was and my personal kitchen history being fairly prolific. I tried to think of something nice (preferably vegetarian), fairly easy to eat, yummy and that I’d be able to make enough for 20 people to have a taste. I had options from Ukrainian, German, Jewish & Scottish/Metis… while not all known for their gastronomic prowess there are some good solid options in each culture that can be shared successfully.
I was more than happy to contribute and thought about getting creative… however in the end I decided to go with a dish I’d already successfully prepared for guests (well the quilting girls). I decided to go with a Roasted Beet Salad (those Ukrainians sure love their beets, so do the Germans for that matter!) that I found in the fall Food and Drink magazine… it’s sweet, hearty and settles surprisingly light. I roasted the beets in advance and prepared it all last night, settled it into my reusable sopping bag in the fridge and focused the rest of my attention on finishing up some Christmas presents to send home to Winnipeg.
This morning when I actually remembered to grab my bag I was happy… the train wasn’t packed and I was happily reading the paper when I caught the whiff of rice wine vinegar – it took only a second for my brain to process that the scent was from my salad dressing. It took another couple of seconds to realize that must mean that I was leaking salad dressing… and indeed when I looked down there were what looked like little drops of blood on the floor of the train - the beet salad was attacking me!
I now have a red stripe on part of the butt on my winter coat (that’s light green and cream – of course), my reusable bag is stained a fetching shade of pink and sadly I became “that guy” because it looked like I dripped blood all the way from Spadina station to Queen… it looked like I had a head in a bag or at best was carrying a bunch of fresh steaks that I didn’t know how to wrap properly. I should have known better because the dish leaked a little on the way up to Collingwood, clearly I’m either dense or incredibly optimistic.
So if no one likes the salad I’m switching over to latkes for potlucks, they travel well and with a food processor are easy to make. If they do like the salad (and chances are they will) then I’m taking suggestions on how to prevent another massacre on the TTC.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Cadillac Fairview – Bah Humbug
So as I was waiting in line to buy a Cadillac Fairview giftcard for a departing employee (how the heck am I supposed to know what she wants?) - I was thinking “hey this maybe this is the answer to Christmas this year!” I can’t stand Christmas shopping in general and anything that makes it better makes me happy… so this could have been a great option.
Then I bought the card, and it all changed! First there’s a “service charge” of $1.50 which is not cool. Then when you read the “terms and conditions” you find out that after 15 months (yes just over a year) they start charging a $2.00 “account maintenance fee” every month PLUS tax. It will be “deducted from the outstanding balance” – to be honest outstanding balance screams debt owing in my mind. It can’t be replaced or reloaded so it’s essentially a piece of crap… I would have returned it but I’m pretty sure the departing employee can use it shortly.
Instead I’ve decided on something else this year for Christmas… maybe not totally cheap but hopefully exactly what everyone on my list will like - CanadaHelps.org online charitable contributions I can give each person an amount that they can donate to the registered charity of their choice – sweet! Philanthropic and personalized… I love it entirely. Plus no more crap presents to find and ship!
Then I bought the card, and it all changed! First there’s a “service charge” of $1.50 which is not cool. Then when you read the “terms and conditions” you find out that after 15 months (yes just over a year) they start charging a $2.00 “account maintenance fee” every month PLUS tax. It will be “deducted from the outstanding balance” – to be honest outstanding balance screams debt owing in my mind. It can’t be replaced or reloaded so it’s essentially a piece of crap… I would have returned it but I’m pretty sure the departing employee can use it shortly.
Instead I’ve decided on something else this year for Christmas… maybe not totally cheap but hopefully exactly what everyone on my list will like - CanadaHelps.org online charitable contributions I can give each person an amount that they can donate to the registered charity of their choice – sweet! Philanthropic and personalized… I love it entirely. Plus no more crap presents to find and ship!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Girls Weekend
Ah the days gone by of wild weekends away with friends, exploring a new city, finding the cool places to shop, partying in hotels and running down the streets yelling “Ou et le Club Super Sex?” Sounds good, or at least it sure sounds like it was fun… shared hotel rooms made for some interesting experiences but all in all the memories were worth every minute.
So contrast that with last weekend, 10 women in a Collingwood chalet with 10 sewing machines. It was a quilting weekend (I didn’t quilt though), everyone packs up their current project(s), makes one meal for the rest to share and leaves the kids at home. The chalet is rented twice a year in the low season and the entire reason is to get away and stay focused on your projects. While I had no quilting projects to be done I have had a never ending pile of mending sitting beside my sewing machine for ages – so I packed up the dresses, tops, pants & skirts that needed a new hem/buttons/seam and hoped for the best.
The good; I actually fixed 2 dresses, 2 pairs of pants, 2 tops and a skirt – all items I really like and have wished to wear many times over the last few months! The chalet was huge, big bedrooms, comfy beds and a fully equipped kitchen – plus a hot tub and steam room… nice touches to make it all a little more relaxing.
The bad; despite a setting where the only thing I had to do was get to the projects on hand (that was 7 of 17 projects I have sitting in my pile)… I still procrastinated by reading the magazines someone else brought (Woman’s Day!?!?!?).
The ugly; This persistent cough that I took up with me and came back home with, the barking was driving me nuts and I had a headache the entire time from the rattling. I somehow left my apartment with not a single toiletry which meant a trip to the downtown Loblaws first thing Saturday morning which turned out to be a good thing because around 3 there was a shooting right beside the same store - next time I’m remembering to check my packing list before I leave home… then again I must be getting better because I remembered socks and pants this time!
So I still have dresses to take in, skirts to knock off and other stuff to get done… anyone up for another sewing weekend?
So contrast that with last weekend, 10 women in a Collingwood chalet with 10 sewing machines. It was a quilting weekend (I didn’t quilt though), everyone packs up their current project(s), makes one meal for the rest to share and leaves the kids at home. The chalet is rented twice a year in the low season and the entire reason is to get away and stay focused on your projects. While I had no quilting projects to be done I have had a never ending pile of mending sitting beside my sewing machine for ages – so I packed up the dresses, tops, pants & skirts that needed a new hem/buttons/seam and hoped for the best.
The good; I actually fixed 2 dresses, 2 pairs of pants, 2 tops and a skirt – all items I really like and have wished to wear many times over the last few months! The chalet was huge, big bedrooms, comfy beds and a fully equipped kitchen – plus a hot tub and steam room… nice touches to make it all a little more relaxing.
The bad; despite a setting where the only thing I had to do was get to the projects on hand (that was 7 of 17 projects I have sitting in my pile)… I still procrastinated by reading the magazines someone else brought (Woman’s Day!?!?!?).
The ugly; This persistent cough that I took up with me and came back home with, the barking was driving me nuts and I had a headache the entire time from the rattling. I somehow left my apartment with not a single toiletry which meant a trip to the downtown Loblaws first thing Saturday morning which turned out to be a good thing because around 3 there was a shooting right beside the same store - next time I’m remembering to check my packing list before I leave home… then again I must be getting better because I remembered socks and pants this time!
So I still have dresses to take in, skirts to knock off and other stuff to get done… anyone up for another sewing weekend?
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Flowers
So where’s the problem some might ask… the problem lies specifically with a couple of varieties, namely daisies & chrysanthemums/mums. You might think if one is lucky enough to receive flowers then one shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth but I’m going to be picky here… I think that those cheap flowers look cheap & sad, like nobody took the time to pick out something that suits me. I may have grown up with black-eyed susans and other wildflowers but these days they make me think of things unkempt/untidy and they're something I’d prefer to visit in a field than have on my table. As for mums – they’re the flowers of funerals and thus I’d prefer not to see them in any other context.
Sorry that this rules out the common Dominion bouquet but I’m actually fine with that… I’d far prefer occasional fabulous flowers than the 10-day bouquet. Strangely for this apparent hate on for those simple blooms I truly enjoy roses* which are far less imaginative or sometimes even difficult. I love almost any other kind of flower… all I ask is that they make a statement.
*I also enjoy the roses that grow up and down my street in the last couple of weeks they’ve all disappeared as their gardeners have chopped them back in anticipation of cold weather.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Take a deep breath...
It’s official I’m a working girl… 3 months into my new job and what’s fallen off my plate? Blogging, laundry, friends, my family… all of which are crying Booooo now – sorry!
So what have I been doing? Working like a dog, taking classes, going out on dates, going to football games and kids birthday parties, traveling and trying to catch up with old co-workers … stuff.
Let’s play the game of catch up starting with - I know what you did last Sunday… The TTC Type and Tile Tour aka the TTTT. Hosted by Joe Clark who is a sign enthusiast but is helping to raise awareness of the issues of wayfinding in a system I use everyday. Read an interesting interview here, not with Joe but a former TTC guy Bob Brent.
Okay so maybe it’s semi-professional interest but wayfinding has always been a bit of a thing for me. For instance, I can remember being in the hospital in Fredericton performing the bedside vigil for my grandmother and taking a break to wander – where did my mind go while walking down the hall (aside from family memories)? To the way the hospital has coded their space so that you know when you enter and exit certain areas, the use of colour and images that help you identify your location in the building. I was especially struck by how you almost didn’t need a map… I challenge anyone to try that on the TTC, in Women’s College Hospital or the underground PATH system.
If my life were a video this is where we rewind… this time back 3 weeks. There was an interview with a University of Winnipeg Professor of Women’s & Gender Studies to talk about being raised by a feminist. Interesting conversation over the course of dinner about what it means to be a feminist and how being raised by one affected me and what my choices in life might be… the more she asked questions about what feminism was the more I felt like I was railing against the idea of being feminist. Then I asked her a question about how she sees feminism in general and the conversation shifted from a very focused conversation on my own personal perceptions of my family dynamics to global impacts of feminism – and shocker of shockers there I was saying “if I was in a country where my rights, freedoms and opportunities were impinged because I was a woman… well I’d be the first one screaming from the rooftops that change needed to happen.” So where does that leave me now… I guess it means that I think I can do anything if I only apply myself & so can you!
Rewind #3… we went to France. Mom, Dee and myself went to France, 13 days, 7 cities, 1100 Euros of shopping, 3 trains, 1 car rental, 2 bus trips, 1 winery, 5 markets, 1 fashion museum. First the fashion museum in Marseille, I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I was disappointed. There was a very good exhibit on show but there was no permanent collection on display, in fact when I asked some questions not only would I have to have booked about 3 weeks in advance to see any of it but it only has a few thousand items in the collection and they’re primarily from the 1980’s onward. When I went to Philadelphia a few years ago their collection was more impressive – though to be honest I still stand by the Dugald Costume Museum (which just moved to Winnipeg) was one of the most interesting collections I’ve ever seen… historical and modern all at the same time.
Rewind even more & Fast Forward… multiple dates with the Argos. Fred, Paul, Bill and I decided to go in for season tickets – right in the end zone. The per game cost was about $18 and what I thought was going to be a fun time turned out to be a renewed love of the CFL… I was cheering with the best of them! I cheered for Winnipeg when they came to town (and no my seat mates didn’t give me any grief) and I’m looking forward to both the playoff game (Toronto got to by into the semi final) and the Grey Cup under the Skydome. Let me tell you after some late season games back in Winnipeg I’m grateful for the warmth of the ‘dome, braving it out like a trooper be damned I’m not going to have to freeze my ass off!
Rewind #4, even further all the way back to July… the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Festival highlights include dancing with my mother for almost the entire set of Michael Franti & Spearhead - we were not the only ones dancing… in fact it was like the entire crowd stood as one when they played, the kind of music you just can sit back and listen to – it gets into your veins and makes you move! The other standout for the festival was Olabelle who sang such a haunting version of the song “Down by the Riverside” that it made me follow them around all festival hoping just to hear the song again, of course I brought that home with me to have for keeps!
Rewind #5 and to go even further back your into my sitting at home thinking about working days. The lazy hazy days of summer that allowed me to cook amazing, yummy meals, bake bread, sit still and enjoy life. It was a broke but amazing time, I now think back to those days wondering how I managed to do nothing at all for so long… I also think about how little stress I had and how much my body loved not having the adrenaline coursing through my system.
Back to today and I’m a business suit wearing manager handling many, many tasks that I didn’t think I’d signed up for (since when am I even close to an IT manager?) but am handling the best I can. I have days where I’m in over my head and others where I wonder how the hell I got here… and then days like today where I want to crawl back into bed. It’s good for the most part and I’m surprisingly good at many parts of what I’m doing, I guess that’s experience talking when things work out well.
I’ve been to 2 kiddie birthday parties in the last few weeks, both of which were a ton of fun. Saffron and I have had a couple of playdates lately and I have to say there’s nothing much like getting kiddie hugs and kisses – well that and running together that’s fun too! My friends seem to be in the midst of another baby boom and in the next year there’s going to be a few additions to the kidlet content of my circle of friends.
I’ve tried my hand at dating recently, with the requisite ups and downs – I have to say that some days I wonder if I just shouldn’t just allow myself to focus on my career, not to say I don’t want other things but I feel like I’m just pushing the issue. Then again it’s hard to see the people I love hitting the life stages that I myself would love to be in… I feel like I’m stuck in limbo waiting for the timing, the chemistry and the rest of it to all fall into place.
So what have I been doing? Working like a dog, taking classes, going out on dates, going to football games and kids birthday parties, traveling and trying to catch up with old co-workers … stuff.
Let’s play the game of catch up starting with - I know what you did last Sunday… The TTC Type and Tile Tour aka the TTTT. Hosted by Joe Clark who is a sign enthusiast but is helping to raise awareness of the issues of wayfinding in a system I use everyday. Read an interesting interview here, not with Joe but a former TTC guy Bob Brent.
Okay so maybe it’s semi-professional interest but wayfinding has always been a bit of a thing for me. For instance, I can remember being in the hospital in Fredericton performing the bedside vigil for my grandmother and taking a break to wander – where did my mind go while walking down the hall (aside from family memories)? To the way the hospital has coded their space so that you know when you enter and exit certain areas, the use of colour and images that help you identify your location in the building. I was especially struck by how you almost didn’t need a map… I challenge anyone to try that on the TTC, in Women’s College Hospital or the underground PATH system.
If my life were a video this is where we rewind… this time back 3 weeks. There was an interview with a University of Winnipeg Professor of Women’s & Gender Studies to talk about being raised by a feminist. Interesting conversation over the course of dinner about what it means to be a feminist and how being raised by one affected me and what my choices in life might be… the more she asked questions about what feminism was the more I felt like I was railing against the idea of being feminist. Then I asked her a question about how she sees feminism in general and the conversation shifted from a very focused conversation on my own personal perceptions of my family dynamics to global impacts of feminism – and shocker of shockers there I was saying “if I was in a country where my rights, freedoms and opportunities were impinged because I was a woman… well I’d be the first one screaming from the rooftops that change needed to happen.” So where does that leave me now… I guess it means that I think I can do anything if I only apply myself & so can you!
Rewind #3… we went to France. Mom, Dee and myself went to France, 13 days, 7 cities, 1100 Euros of shopping, 3 trains, 1 car rental, 2 bus trips, 1 winery, 5 markets, 1 fashion museum. First the fashion museum in Marseille, I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I was disappointed. There was a very good exhibit on show but there was no permanent collection on display, in fact when I asked some questions not only would I have to have booked about 3 weeks in advance to see any of it but it only has a few thousand items in the collection and they’re primarily from the 1980’s onward. When I went to Philadelphia a few years ago their collection was more impressive – though to be honest I still stand by the Dugald Costume Museum (which just moved to Winnipeg) was one of the most interesting collections I’ve ever seen… historical and modern all at the same time.
Rewind even more & Fast Forward… multiple dates with the Argos. Fred, Paul, Bill and I decided to go in for season tickets – right in the end zone. The per game cost was about $18 and what I thought was going to be a fun time turned out to be a renewed love of the CFL… I was cheering with the best of them! I cheered for Winnipeg when they came to town (and no my seat mates didn’t give me any grief) and I’m looking forward to both the playoff game (Toronto got to by into the semi final) and the Grey Cup under the Skydome. Let me tell you after some late season games back in Winnipeg I’m grateful for the warmth of the ‘dome, braving it out like a trooper be damned I’m not going to have to freeze my ass off!
Rewind #4, even further all the way back to July… the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Festival highlights include dancing with my mother for almost the entire set of Michael Franti & Spearhead - we were not the only ones dancing… in fact it was like the entire crowd stood as one when they played, the kind of music you just can sit back and listen to – it gets into your veins and makes you move! The other standout for the festival was Olabelle who sang such a haunting version of the song “Down by the Riverside” that it made me follow them around all festival hoping just to hear the song again, of course I brought that home with me to have for keeps!
Rewind #5 and to go even further back your into my sitting at home thinking about working days. The lazy hazy days of summer that allowed me to cook amazing, yummy meals, bake bread, sit still and enjoy life. It was a broke but amazing time, I now think back to those days wondering how I managed to do nothing at all for so long… I also think about how little stress I had and how much my body loved not having the adrenaline coursing through my system.
Back to today and I’m a business suit wearing manager handling many, many tasks that I didn’t think I’d signed up for (since when am I even close to an IT manager?) but am handling the best I can. I have days where I’m in over my head and others where I wonder how the hell I got here… and then days like today where I want to crawl back into bed. It’s good for the most part and I’m surprisingly good at many parts of what I’m doing, I guess that’s experience talking when things work out well.
I’ve been to 2 kiddie birthday parties in the last few weeks, both of which were a ton of fun. Saffron and I have had a couple of playdates lately and I have to say there’s nothing much like getting kiddie hugs and kisses – well that and running together that’s fun too! My friends seem to be in the midst of another baby boom and in the next year there’s going to be a few additions to the kidlet content of my circle of friends.
I’ve tried my hand at dating recently, with the requisite ups and downs – I have to say that some days I wonder if I just shouldn’t just allow myself to focus on my career, not to say I don’t want other things but I feel like I’m just pushing the issue. Then again it’s hard to see the people I love hitting the life stages that I myself would love to be in… I feel like I’m stuck in limbo waiting for the timing, the chemistry and the rest of it to all fall into place.
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