Morning After The First Snow

Hello Universe!

I bet you've been wondering where I've been these past few months. No? Well, I've certainly been wondering where I have been. Life has been pretty good lately, so I can't complain but in general I've felt rather lost. Work has changed rather drastically since the summer, with changes in hours, duties, and the people I work with day-to-day. There are aspects that are frustrating as hell, but other aspects that are a great improvement. I'm torn as to what sort of direction I want to go with my life (in terms of career and education) and right now I feel like I've reached an impasse. I have no idea where I want to go and what I want to do.


September was a fairly quiet month (besides work related chaos). Josh and I went to the Zoo one fall afternoon with some friends and we had a nice time wandering around. It's a little bit sad that the Zoo hasn't changed much at all since I worked there. It's also horrifying to think that I started working at the Zoo over a decade ago now. Holy shit! My summer job at the Zoo was my first real job and while it was certainly a good summer job (who can complain about being outside all day during the summer?), I definitely would not want to go back to that. I've certainly come a long way in ten years.


Last month was my 26th birthday. (Happy belated birthday to me!). I mostly took it easy and didn't worry about it to much. I had some friends over and took it easy. Josh and Michelle piled my desk with tonnes of t-shirts, books and candy for my birthday which was totally awesome. They were more anxious to have me unwrap my gifts then I was (so much so that they had me open them a day early!). I also went out to dinner with co-workers to celebrate the birthdays of three of us (all born within 3 weeks of each other). Overall I had a great time and was certainly glad for something a little low key.

My parent's gift for my birthday was getting Josh and I tickets for Mamma Mio! which is currently playing at Celebrations. We sort of picked what day to go at the last minute but we went and had a great time. The last show we had gone to was almost a year ago (for Josh's birthday) and we were pleasantly surprised to recognize a few of the cast from that last performance. We both got pulled up on stage to dance at one point to some great ABBA music and overall had an awesome time. :-)

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Last year Josh and I didn't really get into the Halloween spirit and we only ended up having four kids come to our door. This year with both Michelle and Josh around the enthusiasm was much greater. We went all out, and I mean ALL out. Josh and I decorated the front steps, we packed goodie bags (including ones that were peanut free) and Josh carved some amazing pumpkins. I tried to help with the pumpkin carving, but I was so exhausted (and creeped out by the texture) that I was pretty much useless. We had two pumpkins out front, Boo from Super Mario Bros, and an awesome looking dragon. I wore my new Boo shirt that I got from Teefury.com and we were set!

Matt came over, we tossed in The Nightmare Before Christmas (Josh's favourite) and awaited the arrival of the cute children. The weather was perfect considering we live in Winnipeg, and we got a fair number of children (approx 40). Michelle even jumped out at one girl and made her scream! :D We got a lot of great ideas of what we can do next year and I'm already looking forward to next Halloween!

You can check out a bunch of the Halloween photos Here.

After the high from Halloween was over and I got passed the massive sugar rush, Josh and I tried to sit down and once again do NaNoWriMo. For the past few years I've been trying to match and surpass the success of my first attempt and so far I'm failing miserably. I have a lot of great ideas, but as soon as I sit down to type my brain shuts down. I have ideas and know what I want to write, but the grand descriptions and my excessive usage of various forms of "darkness" just isn't coming to me. I'm not sure if it's a side effect of work related stress, a variety of other distractions (Heroes, Bones, Warcraft) or if I'm just completely out of practice. Whatever it is, it's frustrating as hell! I know that it'll come to me eventually, but I'm resigning myself to the fact that I'm not going to reach my goal of fifty-thousand words by the end of our month. I'm glad Josh has tried to push me to write again though and that he's offered to write with me in order to encourage me. I think I just need to lock myself into a room in the basement, disconnect the internet and tune out the world for a month or two...maybe then I'll be able to write more than a page. Maybe?

In other news, Cataclysm is released in sixteen (16!) days and I can't tell you how excited I am. I've been on a sort of WoW fast for a few weeks now and it's almost time to get back into it. I'll freely admit that I've been addicted to just about every one of Blizzard's games, and I expect that this one won't be any different. All of the new content looks like it's going to kick ass, and keep me bound to my computer for the new few months. (I promise to continue trying to write during that time, I really do. Promise.) At this point I am still torn as to whether I want to pre-order and wait in line at midnight, buy a copy the next morning or just give in a get the digital copy so I can start playing right at midnight. I guess the real question is, how hardcore am I? Votes?

Snow started falling this week in Winnipeg. We were lucky that we had a relatively extended fall this year. Typically our spring and fall are extremely truncated which leaves us with only two significant seasons (awesome and frozen wasteland). So far it hasn't been too horrific, but it's almost time to go and shovel the driveway (for the 3rd time!!!!). We had a brief reprise last night and I took the opportunity to go out with some co-workers and do some karaoke.

I'm by default not naturally inclined towards karaoke and as such was initially hesitant about going. By the end of the night however I had loosened up a fair bit and sang a bunch of duets with Christine: Bust A Move (Young MC), Baby One More Time (Britney), I Love Rock'n'Roll (Joan Jett), All That She Wants (Ace of Base) to name a few. I totally butchered Bust A Move and probably got less then a third of the worlds...and I think Simon got video of that...

A bunch of my co-workers really impressed me. Maridel and Marielle both have really amazing voices (though Maridel couldn't focus on a song long enough to finish it). Marielle stuck to ballads, which were all very impressive. Simon is apparently very southern when he rocks out and does his country music. It was weird hearing him sing instead of mumble softly. Impressive, but still a little weird. Dana had a very soothing voice and was totally not what I was expecting. It'll probably be a few more years before I do karaoke again, but I can admit that I had a blast. :-)

I'm going to end my rambling now and leave you with the video for a song I'm completely addicted to right now. I totally blame Josh, but it's really just because I <3 Katy Perry. :)




Hubble Image Credit: NASA
Cataclysm Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

Photo of the Day: Balloons Galore

Photo Taken: 12/06/2010

About The Photo: For Matt's birthday this year we threw him a surprise party (that he totally knew about). We decorated the house and filled the basement with balloons. After the party was over, I was torn as to how to clean up so many colourful balloons. My solution: shove them in Michelle's room. This photo is the result.

Something To Make You Smile

Theme Song: "Do You Love Me?" - The Contours
Life Outlook: Drained, but Improving
Current Weather: -21°C, Few Clouds

It's been a few days since I've posted anything on here, and I figured it was time for an updated. Sadly, there is very little to update with at this point. I've been sick for the past few days, and today is the first day in almost a week that I feel like a normal human being. Yay for unknown stomach issues and the possible flu. Woo!

This past weekend we celebrated a group ("threesome") birthday for Jackie, Kyle and Josh. We hung out and did dinner at the house, had cake and gifts and went bowling. All in all it was a nice day, despite some of us being rather ill. Matt was feeling pretty sick and mostly took it easy, though that certainly didn't stop him from watching Mamma Mia a few dozen times this past week!

Michelle knit Jackie a wonderful stuffed bear as a gift, which was really impressive. I took lots of photos, as I usually do, and should be posting some on here in the next few days. For now, however, I am going to leave you with a video I stumbled upon yesterday. It brought a smile to my face when I was feeling horrible, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

Photo of the Day: Jan. 13th

Photo Taken: 28/06/2008

About The Photo: Shortly after Josh and I bought the new home in St. Norbert, we had everyone over and threw a house party. Everyone had a blast and we were able to enjoy the new place. Afterwards of course there was much cleaning up to do for the next party (3 days later). It was at that party on Canada Day that we discovered an Upside Down Tent in the lake behind the house. That's definitely not something you see everyday. :-) Now I wonder what sort of excitement next summer is going to bring.

Weekend Update

Theme Song: "Hot In Here" - Nelly
Life Outlook: Exhausted
Current Weather: -16°C, Light Snow

I sit here listening to music on my iPod and I am reminded of a bus ride to work earlier this week. I was waiting for a transfer, minding my own business when a man came up to me and asked for the time. I guess he was also waiting for a bus, and proceeded to wait. Several minutes and a few frozen toes later he turns to me, smiles and says in a rather thick access, "ABBA, sweet." That was my queue to turn down the volume of my iPod. :-)

...at least this time it wasn't a comment about Broadway showtunes.

Tonight's music of choice seems to be a hybrid between the soundtrack from Hairspray and instrumental soundtracks. I wonder how the stewardess knew? :-) Enough about my eclectic tastes in music however.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. Worked, was majorly ill and hung out with friends. I learned that Silicone spelled backwards does not start with the letter N, Mumu's are apparently Back In Fashion, and I apparently moan more than most when I'm getting A Back Massage. Certainly an educational weekend. The rest of the weekend was mostly spent feeling like death warmed over. Yay for a killer stomach!

I think I slept about 12 hours last night, had a lot of weird dreams - but possibly a new screenplay idea. It's been months since I actually was able to write anything of significance. Could this be a sign of renewed creativity? Perhaps so. I'll keep you posted.

My energy is waning, and with that I shall leave you with a song quote and some more pictures from the weekend.

"Love is everything it's cracked up to be…It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for."

- Erica Jong, 2004

New Years 2009

Theme Song: "Get Down" - Ministry of Sound: The Annual 2009
Life Outlook: Positive
Current Weather: -32°C, Clear


New Years Eve has come and gone...



Close friends came together at the house, we spent the evening together, playing games, sharing drinks and having a great time. Jackie brought a new version of Munchkin, which everyone seemed to enjoy. It was nice to get everyone together and celebrate the coming of the New Year. Everyone got a chance to have a New Years Kiss, even those who didn't necessarily want Kyle to kiss them.

Overall I'd call the evening quite a success and a wonderful kick-off to 2009. Josh and I were able to sleep in on New Years Day and just relax. It snowed a little bit overnight, but nothing like the snow we received back on New Years 2006.

Two-thousand and nine...a year will unlimited potential. I look forward to what new adventures this year brings...

A New Beginning

Theme Song: "How To Save A Life" - Vitamin String Quartet
Life Outlook: Optimistic
Current Weather: -20°C, Clear


Hello and welcome to 2009!

It's been almost two (2!) years since I last did any posting on my original legantral.com weblog and I've felt that an update is long overdue. I shall endeavor to remain brief. Please, bear with me.

Two-thousand and eight overall was a rough year filled with huge ups and downs. Unfortunately much of the time was spent on the 'down' side of things, but as they say, every cloud has its silver lining. One of the big highlights of the year is the New Home that Josh and I bought in May. It'll still be a long time before the house becomes a true home, but its certainly a work in progress that I look forward to working on.

One of the biggest changes in 2008 came when I left Royal Bank and began pursuing a new career. I am now working as a Consultant with Investors Group building financial plans for my clients. I'm very happy with the switch and look forward to my new-found career with Investors.

The other major event of note has been my ongoing health issues. Over the past year I've met with a few different Doctors and had several tests done, but we are no closer to uncovering the cause of my health problems. Over the past several months, however, my health has improved dramatically and while, yes, there are still some really bad days - they are fewer and far between now. My improved health has certainly helped to build by outlook for 2009.

Here are some pictures to highlight the year:



A lot has happened over the past year, both good and bad. I've made many great friends this past year and have wonderful new memories. Despite the hard times, I look forward to everything that 2009 holds in store for me. It's time for a new beginning...