Annie Oakley - and then there was another

And there she was sitting pretty in the kennel just waiting for someone to take her home. Jason and I had been talking about getting a puppy for some time and then in a moment of weakness and after much consideration on the overall logistics of puppy enjoyment decided to go for it. In the end it is something for everyone to enjoy together. When I was about 10 years old I had a cocker spaniel named Ginger and she was the absolutely cutest puppy that "I" had ever seen! She was that dog many of us have as children, you know the special one that we never really forget about. The one we remember playing with in the water hoses outside or taking on long walks or adventures. She was a great puppy and ever since that experience I have always had a place in my heart for cocker spaniels. These good memories of puppy fun was something I wanted to experience again, in some way or another. So, how is the puppy fun going? Well, let's just say that the night time sleep is not quite as restful as it was about a week ago and there is much more discussion around going out for walks. Overall, it has been fun and we are all enjoying the funny with with our very own Annie Oakley, Oakley for short.

The name actually does have a bit of meaning also as you see cocker spaniel's are by nature hunting dogs and as we drove to a remote area in Fredericton we were discussing hunting in general. I made a comment that girls can be good hunters also or something of the sort and of course the reference to Annie Oakley was made and that is how we came to name her Oakley!

So, Oakley is a sign I believe of things to come and how things can move forward in a way that is not completely explainable. What I can tell you is that whatever it is or means, it is a good thing and I am happy about it.

Moving?

Does moving make it easier by just allowing you to run away from the things you don't want to deal with or spend time doing?

I know, incomplete discussion point, but had to write it in as a placeholder for my own future reference..... :|

Summer time is upon us!

It is here, summer time that is. I looked forward to this summer for many reasons. When I was a child I remember enjoying the summer days by swimming in the pools close to my home. We had great community pools that all the children frequented and spent the entire summer jumping and diving into them and socializing around. I even remember making hiking trails in the woods near my house that led to who knows where, cause I don't think we actually ever got to the end as well as making up crazy concoctions such as the finokie fizz...believe me it would have been a hit if we went to market with it! In a nut shell, it was really a great time! In looking back and comparing summer from my childhood days to today, I cringe! Summer now consists of me mostly sitting in my office during the week looking at a white board and a sun with a smiley face made from posterboard placed on a window looking out to a sea of cubicles.

Now, don't get me wrong because there are some great summer time things I have had the opportunity to do this summer such as summer time walks, BBQing and just enjoying time with friends. However, the quantity is a far cry from when I was a kid and I am sure you are likely in the same boat. Now, granted I have likely done some of it to myself...or we all have ... by taking on more during the summer time that we would normally have if our lives revolved around swimming or prancing around the neighborhood with or without shoes depending on how we felt. Instead, I have prioritized my life by taking more off/online classes at school during the summer, working for a living :), and just trying to keep the house in order instead of playing all day.

However, even though it makes sense to have such priorities I think many of us forget about spending time just relaxing and being with the people we care about ..I mean really spending time with them. It is easy to get caught up in the business of life and forget what it takes to really enjoy the "good life". I am certain the good life is a bit different for everyone, but if you don't spend the time to explore it by doing different things how can you ever be sure you have achieved it - even when you think you have!


Oh, so midyear to most and a new year to me, I am taking stalk of what I am doing and if I am opening myself up to explore more of what life has to offer to improve every aspect of my life!

Good luck to us all :)

It's been awhile

I was looking at my facebook page today and thought about how I have a blog, but use it only for school related work. I then considered...why not break the cycle of school only related blog use and just post for the heck of it. So..here I am, wondering what on earth I should post on this ever boring blog.

Well, I suppose I can first start out by saying I am glad 2008 is here. It was a very interesting feeling leaving 2007 behind and I reflected a lot more than I initially thought I would during those last days of 2007. In all respects I believe things are going in the right direction and really that is all you can ask for I believe. There are really no clear cut answers from what I can tell these days and there are times when I am not sure which way the wind is leading the sail. However, all in all things remain good...for the most part.

Oh yes, there are the occasional ups and downs that anyone expects in the course of a life with two children, a crazy cat and a career at both work and school. However, overall things seem to have a way of working themselves out in due time, at least that is what Jason tells me :)

See I am a planner. I like to have a plan, go by the plan and reflect on the plan making changes to it as time goes by and things impact the course of the plan :) Apparently, this is not the way things really go in "real" life all the time and I am starting to come to grips with this. There is an element of just letting things happen, which can be refreshing to live by if you can get there. So, if I would have to pinpoint one thing in 2008 that I am trying to get better at it s....well... just letting things happen and work themselves out.

Anyways, that is enough blogging for now...till next time :)

Christmas Eve

I am sitting here by the christmas tree in my house, sipping a cup of freshly brewed coffee and eating a tastey piece of fudge. It always comes down to this during the holidays. You know, the thinking about the years past and as I stated in my previous blog, the comtemplation of "am I better off now than I was a year ago". Well, I guess depending on who you ask and their point of view on life in general you would get a different answer. This would only be a valueable point of view of course if they had a birds eye view into what my life is like now and what it was before. Now if you ask me...well a few things come to mind.

1. My life is a bit more complicated in terms of when who does what and where we do it. For those of you who know me I am certain this will make sense.

2. I smile more often and feel less stressed out than I did a year ago.

3. I have realized that some of the ideals I had previously would not possibly be able to continue in the long term without taking away from some very important parts of life.

4. In general, I have been missing out on some very important things and I have shared those with someone I would not have thought possible previously...which is a very good thing.


Well, I think I mentioned that I used to measure how much better I was off by looking at the monetary things in life and I have started to realize relationships are a more important prospect into happiness. Well, this year has pretty much secured my view on this and all in all I believe that yes in fact I am better now than I was a year ago..... much better. I am only excited to see how much better it gets this next year... I have a feeling there might be a trend :)

by the way, thanks Dr. Fleet for another great E-Comm class. My A+ has kept my GPA looking very healthy in preparation for the MBA program :)

Personal Report Update

I was in Toronto for most of this past week, sorry fleet for the missed classes, and am trying to prepare for a Finance exam (another one) on Tuesday. I have a birthday party to host and hockey game to go to today which is where most of my day will spent. I am looking forward to the movie party and the game tonight. It seems like a lot, but sometimes it is fun to do the maximum.

I got some great feedback from Dr. Fleet on my personal report (the final draft) which I completed last week. I worked for quite some time on the report, but I agree with him that I need to take a few point a bit deeper. I used several articles to come up with what I have so a far. My game plan is to read over Fleet's comments again, read the full report over again and beef up a few sections that need some vitalization ;) Anyways, I will try and do some of that this weekend.

How to be Nice!

At last an article that will give us all some good tips on how to be nice. I think I could use this on occasion..or at least that is what I have been told :)