Smoke Monster Hits Ottawa

About 50 fires are currently burning in Central Quebec. Most of these are now under control but the high winds are making things difficult for firefighters. The wind has also pushed the smoke from these fires over 1000 Km away. This morning when I stepped outside I could smell smoke. It was a nice smell - kind of like a campfire. But, when I could see smoke all over my neighbourhood and then all over the city as I made my way to work, I knew that it had come over from the Québec fires. Normally I love the smell of a campfire but, every time I went outside today I felt sad knowing that so much damaged has already occured.

As you can see in the picture, other that it's outline, the Ottawa skyline wasn't visible through the thick smoke this morning.

LJ

Timing is Everything

I had my Tuesday plans tonight...sort of. I think that, even if you're really compatible with someone, the timing has to be right. In this case, the timing - or something - is really off. I think I will be distancing myself from this situation...at least for a little while.

LJ

SATC2

Tonight I went to a premiere of SATC2 courtesy of my friend Adrienne. We were told to dress up for the movie so I brough a LBD (little black dress) and some hot red heels with me to work so that I could change before heading over. Well, it wasn't as fancy as I expected it to be. Hors d'euvres were candy and chocolate bars, drinks were bottles of water with a custom SATC2 label, and fancy meant jeans to some. But, the movie, while long, was great. I thought it was cute and more about friendship than the first movie. If you don't like the show, don't see the movie. But, if you've always been a fan of the show, ignore the critics, grab your girl friends and head out to the theater for a fun night. I'd recommend passing on the late show ;)

LJ

Fulfilling My Civic Duties

Another long weekend has passed. This time it was Victoria Day. A fun fact is that the holiday nicknamed "May Two-Four" actually fell on the 24th of May. Neat :)

It happens to be disgustingly hot outside this week (43 degrees celcius). I had the day off from work today because I was summoned for Jury Selection. Although, as it turns out, the selection was cancelled. It was almost as if this was the first ever panel of jurors because no one had any idea what to do with us until someone found out the day had been cancelled.

On my way back to the west end, a car ran a red light in front of the bus we were on and boy did we ever hit her. Luckily no one was injured other than a few bruises here and there. A sheet of plexiglass ahead of the seats in front of me stopped me from going any further. Luckily the bus wasn't very full at that time.

I also managed to get some groceries and be home in time for my plans that evening. Although those ended up being moved to Thursday. But it's just as well, I'm happy to relax tonight!

LJ

Dinner and a Show

Alright, brace yourself for the following sentence...it's a bit confusing. I've been dating a guy who is friends with my friend's husband for a little while. My friend has really wanted for the four of us to go out on a double date together for quite a while. So, we went out for dinner and comedy this week.

It turns out that Absolute Comedy (on Preston) has a Pro-Am night on Wednesdays. It's really cheap and it's a pretty good show! It was very packed in there this week but I don't know if that's normal. There was a huge group in there this week because their company was having a conference in Ottawa.

Anyway, dinner on the patio at Heart & Crown and comedy across the street makes for a great double date evening :)

...and I'm done

Alright, I think I'm finished with all of these different healing methods for now. After many, many sessions of physio and a couple of accupuncture sessions, I'm still getting pain when I run. So, I'm taking a break from all of those since they're getting to be pretty expensive and I know how to do the physio massages and rehab exercises on my own now.

This was really all triggered by something that happened yesterday. I had my third appointment for accupuncture at 5:30 pm. So, instead of rushing home and then rushing to my appointment, I decided to stay at work a little later. I normally take an express bus home but it they don't stop at the street I needed to take to my appointment. So, I took the dreaded riff-raff express (aka the 95). Oddly, it wasn't very busy at all. I was able to get a seat and, by the time we got to Baseline Station there were hardly any people standing. There was a group of about five teens standing near the back door. I figured they were getting off at the next stop (which was also my stop) seeing that there were still seats left near them and they were right at the door. Well, they weren't getting off. And, because they weren't paying attention or letting me through, I couldn't get to the door within 3 seconds. I called out to one of the teens to open the door but she had no clue what was going on. So, after about 3 seconds the bus driver figured no one was getting off and he took off. Grr! The next stop was quite a distance down the street. By the time we got there I realized that I had to hurry so that I wouldn't be late for my appointment. I RAN down the street and to the house where my accupuncturist lives. I was in so much pain (let's remember the reason why I'm going there in the first place is to help my shins heal) but I managed to get there at 5:29 pm. At this point I'm also sweating considering that it was hot outside and I wasn't dressed for a jog.

I rang the doorbell...and waited...waited some more...rang again...waited again. No one was home! Are you kidding me? I was pretty annoyed on my walk back to the bus stop (at least I was able to go to the closer stop). I took the bus home and decided I didn't want to go back anymore. I might as well save my money. We'll see how that goes. In the mean time, I'm going to stick with biking and the elliptical for cardio.

Productive Saturday!

First of all, my shins were feeling much better when I woke up on Thursday morning. I didn't feel anymore pain and had a smooth walk between home and the bus as well as between the bus and my office.

The lady told me I was to come back for another appointment Saturday morning (today). So, I got up very early today to head over to her house. I actually had no idea what I was going in for. More herbs? To check progress? More accupuncture? What? She checked my tongue again but didn't do the 5 minute pulse-taking this time around. She asked if I wanted to buy some more herbs and I said no. To be honest, I didnt take the ones I bought in the first place because they freaked me out! haha! They were little black balls that smelled like hay. I had to take three spoonfulls three times daily...for three days. It worked out to $1 per spoonful. Pass!

Anyway, she did accupuncture again. I could tell that she wasn't going to the same spots because on Wednesday she put the needles in my shins and on the inside of my foot (ick). This time the needles were placed in my shines and on the outside of my foot. I found it particularily painful when the needles were being placed around the ankle bone on the outside of my foot/ankle. There was a bit of bleeding along with that. But the pain didn't last for very long.

Afterwards, I walked to the bus and made a few phone calls while I was waiting. I didn't go home right away. I decided that I'd do some errands around the Barrhaven mall area before heading home. I picked up some groceries, cat supplies, etc. I'm not at home enjoying a cold drink (it's pretty warm outside!) before I do some cleaning up around the house.

It's not even 1:00 yet and I feel like I've accomplished a lot. This means I'll have plenty of time to relax or do whatever I want with the rest of the weekend :)