Hi kids! How are you? I’m… doing pretty okay.

I’m just completing my first full month of working in my new job, and that’s going great – I work with some really friendly, helpful people which has made my transition in my career much easier than I was hoping. The job itself is pretty challenging still, as there never seems to be enough time in my day to do everything. Anything with “flames” shooting out of it (as one of my colleagues puts it) absolutely gets completed on time, but there’s so many things I want to improve the workflow on, which is going to take time.

And, we all know, I’m instant gratification girl.

But, I’m getting there. Every day I notice that my constant stream of questions to my workmates decreases, which makes me feel less like a n00b. In fact, I’m actually confident with answering questions others pose on things now, which is awesome.

In other news, I still can’t believe it’s been a full year since we moved into our new home in Calgary. This time last year, the weather was warm, there hadn’t been any snow on the ground in weeks, and we were about to enjoy time on our new balcony. A YEAR AGO! Holy… where did the time go? It’s like Calgary just HAD to show me what a real winter was like here. This year, we still have a ton of snow on the ground, and I haven’t yet seen my lawn since November.

Well, there you go – A quick catch up on the basics. Tomorrow, I’ll definitely be blogging about my auto show adventure, which I experienced a couple of weeks ago. I had wanted to talk about that sooner, however, this has been an incredibly crazy time for me with work, an industry exam (which I’m freaking out about… no result to report yet), and trying to adjust to this very large shift in my sleeping schedule.

So – YOUR TURN: What’s been keeping you busy lately? I’ve missed hearing from you in the comments, guys!

Wow… this getting up at 5:15am stuff is really hard! It’s definitely an adjustment, but I know I’ll get accustomed to it, eventually!

I love my new job – I’m getting exactly the experience I need right now, and I’m working with four really great brokers. The learning curve in my new career path, combined with the working-hours adjustment is taking it’s toll on my internal clock, though.

As in the past, I won’t be commenting too much here about my working life – I don’t think it’s an appropriate venue. That said, I wanted to let everyone know that life is good, and my career is on track, as I hoped it would by by this time.

Can you believe it’s been exactly a year since we moved to Calgary? So much has happened in the past year… And so much change. Barry and I have been through our ups and downs, and made it out the other side doing pretty awesome, I must say. We’re both in jobs we love, and making friends on a daily basis now. I finally feel like I have a home here, with friends who mean a lot to me.

Having family close by is great, too. I’ve seen Dennis, Heather, Toni and Sean a fair amount lately (and the girls are heading out tonight for some fun!) and hope that we can get on some camping trips together this summer.

The weather is still kicking my ass… We’re expecting as much as a foot of snow tonight and tomorrow in the Southern part of Calgary – I don’t know what I was expecting for my first Canadian winter (WINTER! BRR!!!) but, these extended -20°C weeks weren’t it. This time last year, there wasn’t any snow on the ground, and it was about 10°C during the day. That said, we’ve just come out of a week of plus degree temps, so hopefully this snow blip will be very temporary.

The only thing I know will take some getting used to, is the damned commute on the CTrain every day to downtown Calgary. DAMN. I hate the transit here. There’s definitely NOT enough capacity for the amount of people who take the LRT in to work downtown every day (which is completely necessary, because parking downtown is $600 a month… one of the most expensive cities in North America to park in!) Combine that with the fact that transit in our neck of the woods is just plain stupid (Auburn Bay isn’t really serviced properly) which sees most driving into the CTrain park and ride lots. If you aren’t at most lots by 6:30am, there’s not a spot to be had. Something has got to change with the transit system here. A South East LRT line would certainly lighten the load on the West side… And, it’s eventually scheduled to come just a few blocks from our home, if we are to believe the city’s plan for this neighbourhood. We’ll see.

So, there you go… Coming up… I’ve got a blog queued up about the Calgary Auto Show, which I attended with Barry, Toni and Sean last Sunday. The Chicklette is going to be traded in soon, (I feel like a speed bump on the road in my TT, especially on snowy days) so I’m on the hunt for the vs. 2.0 of my ride! Stay tuned.

YOUR TURN! What have you been up to, lately?

Well, as you can see, I’m down 17.2 lbs since I started this journey back in late December, and I’m pretty happy with the results so far! I had to take two and a half weeks off of training, and that’s slowed my progress somewhat, but I’ve decided to try something a little different for 40 days…

I caught the tail-end of Dr. Oz the other day, while quickly eating a late lunch, and I was very curious about what he had dedicated his show to talking about: hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin) and weight loss. I’d never heard of this hormone before, but apparently, it’s the hormone found in a woman during pregnancy (the pregnancy test actually detects this hormone).

This hormone was experimented with first in 1954 when Dr. A.T.W. Simeons published a study, where he had experimented with administering small doses of hCG with a low calorie diet, and found some excellent results. Today, hCG is used by weight loss clinics for its abilities to help patients lose dramatic amounts of weight – the hormone mobilizes the extra fat stored in the body and utilizes it to produce energy, and the low calorie diet (a shocking 500 calories a day with vitamin supplements) combined with the hCG helps the body to burn the extra fat, and not muscle.

Want to learn more about the history of hCG? Check out this site.

There are a great number of doctors in the States who not only support their patients with this protocol, they actually use it themselves. Unfortunately, there are not many physicians in Canada who understand, or even know anything about the regime. I, of course, will talk to my doctor before starting the program. I’ve seen plenty of anecdotal evidence through reading I did yesterday to suggest that following this diet for 40 days could be very effective. As soon as I get my hands on some hCG, and after talking to my doctor, I’m going to give it a try.

Have you heard of hCG?

Please note: I’m not opening this blog post up for discussion on the dangers of a low-calorie diet with hCG for a short period of time – I’ll discuss this with my doctor before starting any program like this.

Hey guys! Just a quick note to say that I’m busy most of this week and next, so the usual editorial calendar will be back after that.

But in the meantime, I am totally loving life! [squee!!] I’m incredibly busy (awesome), eight of my most favourite girlfriends are coming over tomorrow night for dinner, drinks and a movie, and my husband is THE sweetest guy. What more could a girl want?

YOUR TURN: What are you loving about your life, right now?

*Sigh* – This wasn’t an awesome week, insofar as my weight loss progress, I’m afraid. At just under a pound down, I guess it’s better than a gain on the scale, but I really need to maintain two pounds a week in order to achieve my two goals in time – 165 lbs by May 1st, and 155 by June 15. Thankfully, I’m still just barely on track.

My biggest challenge this week was my food choices. As we were enjoying the BMO suite at the Saddledome last week, I was bombarded by all the drink, deep fried finger food, and desserts my heart desired. And desire it did… thankfully, I held myself to five chicken fingers, two glasses of red wine (even though I’d already enjoyed a couple of glasses wine just a few days before), two cubes of cheese (an absolute no-no for me), and two small dessert squares. What annoyed me about my choices the most, wasn’t that I had a lot, but rather, that I couldn’t keep the number down to a taste or two – or in the case of dessert, one.

Next time I’m faced with a similar situation, I’m going to eat good food beforehand, rather than hope that there will be options available that will fit into my calorie cap.

Aw, well. I’m chalking last week up to a moderate fail, and moving on to the week ahead.

How about you? Did you have successes last week with your lifestyle changes?

What the hell? It’s Friday already? Holy… has this week ever zoomed by.

What are you looking forward to this weekend? Me? I’m off to see the Calgary Hitmen in the BMO box at the Saddledome tonight (yay, free food/drink/parking/game!), and tomorrow I’m off to a super secret get-together (I can’t say where or for what, at the moment …hehe), and Sunday morning at an ungodly hour, I drive Barry to the airport – He’s off for training for two weeks in Toronto. Don’t worry, though! I have plenty of fun things planned to keep me busy (but not necessarily out of trouble) while he’s gone.

TGIF everyone!

Hey guys! It’s that time of the week, again… Time to socialize on the fly! (And, I’ll have one of those shots in the photo, please!)

Here’s how it works:
I’ll start with a question, and the first person answers my question, and then asks a different question for the next person in the same comment. Feel free to play as many times as you like!

I’ll start!

What is your favourite breakfast food?

Blogging since April, 2006, Raul has been a social-media-force since his blog inception. I instantly loved Raul, when I met him not long after he started writing online. His warm and welcoming smile lights up any room he’s in. In Vancouver, “Hummingbird604″ is synonymous with fast-talking, super-friendly, and an all-around social-butterfly. Everyone knows Raul…

When I organized Third Tuesday Vancouver, Raul was the first person I thought of, when I wanted to make sure the event was live-blogged. He rarely missed any of our events, and did a fantastic job of sharing the energy and the information with those that couldn’t attend. Heck, I’d often go back to Raul’s blog so that I could catch anything I missed, the next day. In fact, Raul even live-blogged our wedding! (and did a fabulous job, too!)

Why do I read Raul’s blog? Easy. He’s the one-stop read for things going on with my friends in Vancouver, especially in the social media realm. He never misses a birthday (with a blog entry to boot!) and he’s usually got some fascinating blog post on whatever he’s up to or passionate about. His restaurant reviews are hugely popular, not only on his blog, but also on Urbanspoon. He’s a legend there – I always look up Raul’s Urbanspoon feed before anyone else’s when I want to know if a Vancouver eatery is good or not.

Thanks for being a great friend, Raul, and a blogger I can always pop in on and feel like I’m back in the Vancouver scene! Keep up the awesome writing…