Over Time

Gee, I feel bad I haven’t posted this week, but there wasn’t anything to post!  Until last night, it was a very uneventful week.  We were offered overtime at work and I took advantage of it one night.  I also worked today from 8:00 to 2:00.  I cannot believe how much I got done in those six hours!  I had my headphones on, my music cranked and I only stopped twice for a pee break and to run out and grab a coffee.  Actually, I’m surprised I was able to make it in for 8:00.  I had a little gathering at my apartment last night, with an Arbonne product demonstration.  We did a foot soak, which I’ve never done before.  Clearly, from the pictures below, my cats were a little jealous:

Abby was nice enough to lick my feet “dry” after the soaking.  Fortunately, Arbonne products are all natural!
Both of the cats were extremely social and affectionate with the guests, which made for a rather entertaining night.

As the hostess of the party, I got quite a few deals on the vast array of products.  I splurged a little more than I had planned, but it’s all good!  The Arbonne rep brought tons of products to demonstrate.  I forgot to take a picture of the table when it was all set up – here’s a shot during the clean up:

Tonight I’m just chillin’ with my kids.  They were a little freakish (more than normal) when I got home from work.  I was rather shocked to see them both mushed into their little house-thing.  Usually I have a heating pad in it for them, but I’ve been yet to locate it this year.  Hmmmm……

I guess this is what it would look like if Mya’s head was attached to Abby’s body.  I used to do something similar to this with my Barbie dolls when I was younger.  I would have Ken’s head on Barbie’s body and interchange the limbs between Ken, Barbie and different ethnicities.  This probably explains a lot of why I am like I am today….

Today’s symptoms:  I’m getting energy-like sensations, shooting through my body.  I think it’s just because I’m overtired.  It’s not painful, it just feels weird.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/30/2010 7:11 PM

Back From Toronto

Chuck and I were in Toronto this weekend.  We stayed at the Hilton right across from Pearson Airport, so we could watch the traffic.  It’s really amazing how many flights go out of there every day.  Here is a picture of the tower from our room:

Most of the planes we saw taking off were Air Canada (however, the bird in this picture was not):

After some plane watching on Saturday, we went to Arizona’s for dinner.  It was great – we had the back room to ourselves, complete with a free pool table.  Surprisingly, I got this one in.  I really suck at pool:

We took a break from playing and had an amazing meal.  We both got the BBQ bison burger.  Oh yum!  This picture makes it look a little yucky, but it was one, if not the best burgers I’ve ever had:

Neither Chuck or I are big bread folks, so we didn’t eat the bun. 

After dinner, we went back to play pool.  I did as well with mittens on as I did without.  What does that tell ya?

After I drained a few kegs, we were ready to head back to the hotel:

I told Chuck how relieved I was that no one walked in while I staged the above photo.  I guess it doesn’t matter though since I’ve just posted it on the Internet!  Duh!

The next day consisted of more plane watching, a trip to Timmy’s, then over to a road near the runway where we watched some more planes much closer up:

Pictures like these really make me love my camera!

Before heading home, we stopped at the Fantastic Flea Market at the Dixie Mall.  It was a great flea market, unlike the one we went to on Saturday.   I won’t mention what it’s called, but you can check it out HERE.  It’s not one we would go back to.

It was nice to be home to see the kids.  I don’t think they missed us but I sure missed them!

Today’s symptoms: Actually feeling pretty good after my exciting weekend!  I guess we’ll see if it hits me tomorrow.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/24/2010 8:52 PM

Jann Arden Rules!

What an exciting week!  On Wednesday, my mother and I drove to the Downsview Airport and went on a tour of the Bombardier Aircraft plant through the Women In Aviation group.  We arrived around 6:30 and the tour started soon after 7:00.  There were 27 people in the group.  They said it would be 1.5 hours but it went over 2.5!  It was a little long, especially with the one hour and twenty minute drive home, but it was still great.  The tour guide brought us over to one of the engines that was ready to be mounted – he said it was $2 million!  Wow!  Here is one of the aircraft they produce – it’s a Bombardier Q400:

We got home quite late.  Fortunately, I had Thursday off as one of my compressed days.  Good thing, because last night we drove to Hamilton to see Jann Arden.  I’ve been to quite a few concerts and this was by far the best.  She was amazing and so funny!  She was cracking jokes and making funny comments between and even during songs!  I will have to see her again next year when she comes back to Hamilton.

Before we went to the concert, we ate at The Honest Lawyer in Jackson Square.  There used to be one across from the CRA office in St. Catharines.  Unfortunately, it closed a few years ago.  The food was great.  I asked our waiter-dude to take our picture.  He agreed but first took a picture of himself.  Here’s your moment of fame, waiter-guy!

Chuck and I are going to Toronto tomorrow and staying until Sunday.  We’re going to stay at the Hilton right at Pearson Airport, with a perfect view of the planes a’comin and a’goin.  Should be a great weekend!

I guess I won’t get to visit Vyctor this weekend.  Hopefully he’ll be ready to rock in a couple more weeks:

Today’s symptoms:  I think I had a little too much excitement this week!  I was very fatigued today with quite a few sharp pains in my limbs and hyper-sensitivity. 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/22/2010 8:42 PM

Elizabatics

I think if I win a very large lottery, I’m going to buy a slew of aerobatic airplanes and start an aerobatic flight school.  I will have an Elizafleet of planes and I will hire instructors that are highly proficient in aerobatics.  I will call it Elizabatics Flight School.  Ah yes, I can see it now!

Back to reality.  I did my presentation for the Zonta Club last night.  What a great bunch of people!  I felt so comfortable around them and wasn’t even nervous giving my presentation.  It was just about my life, the challenges I’ve faced, the changes I’ve made, and just about being generally positive in life.  They had their meeting at the St. Catharines Club.  It was my first time there and it’s very impressive!  So, the night was great – great company, food and environment.

Tomorrow I’m driving to Toronto to take a tour of the Bombardier plant.  It should be interesting.  I just wish it wasn’t in Toronto – yucky drive!  The next night my mother and I are going to the Jann Arden concert in Hamilton.  What a crazy week I’m having!

I saw little Vyctor today.  He was sitting in his hanger, bits and pieces missing and all over the place.  His seat belts are in Winnipeg, his propeller is in Toronto and his rudder is in Welland.  Hopefully his inspection will be completed soon so they can reassemble him for his first flight as a Canadian!  Yea!

I can’t wait to tweak his little nose like this again:

Today’s symptoms: I was really weak and tired today.  I had some crushing pains in my hands, which I haven’t experienced for the last year or so.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/19/2010 9:20 PM

Tiny Zipper

My little mother broke the tiny, little zipper on her coat the other week.  I offered to take it to my tailor’s to have the zipper replaced.  I went back to pick it up about five days later.  The tailor said she is still working on the coat as she is having a hard time finding a replacement zipper that is short enough.  I suggested she just take the fly off a pair of jeans, as it would be about the right length.  To my delight, she heeded my advice and was able to locate a short zipper (about three teeth in length).  It sufficiently stretched its way from the collar to the bottom of the jacket.

On Monday, I will be giving a “motivational” presentation to the Zonta Club in St. Catharines.  I did a similar presentation during a women’s day event at work last year.  I will be able to use some of the previous presentation, but will have to tweak it a little to add in some items over the last year (like the new airplane!)  I’m really looking forward to it.

This upcoming week is going to be rather busy.  I have to give the presentation on Monday, I’m going to Toronto to tour the Bombardier plant on Wednesday, the Jann Arden concert on Thursday then a retirement party (unfortunately not mine!) on Friday.  Yikes!

Today’s symptoms:  I slept in past 9:30 today.  I didn’t sleep well last night due to a bout of restless leg syndrome.  Other than that, I’m feeling just a little tired!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/16/2010 7:10 PM

Crazy Morning

I just thought I would run you through my morning yesterday.  Here’s how it went down.  For starters, I couldn’t wake up.  I had to hit the snooze bar twice.  I set my alarm for 6:33 and I am always at work on time for 7:15.  Needless to say, this provides me with little room for error.  My body just wouldn’t respond yesterday, so after rushing around frantically, I left for work only a few minutes late.  I drove that day as I had to make a fudge delivery at lunch.  As soon as I got to the outside ramp from our underground parking at the apartment, I was stopped by a van who was blocking the driveway in order to boost another van.  I had to wait for almost five minutes.  Finally they finished and I headed out to the street.  Right before getting to the road, the recycling truck came in. Of course, he came in the exit as the recycling bins are placed outside the loading doors by that side of the building.  I had to back up all the way to the back of the building and drive out the entrance.  About two blocks from the apartment, a car pulled out of a side street and I had to slam on my brakes, which caused my car to skid.  I made it to the parking lot across from my office only minutes later.  I put my money in the machine to get a parking pass for the day.  It processed my money and made the sound it makes while it spits out the ticket, however, no ticket appeared.  I do believe it was at this point that I realized I was having a bad morning, and it was only about 7:20 am.  I walked into the office and planned on calling the parking-dudes, telling them about their parking machine issues.  I noticed my voicemail light was blinking and I figured I would only have one or two messages.  The morning only got better when I heard “You have nine new messages!”  Ugh!  Fortunately, the rest of my day went fairly well.   Actually, there was one more little incident.  Someone, and I won’t mention any names, I will only say he likes fudge and works in an orb-like environment (you know who you are!), mentioned that my cats were NOT cute!  Here I am, lovingly taking my lunch time to drive to this person’s place of employment, to bring him a batch of fudge I made for him, and he has the audacity to suggest my cats are anything less than cute!  Humph!!!  Well, I have big news for you Mr. Fudgy Orb, my cat’s are as cute as they come!  Nyah!  Look at these faces and then tell me again that they are not precious little sweeties, enveloped in an angelic ORB of cuteness!

I rest my case!  Any time you would like to apologize and admit to your heinous error in judgment, I will gladly listen!

Today’s symptoms:  I started to feel very drained by mid-afternoon.  Regardless, I made myself stay at work a couple extra hours for over-time.  Yes, I’m stubborn.  Mom, quit nagging.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/13/2010 9:06 PM

SOLD!

Great (but sad) news!  I sold my plane this weekend!  I met with the potential purchaser during the week.  He came down from Oshawa and seemed to really like the plane and said he would buy it.  The weather wasn’t too good for the rest of the week, so we aimed for Saturday for him to pick her up.  Fortunately, the weather was quite nice on Saturday, so we planned for the pick up that day.  My mother and I met at the airport around 10:30, and had a quick, final flight.  I wasn’t sure if we would have time or not, as the Flying Club folks were working feverishly at getting the apron cleared and the Club planes ready and heated for their flights.  We only did one circuit, so we were airborne for about five minutes.  Still, it was nice and as usual, she flew beautifully!

The purchaser arrived and checked out the plane.  I was starting to get a little bummed out at this point:

Here’s my final hug goodbye:

How many people does it take to move a Cessna 150?

I must admit, I got a little teary eyed when she finally took off.  It does make me feel much better, knowing that she is going to a good home.  The purchaser seemed like a really nice guy and I have no reason to doubt that he’s going to take good care of my ex-plane.  Farewell, Odessa von Cessna – we had some truly amazing adventures together! 

Saturday was a rather long day for me as after selling the plane, Chuck and I went to the St. Catharines Flying Club Annual Wings Banquet.  It was an amazing turnout:

Since we didn’t know most of the people there, Chuck and I discreetly sat at the back.  I’m so glad we sat where we did, as all the people who sat with us were very nice and made the night pretty much perfect.  I’m looking forward to seeing them around the Flying Club.  Mind you, I won’t be going there for a while since I don’t have a functioning plane at the moment.  Little Vyctor is still in another hangar, being inspected.  I’m hoping some of the people I met last night come to the RAA meeting tomorrow night.  I’m really looking forward to it as we have yet another great guest speaker.

Today’s symptoms: Despite a long and emotional day yesterday, I’m actually feeling pretty good today.  Just some hyper-sensitivity in my arms and legs.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/10/2010 8:24 PM

Crazy Kids

I’m about ready for bed, so I’m going to keep this blog entry short.  I was just looking through some photos I took around Christmas, and I’ve come to the conclusion that my cats are nuts.  This is them right after we gave them their Christmas present:

Abby continued her dance of joy:

Last week, I saw this odd image when I looked into the bathroom:

Here’s a closer look:

Since they’re hairless, they get cold easily.  Mya can often be found sitting with her front paws perched up on the heater.  This is a picture of her teaching Abby the technique:

Yup, my kids are weird – just like their mama.

Today’s symptoms: Feeling a little more drained than I have for the last few days.  My jaw is bothering me quite a bit.  I just took some Tylenol PM and am ready for bed!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/7/2010 10:30 PM

My Perfect Mother

I just wanted to take this opportunity to write about my perfect little mother.  She is sitting at home tonight, thinking about whether or not she wants to adopt a cute, fluffy little seven month old kitten, who is in desperate need of a loving home.  I would absolutely love for her to adopt him, because she has always loved having my cats around when I lived with her.  She will deny this if you mention it to her, and simply say that she just tolerated them.  Yeah, that’s why she was always petting them, giving them treats and talking to them in a loving and sweet voice.  She is a closet cat lady!  Maybe she thinks that if she adopts this kitten, people will think that she isn’t as tough as she tries to portray.  Ok, she doesn’t actually try to act so hardened, but she tries to keep her soft and loving side hidden to some degree.  No one will think anything other than she is an even more caring and giving person than she already is!  Just think of the fans she will gain from such a selfless and nurturing act – this kitten adoption will make her famous!  I will be the envy of throngs of devoted followers, wishing they were the ones with the most amazing mother EVER!  Not only will I be so lucky, but as will the little fluff-ball she lovingly invites into her home and heart.  I have a tear trickling down my cheek at the thought…

I would like my perfect mother to check out the following videos: 

Kitten Tease

Best Cat Video Ever

So there you have it folks – I officially have the BEST MOTHER EVER! 

Today’s symptoms: Still having a batch of good days!  My fatigue isn’t too bad, just some superficial sensitivity on my arms and legs.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/5/2010 7:57 PM

Applebee’s Encore

Chuck and I drove to Rochester today to do some post-Christmas shopping.  My main purchase was a very warm winter coat that I could use for the airplane.  I only had a Spring coat and a long, dressy winter coat, which weren’t very conducive to airplane inspection and flying.  My new coat is The North Face brand from Dick’s Sporting Goods. 

We are in a motel close to the Marketplace Mall.  Tomorrow, we will be going to the Mall at Greece Ridge.  We missed visiting this mall the last time we came to Rochester (in October or November – I forget!) 

For dinner, we visited one of our favourite restaurants – Applebee’s!  Our hostessessessess’s name was Carol and she was very nice and accommodating.  She quickly corrected our broccoli shortage (double order of broccoli instead of fries) when my meal was brought out with fries.  She was shocked and dismayed at the grandiose error from the kitchen.  We told her we would mention her kind and loving service which she provided to us, in my Elizablog.  Here you go Carol – you just hit the big time!  And you earned it! 
Here are some photos of our lovely meals (after a few nibbles by both parties):

While we were waiting for our meals, we played “Truth or Dare” on my iPod Touch.  One of the Dares was for Chuck to do a handstand.  He was too wussy so I had to do it instead:

That’s about it for today.  I will try to write again tomorrow night.

Today’s symptoms:  I have been feeling pretty darn good.  I survived five hours of mall wandering plus dinner at Applebee’s.  Hopefully tomorrow will be as good!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 1/1/2010 7:34 PM