Big ol' post of news...
Jul. 20th, 2009 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deathpixieNow that the juice has just hit my blood sugar, the mega post of updatey-ness I've promised a few people. Mostly because my goodness I've had a lot going on lately!
First and most importantly... I finally signed my contract/paperwork for work last Monday. I am now officially "Classified", which means that I'm a permanent full time employee, who gets health benefits, pension, union membership and best of all, 15 days paid vacation a year. I'm on probation for six months 'cause that's the standard thing, and I can't take the leave until that's over (December 29, 2009, btw), but the good thing is the 7-ish days I earn between now and then that I can't take this year will roll over into next year and I get an extra week and a bit of vacation time next year.
So yes. Security and benefits and all that good stuff. :) Big sigh of relief.
Next... Saturday I spent about three hours before the Jays vs. Red Sox game shaking my can for the Food Bank. Okay, I was shaking a can, but yes, I collected money from game-goers to contribute to charity as part of the Lady Jays Food Bank drive. The Lady Jays being the wives and girlfriends of the Jays; I bought a hat signed by Roy Halladay for Dex off Brandi Halladay, who is rather sweet, and met Brandon League's girlfriend who is amazingly attractive and made me stammer a bit. ;) It was rather fulfilling and I was rather proud of my efforts, given at a guess I'd say I made about $300 in that time. Certainly it's something I'd consider doing again. I also got a ticket to the game, down behind left field in the 100s (the seats closest to the ground) and got to watch my boys win 6-2, plus I managed to acquire a tan for the first time in a while so I look Australian again. ;) The only thing that would have made things perfect is if I'd been doing it Sunday - Roy pitched a full game and got eight strikeouts, finishing the game 3-1 in something like less than three hours. O.o
Summerlicious... I've been to three different restaurants over the past two weeks, all of them amazing. Last Tuesday was Vibo with the roomie's folks. I got the steak and avocado salad, then the roasted pork belly, and finished (sort of, since I was full!) with local berries. Everything was delicious and it's certainly somewhere I'd consider going to again. The final restaurant was Bloom, where the roomie and I treated Johnny and Mindy for Johnny's upcoming 40th birthday (July 23, for those interested. ;)). We had planned to go to the Old Mill, but it was booked out. A fortunate thing for us, since Bloom turned out to be the best place so far. I had the celeriac and horseradish soup, then a massive piece of stellhead trout with grapefruit garnish (I've never liked grapefruit, but it was brilliant on that fish!) and then the banana fritters for dessert (apparently not eating anything before we went was the key to actually finishing the meal for a change. Also, not ordering the bison short rib, even tho' it looked fantastic).
Speaking of short ribs, we've been spoiled rotten by Greg upstairs, who has become a barbeque devotee and has been perfecting his rib recipes, with us as willing test subjects. Saturday night was rib night again, and the pomengranate BBQ sauce was glorious. Not much of that one left over afterwards, that's for sure!
This week's planning to be a quieter one, mostly because [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] is coming up, where I drink too much, don't sleep enough and lose my voice from talking far more than I ever do. It's going to be a smaller one this year - "exclusive" is the term, I think *grins* - but there's a good mix of folks coming so it should be a lot of fun. Johnny's 40th birthday bash is this coming Saturday, so that'll be the big event of next weekend. Hard to believe Johnny Devil is turning 40!
Tonight's plans are to relax on the couch, eat the souped-up mac and cheese that the roomie is making for dinner and go to bed early so I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed for Jane tomorrow. And that's what I've been up to. How about you?
First and most importantly... I finally signed my contract/paperwork for work last Monday. I am now officially "Classified", which means that I'm a permanent full time employee, who gets health benefits, pension, union membership and best of all, 15 days paid vacation a year. I'm on probation for six months 'cause that's the standard thing, and I can't take the leave until that's over (December 29, 2009, btw), but the good thing is the 7-ish days I earn between now and then that I can't take this year will roll over into next year and I get an extra week and a bit of vacation time next year.
So yes. Security and benefits and all that good stuff. :) Big sigh of relief.
Next... Saturday I spent about three hours before the Jays vs. Red Sox game shaking my can for the Food Bank. Okay, I was shaking a can, but yes, I collected money from game-goers to contribute to charity as part of the Lady Jays Food Bank drive. The Lady Jays being the wives and girlfriends of the Jays; I bought a hat signed by Roy Halladay for Dex off Brandi Halladay, who is rather sweet, and met Brandon League's girlfriend who is amazingly attractive and made me stammer a bit. ;) It was rather fulfilling and I was rather proud of my efforts, given at a guess I'd say I made about $300 in that time. Certainly it's something I'd consider doing again. I also got a ticket to the game, down behind left field in the 100s (the seats closest to the ground) and got to watch my boys win 6-2, plus I managed to acquire a tan for the first time in a while so I look Australian again. ;) The only thing that would have made things perfect is if I'd been doing it Sunday - Roy pitched a full game and got eight strikeouts, finishing the game 3-1 in something like less than three hours. O.o
Summerlicious... I've been to three different restaurants over the past two weeks, all of them amazing. Last Tuesday was Vibo with the roomie's folks. I got the steak and avocado salad, then the roasted pork belly, and finished (sort of, since I was full!) with local berries. Everything was delicious and it's certainly somewhere I'd consider going to again. The final restaurant was Bloom, where the roomie and I treated Johnny and Mindy for Johnny's upcoming 40th birthday (July 23, for those interested. ;)). We had planned to go to the Old Mill, but it was booked out. A fortunate thing for us, since Bloom turned out to be the best place so far. I had the celeriac and horseradish soup, then a massive piece of stellhead trout with grapefruit garnish (I've never liked grapefruit, but it was brilliant on that fish!) and then the banana fritters for dessert (apparently not eating anything before we went was the key to actually finishing the meal for a change. Also, not ordering the bison short rib, even tho' it looked fantastic).
Speaking of short ribs, we've been spoiled rotten by Greg upstairs, who has become a barbeque devotee and has been perfecting his rib recipes, with us as willing test subjects. Saturday night was rib night again, and the pomengranate BBQ sauce was glorious. Not much of that one left over afterwards, that's for sure!
This week's planning to be a quieter one, mostly because [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] is coming up, where I drink too much, don't sleep enough and lose my voice from talking far more than I ever do. It's going to be a smaller one this year - "exclusive" is the term, I think *grins* - but there's a good mix of folks coming so it should be a lot of fun. Johnny's 40th birthday bash is this coming Saturday, so that'll be the big event of next weekend. Hard to believe Johnny Devil is turning 40!
Tonight's plans are to relax on the couch, eat the souped-up mac and cheese that the roomie is making for dinner and go to bed early so I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed for Jane tomorrow. And that's what I've been up to. How about you?
