"I'm Back!"

Pack, Pack, Pack

My life is only consisting of 3 things right now...Work, Soccer and Packing. We have some big programs coming up for work and I'm spening alot of time working on it. Things aren't happening quite as fast as I want, but when you are hiring people you are going to have to work with for the next 8 months you want to be sure you hire the right people.

I've actually been writing my cheerleader post, but for some reason Blogger won't let me put up pictures. I seem to have that trouble all the time and it's terrible. I'd have a lot more pictures on this blog but half the time it won't let me put up a picture so I just end up posting without one. So, once I get the pictures to work I'll post the cheerleader write-up. But I'll warn you now, the pictures aren't great as it was dark in there and so a lot of the pictures are hard to see.

We move in one week and there is still quite a bit to do. Shiela has been packing lots and when I can get away from work I help out too. We should be all set once next Saturday comes around. If you are interested in helping to carry some boxes or do some fun cleaning give us a shout...we'll find a spot for you.

Grey Cup Hangover

I'm finally back home again after having an amazing time at the Grey Cup parties. Unfortunatelyl I had so much fun that I completely drained myself and now I am sick. I've got a cold, runny nose and I somehow bit my tongue while sleeping and it hurts all the time now. My boss (who happened to be in Winnipeg for the Grey Cup) said it was Grey Cup hangover (even though I wasn't drinking) when I emailed him to tell him I was calling in sick today so I could get better. And that's a good description...the Grey Cup festivities and excitement is so amazing that you literally are hung over afterward.

I'll post more on the Grey Cup later, but for now I'll just leave you with a picture of some of our Brand Ambassadors we had for our Frank's event at the Argos party on Friday afternoon/evening. Anyone know who the guy is?

Partying at the Grey Cup

I'm in Winnipeg now for the Grey Cup Party. Notice I didn't say the Grey Cup game. That's on purpose for two reasons:
1) I don't have tickets to the game
2) I'm realizing that the game iteself is just a small part of the Grey Cup.

I flew in a day early (Friday morning) because we ended up doing a Frank's RedHot event on Friday night for the Argonauts party. Now unfortunately it wasn't just a bunch of Argonaut players, but rather for fans. But not just Argonaut fans, there were fans there from everywhere...and nobody cared what team you cheered for. i now realize that it is irrelevant which team is actually playing in the game...it's more about the atmosphere and the party.

The party on Friday night was awesome. There were three different sets of cheerleaders there...Toronto's (obviously), Winnipeg's, and finally....SASKATCHEWAN'S!! It was cool to see them. The coolest part was that two of the Rider cheerleaders worked for me in Regina for a Frank's event and so i chatted with them for a bit and we talked about the Grey Cup, etc. They were having a lot of fun. Each group of cheerleaders put on a big and long dance routine and they were literally amazing. I feel bad talking about it because people are going to think I'm just obsessed with cheerleaders and good looking people, but that's not it. The routines these girls did were amazing. I fogot that my camera can take video so all I have are some pictures. I was trying to get a picture of the girls doing their cartwheels and backflips, etc. and trust me, this place wasn't very big so they didn't have a lot of room. I'm going to devote an entire post just to the cheerleaders where i analyze the three groups, tell you who was the best and I'll throw in some pictures. Not just because they are cheerleaders, but the routines they did were great and it almost made me think that maybe cheerleaders are athletes? (what do you think?)

i also got my picture taken with a few celebrities. First off, Kerri Joseph was there and i ended up getting a picture with him. i also got a picture of him with my four Frank's girls so maybe I'll post that one since that may be more interesting. Then the next person you probably all could guess if you put two and two together as to where I was. That's right, Pinball Clemens. i shook his hand and briefly talked to him when he arrived, but then he was swarmed. It was impossible to get a picture so i went outside and waited for him to leave. Sure enough, he came out and although his "handlers" were trying to get him inside the vehicle to leave, he was willing to get a picture taken still and was extremely classy. Of course the stranger who took the picture cut off part of my head, but since Pinball is shorter i got all of him! I'll post those pictures when I get back home on Tuesday night.

Well, it's off to go party some more. i need to buy a Rider shirt for the party on Sunday so i fit in. Wearing business casual at these events makes you look like an idiot. Then it's off to the parade after a visit to Riderville and possibly the Lions Den!

It's Basically Official

Shiela and I are now property owners. We have purchased a townhouse, the mortgage has been approved (they just need to verify some documents) and we are excited!! Our original possession date was January 8, 2007 as the previous owners needed time to find a house. However, they found a house over the long weekend and asked if we could move the possession date up to December 8th!! So we are going to be in our new place in less than a month. The people we are buying from are really great too. They were very helpful as we made the offer on the house and they are just very nice people.

We really feel that God gave us this place. When this house was listed on Saskhouses I phoned her immediately to go and look at it. I phoned so fast she didn't even know it had been listed yet! We went and looked at it at 8:00pm that night and were the first ones there. The lady told me she had so many phone calls about the place that she pretty much had to turn her cell phone off at work. They let us look around and figured we weren't going to buy it since we were just the first people to look at it. We had spent some time looking at other houses and townhouses and we knew exactly what we wanted. We loved it and went upstairs to chat with them. I asked them what their bottom price was and then offered $10,000 below that! Just kidding...I offered them what their bottom price was as it was right about what we wanted to pay and said ew'd buy it if we could sign the papers right away (because I knew if we didn't get a deal done right away we wouldn't get the house). They were shocked that they had sold it so quickly and were very happy to sell to us for the price they wanted.

Not having a clue what we were doing, we made the offer and signed the deal...but we had left our cheque book at home and so we couldn't make a deposit. So we went home to get the cheque book and then came back. When we got back a realtor was there and the owners told us later that he had told them his clients would pay above the asking price for their place. They told him sorry, it was already sold.

I had wanted to view it on Thursday night because on Saskhouses they were advertising an Open House for Sunday. Shiela and I had made plans to go to Calgary for the weekend and we knew this place wouldn't last through the weekend. As it turned out, if we had waited one more hour before buying it we would never have got it as the realtor would have offered more and we couldn't have gone that high. When the realtor had said his clients would pay more for the place, the owners son thought they should have a bidding war on it, but the mom was adamant against that and was just really happy they had sold it so quickly. We found out later that during the open house there was one man who really wanted to buy it. He was telling the owners he would write them a cheque right now if they would sell it to him. They told him no, it was already sold. These people weren't even worried that other people were offering more than us...they really liked us and wanted to sell their place to us. They had already phoned their neighbors to tell them they had sold to a really nice couple!

So Shiela and I are very thankful for this place and praise God for his work in this process and how he worked everything out. Now we just need to try and furnish it somehow LOL!!

Go here to see some photos of it: http://www.saskhouses.com/listing.php?id=6409

My Video Biography

It's pretty rare when you find your own video biography on the internet. But I saw it this weekend. Once I sue them I should be collecting royalties for life! No more work! Let me know what you think.

**Update:
Does anyone know what ROTFLOL means without googling it? Here's a hint: If you aren't ROTFLOL after watching that video I'd be surprised!

Did That Really Happen

I think Shiela and I just bought a townhouse...am I dreaming? Somebody better pinch me (ok don't unless you want my fist in your face (inside joke)). Guess we'll wait on that financing...stay tuned.

A Helping Hand

Last night our LIFE group (that's just another name for a small group for all those who may attend other churches with your own lingo) went to the Canadian Food for the Hungry International. The plan was to help them fold linen that will be sent overseas to hospitals in other countries. Judy, the lady from CFHI, started off by giving us some background information on the organization and what they do. Basically, they send containers (like the really big ones you see on barges and railcars) full of medical supplies, medical equipment, beds, machines, linens (like the ones we folded), etc. to these other countries to help the doctors there provide care for needy people. It's an amazing organization. Judy was a great lady! She has basically devoted herself to this organization and she does amazing work there with adminstration tasks, tracking all the shipments, arranging for medical supplies and pickups all across the province, etc.

With Christmas approaching, CFHI has produced a Gift Catalogue. This catalogue is really cool. It allows you to buy gifs for people in other countries. Not regular gifts like Ipods, cell phones or jewellery, but useful gifts that will greatly enrich the lives of these people. Some gift ideas are a pig, fruit trees, a wheelbarrow, etc. Now that may sound weird, but here's two exerpts from the gift catalogue:

The Gift of a Pig
"Pigs are a favourite animal because, in return for disposing of kitchen garbage as food, they produce manure for the farm, and new piglets each year which can be sold for income or used as a source of meat. A pig can greatly add productivity to a family's agricultural and income-generating activities"

The Gift of a Wheelbarrow
"In hilly rural Rwanda, a wheelbarrow can be the deciding factor in the success of agricultural production. Farmers often live as far as 15km from their fields, and since they travel by foot, carrying a fertilizer or other products in large quantities is next to impossible. Consequently, their farms and their incomes suffer."

I would highly recommend going to their website and browsing through the catalogue to find a gift you can buy this Christmas.

If your LIFE group (or other small group, group of friends, co-workers, enemies or even yourself) want to do something to help out other people, give CFHI a call and Judy will gladly accept any help you are willing to offer. And for you guys out there that like machines, they could really use some help with fixing up some old medical machines (one of our guys in the group calibrated a few weigh scales, I helped him with one) so there is something for everyone.

Another One Day Trip

Looks like I'm taking off in about 1 hour to go to Regina just for the day. Unfortunately I don't get to fly and have to drive there and back. I honestly can't believe I'm even going. The reason for the trip is I have to pick up the ballots from the promotions we did while we were there. That's it. Drive to Regina, pick up the ballots and drive back home. Silly if you ask me. Oh well, at least I'm getting paid for it.

Long Day in Winnipeg

The trip to Winnipeg was great with only a few little mishaps. Apparently I don't always function so well really early in the morning. With a 7:00am flight I was up at 4:30am and at the airport by 6:00am. I've flown WestJet before and made my way to the gate to await our departure. As I watched the news I saw people get up to board an Air Canada flight to Toronto. Then I was reading the Star Phoenix and glanced up to see my WestJet pilot and flight attendants at the desk getting things ready for our flight. Then a bit later I started to look around and noticed that there weren't a lot of people near me. I figured that was odd since I highly doubted I was the only one getting on my plane. I glanced at my watch and saw it was 6:45am. I got up and walked to the WestJet desk and looked at the flight info...CALGARY!!! Oh Oh! I was at the wrong gate. Luckily Saskatoon airport is pretty small and after walking about 20 steps I was at the right gate and everyone was already boarding. That would have been a bad start to the day if I had missed the flight.

Once in Winnipeg I had a lot of time to kill since my meeting wasn't until 2:00pm. I sat around the airport trying to get my internet to work and then took a taxi to a modelling agency we sometimes hire from. The head manager wasn't in, but I chatted with a girl who has worked a lot of our Frank's promos for us in Winnipeg. I learned a bit about the modelling industry, etc. Then it was off to the University of Manitoba to chat with their Employment Services to post our job for upcoming promotions. After that I took a taxi to Polo Park and had some Chinese for lunch while I prepared for my meeting.

Then I had a brilliant yet stupid idea. I figured I'd walk to the Tijuana Yacht Club from Polo Park since it wasn't far and I had done it many times before. As I wandered outside and began to walk I noticed it was rather cold out. Then I noticed that the snow was actually blowing right in my face and there was a lot of wind. Then my body told me I wasn't wearing a toque and my head was getting cold. Then my feet told me that my shoes weren't as water proof as I thought and my socks and feet were now soaked as I walked through the slushly snow on the ground. By this time I was half way there and calling a taxi was pointless. I arrived at the hotel next to the venue looking like a drowned rat and went to the bathroom to "freshen up".

At 2:00pm I noticed that I was the only one there for the meeting. I talked to the front desk and they called the manager. I think they woke him up because he told me the meeting wasn't until 3:00pm. So I went to a restaurant in the hotel until he came down about 2:30pm. We chatted for another hour before the other 2 people showed up. The meeting went great until I got separated from the group.

I had left my laptop and jacket in another part of the bar and so when everyone left I told them I'd catch up. I grabbed my jacket and bag and followed through the door they had gone. However, the next door I tried was locked. So I went to this other one...locked. I went to this other one...locked. I went back to the bar door...locked. Hmmm....I was literally locked into this little holding area since I didnt' have a key or know the pin to unlock any doors. The only door I could get out was onto the patio where I could see the blowing snow. If I went out that door and couldn't get off the patio as the gate might be locked, I would be stuck outside. So I knocked (pounded) on a few doors to no avail. Then I heard someone calling my name....they had come back for me. I ran back to the bar door but they couldn't hear or see me and they left again. I was still trapped. Finally I figured it was do or die. I went onto the patio, quickly grabbed a chair and propped open the door. Then I rushed to the end of the patio slipping and sliding, grabbed the gate and found that it was open. So I rushed back to door, closed it, ran off the patio and back through the front doors of the hotel again...and there they all were wondering where I had gone!

Our Frank's rep offered to give me and our other client from Toronto a ride. We dropped her off first which was at the Radisson downtown. The only thing was that it took us over an hour to get there!! She didn't seem concerned with the slow traffic since she is from Toronto, but the Frank's rep and I couldn't believe it and are not used to that. It was a good thing my flight didn't leave until 8:00pm because I only go to the airport at around 6:45pm or so.

The flight home was uneventful and I walked into the airport and into the loving arms of my wife. What a day!!!

Quick Trip

Just heading out to Winnipeg for the day. Flight leaves at 7:00am. Meet with the client to plan the big Grey Cup party. Then fly back home at 8:00pm tonight. Looks like I'll also be going to Winnipeg for the Grey Cup weekend too...probably not to the game itself but I'll be there for the event.

10 Steps to Guarantee Failure

For those who know me you know that I plan to be rich...one day. Today I found this list via John Campea's blog. I think I need to re-evaluate how I look at that goal and maybe change a few things in order to accomplish it.

Here are the ten steps to guarantee failure:

1. Make your goals vague
When setting your goals, use adjectives such as “more” and “some.” Goals like “I want to make more money” or “I want to lose some weight” virtually guarantee your progress will be minimal. Be as wishy-washy as possible. And while you’re at it, you might want to set a goal of getting a job doing something.


2. Make your goals difficult to visualize
A good way to do this is to keep changing your mind on the details of your goal. If you are thinking a goal such as: “I want to own a red, blue or yellow Corvette or just a Mustang”, then you are definately on the right track. If you kept that goal planted firmly in your mind, you are virtually guaranteed you’ll never go above a used Hyundai.

3. Think and speak negatively about your goals
Try using words like “I can’t” and “It’s too hard”. Goals such as “I can’t get a promotion, It’s too hard to take on more responsibility” will certainly keep you at the bottom of the food chain. If you can put it in writing or work up enough courage to tell your boss directly, he or she will almost definately avoid promoting you from that point on. Who knows, you might get lucky and get fired! It’s worth a shot anyway.

4. Avoid planning incremental steps
It’s likely that if you have made it this far you are already following this rule already! Take a goal - even a specific goal like “I will double my income by this time next year”. Then simply leave it as-is. Don’t write down any tasks or steps you’ll need to complete in order to achieve it. Just consider the goal a wish and nothing more. Creating a step-by-step plan will only confuse matters because it’s all too easy to take action on simple steps. Action in the direction of your goal would lead to success and you definately don’t want that.

5. Don’t Do - Talk
Because talk is easier than action, this step one of the easiest steps for you to take. Try to fill up as much of your day with socializing as possible. Talk about all the things you will do someday or that you were gonna do. Just make sure you don’t mess it up by doing anything productive. Action is your enemy. Embrace your excuses!

6. Wait until you are motivated
Let’s face it, it’s much too difficult to go jogging or open a mutual fund account when you simply don’t feel like it. So just wait. Waiting gives you the peace of mind that someday, you might do something. But not yet, the timing isn’t right and you aren’t motivated anyway.

7. Don’t set a date
Setting a date when you expect to achieve your goal is too much pressure. Who needs it? Definately not you if you want to avoid progress. You know that goals with dates get done, so by not setting a date you avoid making a commitment. You can keep putting off stuff. Even though people may ask “When are you ever going to get around to reaching your target?”, you have a wild card. By not having a date, you can put off actually doing anything.

8. List why it’s impossible
Now we are getting into the mental game of failing. This is quite possibly your greatest weapon against achievement because it destroys hope and optimism. So as soon as possible, set aside some time to create a long list of how impossible your goal really is. No matter what your target is, I am sure you can come up with plenty of reasons why it’s impossible. Be creative, make up some if you have to (i.e. “It’s impossible for me to lose weight because I was kidnapped by space aliens and injected with a fat-serum.”) Bonus: You get extra points if you can come up with an excuse using UFOs, ghosts or the Bermuda Triangle.

9. Don’t research your goal
You’re the kind of guy or gal who likes to “wing it.” Reading about how others have succeeded achieving a goal similar to you is just a waste of time. Instead of standing on their shoulders, they should be standing on yours! Sure, they might have overcome unbelievable odds to get from homelessness to CEO or 450lbs to a 180lbs - but they were probably just “lucky” anyway. Don’t read anything that promises to help you get to your destination.

10. Think of anything except your goal
Here’s another mental strategy that will put you on the fast track to failure. Think of anything except for your goal. Why visualize success when there’s plenty of clouds, teddy bears, and TV reruns to think about? And while you’re at it, take action on these flights of fancy instead of your goal. I know what you’re thinking…you’re thinking “I wonder if there are any green teddy bears out there?” Now you’re getting it! Focusing on your goal for long periods of time can be difficult and challenging. Thinking about unicorns is easy and fun. Take the easy path, that’s the only way you can fail in record time.

I'm About to Get Dumber

There are a lot of people out there who used to be smart and then for some reason decided they didn't want to be anymore and gave up their smarts to become dumber. Maybe not completely dumb, but if someone would give you a book filled with wisdom and then you just decided to give that book away, I would think you would be dumber as you no longer had all that wisdom.

Well, I don't have a book like that (except the Bible which I'm not giving away) but I am going to join the ranks of the dumber come Oct 26th. Yep, I am having my wisdom teeth out.

It's been a few years coming and I booked this appointment over a year ago...I think it was last September. The thing was that when I booked it they told me it was going to cost a lot of money as I have to have them surgically removed. Probably between $800 - $1000. They asked me if I had insurance to cover it and I said no, because I had just lost my job at that time. But I figured a year is a long ways away and I'm sure I would find a way to pay for it by then. And, sure enough, 1 year later and I still don't have any insurance or benefits. Oh well, who needs an extra $800 - $1000. Once I'm rich that will be chump change. Just kidding (not on the being rich part, that part will be true), I sort of have insurance. Well, I don't, but my lovely wife does and her benefits will cover the whole thing 100%. So that is awesome.

I'm sure I'll be dying to write a story about it after since they are knocking me out completely and then I'm not allowed to drive for at least 24 hours. So stay tuned for a story later in the week (or weekend). Until then, I need to spend the next few days writing out all the wisdom I have so I don't completely lose it when they take out my wisdom teeth!!

Ancient Healing

Yesterday I encountered the strangest thing I have ever experienced.

On the recommendation of my mother in law I made an appointment with a travelling medicine man who was coming through the my village for a couple of days. A few days ago I sent up my smoke signal to let them know I wanted an appointment and in return my village received a snowstorm. I took that as a confirmation.

I made my way to the Travel Inn, a small, never-heard-of hotel on the outskirts of my village where the medicine man would be performing his ritual healings. I wasn't so sure about these guys, but I figured nothing else was working to heal my ITP so why not try this.

As I waited outside his healing chambers I chatted with another local from my village I had never met. He told me how the doctors weren't able to heal his back or figure out what was wrong. He had been to the chiropractors and had x-rays and nothing had worked. He then went to this medicine man and after doing his ritual chanting and feeling he told the guy his hip was out of place. They put it back into place and this guy said he never felt better. I was feeling reassured.

The medicine man must have been having some trouble with finding enough goats blood and chicken claws for his healing rituals because I had to wait over an hour before I finally got in to see him. The medicine man's apprentice had talked to me outside the healing chambers and explained to me how the medicine man was going to look at my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my teeth and then touch the different organs in my body. At the end he would then tell me what was wrong and how much goats blood to drink to fix it. When he showed me the diagram of the body and where he was going to be touching me, I couldn't help but notice the guy was naked. Oh well, I figured, he's a doctor.

I was finally called into the healing chambers and I stood before the medicine man. He said "Let's begin the testing" and so I stripped off my clothes just like in the diagram outside. As I stood there naked I suddenly realized there was also a medicine woman in the room. The medicine man quickly informed me that with his healing powers I didn't need to take off my clothes. Oh, I thought, that would have been useful information TWO MINUTES AGO!!!

As I then stood there with my clothes and jacket on he walked up to me and shined a flashlight on my right ear. "You're going deaf in that ear". WHAT I thought...how can you tell that by looking at it. He then took a picture and showed me a curve in my ear which means I'm going deaf. He then touched me and did a little ritual counting and told me I had 80% hearing in my right ear and 93% hearing in my left ear. Then he had me open my mouth and look at my tongue. "Your tongue is twisted which means your hip is out." He then had me lift up my tongue. "Your lungs are swollen." He snapped another picture and showed me two bumps under my tongue that meant I had swollen lungs. I just stood there stunned at all the information he was throwing at me and I could barely understand it.

Then he moved on to the touching. He said we have energy in our bodies and by touching the spot where an organ is he can tell how well it's working. This part went so fast I have no idea what happend. He touched me all over my chest area (apparently where the different organs are) and did some ritual chanting I didn't understand. All the while yelling out numbers to the medicine woman who was writing it down.

Then it was over. I didn't even know if I had been analyzed yet...I still had my jacket on. In the hospital it seems like no one can analyze anything unless you are wearing a hospital gown with your butt showing! He then looked at me and said "What's wrong with your blood? You have a bad infection in your blood." Now, I hadn't told this guy anything ahead of time. He didn't know me from his neighbours goat and had not been told of my condition. I told him I had ITP and explained it. He then nodded and said that made sense. He said he thought I was going to think he was crazy when he told me about the blood infection because it was so bad, but now it all makes sense. (I could have thought of a hundred other ways I thought he was crazy too!) I couldn't believe it.

As the healing session ended he told me what medicine I would need to take to get better. He suggested taking two leaves from a rare plant in the mountains of BC, crushing them and then mixing them in a drink. Or he said I could just buy the pre-made pills with the leaves already in them as the plant is often tough to find in the mountains. He called the special herbs Red Clover and Natures Way. He said to take those and I would feel a whole lot better by the time he comes again. He even said he will be able to tell how often I took the herbs when he tests me next time. I then paid him in his preferred method of a neutered goat and 2 declawed 3 month old chickens and my bill was settled.

I tried to ask him a few more questions but suddenly he waved his cloak around himself and in a puff of smoke I was outside the hotel and standing by my car. As I drove away back to my village I decided to chat with the Specialist about these herbs and see what he thought.

What do you think? Should I try it?

Free Rider Tickets

If you want to go to the Saskatchewan Roughrider game tonight I have two free tickets to give you. I'd love to go, but I really don't want to sit outside in below zero temperatures and potentially get pneumonia again.

Just post a comment and they are yours. Game time is 7:30pm. Winner must pick up tickets from me as delivery is not included.

Purchase #9

I've already bought a number of gifts for Christmas...except that they are all the same thing! That's right, I just bought my 9th Tickle Me Elmo TMX 10th Anniversary Edition. This thing is amazing! You can "tickle" Elmo on his toe, stomach or chin and he starts laughing. But then, he actually falls down and gets back up again all while laughing! Then he begs for you to tickle him again. So you do and he goes through the same routine but adds in even more to his little show. Then he begs you to stop but when you tickle him a 3rd time he goes crazy! He goes through the same routine but on the last one he falls onto his side, then rolls onto his stomach and hits his hand on the floor numberous times, all while laughing hysterically! Then he manages to stand himself back up again!

It's going to be the hottest toy at Christmas time so I decided to buy up a bunch of them and sell them on Ebay. I phoned all over Saskatoon and they were sold out everywhere. Finally, after 2 weeks of phoning stores I found 8 of them at Wal-Mart in Confed. I bought all 8. I just picked up my 9th tonight at Toys 'R Us where I was on their waiting list for the last few weeks. But don't worry, I'm not going to change just because I'm filthy rich after this Christmas!!!

Recovering

It looks like we may have caught the pneumonia before it really had a chance to get me. Monday night I was hurting a lot and Tuesday was the same. By Wednesday I wasn't in near as much pain which I guess is what paying a lot of money for drugs will do for ya! However, on Thursday I was feeling better and was all set to go the next day to a wedding in Manitoba...just one more event in Regina for work. But things didn't quite go as I planned. As I drove to Regina I was slowly deterioting all the way down there. My head started to hurt and I was starting to feel congested. Then while at the venue I felt like I pulled another muscle in my lower left back and it hurt to walk again. I then decided that the best move was probably not to spend 14 hours in a car driving to and from a wedding. I figured I wouldn't get much rest and would probably feel worse when I got back and then be sick for the next week. So I phoned Shiela and told her we weren't going.

I woke up Friday morning and was feeling better. I technically had the day off so I was on holidays. The owner of the company I work for often gives the employees the Friday off before a long weekend so we get a 4 day weekend...pretty sweet deal! I say it was technically my day off because I was actually still working. I had to hire two girls to work Thanksgiving Monday for me for an event. I had been having trouble finding people because (surprise surprise!) everyone was with their family on Thanksgiving. I ended up hiring two models from a local modelling agency instead of our regular people.

So I then went out and ran a few errands for work and bought myself a little treat for lunch...chicken strips and Coke. I cooked up the strips and sat down around 2:00pm for lunch. I also added Frank's hot sauce to about 4 out of the six and then I also used plum sauce. I LOVE plum sauce with chicken strips! As I was eating I found it interesting that my stomach was getting sick quite quickly. I couldn't figure out why I was getting sick so I just kept eating because even though I was getting sick it still tasted so good (Shiela made fun of me all night for doing that). By the time I finished off the chicken strips I was sick and decided to lay down for a nap. I turned on a movie, saw about 10 min and then fell asleep on the couch. I only woke up at 5:40pm shen a friend phoned to ask about plans for that night.

I then got up off the couch and realized that I was still sick. I wasn't sure how I was going to go out that night but I had to as it was a triple date type of thing that also included a blind date for two of them. If I ditched out it would be bad. It then hit me pretty suddenly and I spent the next few minutes over the toilet hurling up all the chicken strips I had for lunch. I felt remarkably better after and then Shiela came home and I told her the story. Then I suddenly spent the next few minutes again hurling up the rest of my lunch...and trust me, I threw up a lot! (Shiela then looked at the expiry date on the plum sauce and all she could see was that it expired in /06 and couldn't see the month...however I am pretty sure it was expired and that's what made me sick)

So now I was feeling quite a bit better and ended up going out that night. I was far from my usual self but it was a fun night. So to end off this long story, I often feel pretty good when I am sitting at home, but as soon as I venture outside for a while I deteriate quickly. So I'm spending some quality time sleeping away my Thanksgiving holiday with the odd insert of entertainment (like going to watch someone play Huskie v-ball tonight). Hopefully I'll be ok to last out the game before retiring once again to my bed. I'm planning on being healthy again by Tuesday!!

I'm Sick and Hurting

Last night I was going to miss small group so I could go to a soccer coaches meeting for the upcoming season. Around 5:00pm I started to feel a lot of pain in my left side. It hurt to breathe and I had pain shooting all around from my shoulder down to my waist. It hurt to even walk.

I figured it would go away and I would move on. I had been having some pain in my right side the past few days ever since I went for my nuclear medicine test to see if have an auxillary spleen (the test was negative and I don't). I thought I had just pulled a muscle or something because when I took the test I had to lie down on this machine and put both hands above my head. I kept bringing them down because it got sore, so they eventually tied my hands up so I couldn't move them. When they cut me loose I could barely move my arms and that was when the pain started on my right hand side. The pain I was now experiencing in my left side was similar to that in my right. Surprisingly enough, when the pain in my left started all the pain left my right side completely.

So I ended up going to City Hospital emergency. My soccer meeting was at City Park Collegiate and so I figured if this was nothing I could zip over to my meeting after. Turned out it was something.

They conducted a number of tests on me including an ECG. This is where they strap all these wires to you, then send electricity through it and watch your heart jump. After a few bolts of electricity I had enough and ripped off the cords and started yelling at people and threating to touch them with the wires. The doctors all scrambled out of the way because for some reason no one likes to be electrocuted...go figure!

Then they did some other tests including chest x-rays, blood tests (one in each arm) and an ultrasound to see if I had any fluids causing problems in me. Oh yeah, can't forget the interrogation I also had to endure. An intern with family medicine came in and said she wanted to ask me a few questions. She turned off the main light and then turned on the bright lamp right above my head. I was instantly blinded and asked her to turn it off, but she said I didn't have a choice. She then asked me all kinds of questions...what's your medical history, what drugs do you take, where does it hurt, does this hurt (as she pokes me in pinky toes with a needle), whose your daddy and for pete's sake, TELL US THE LAUNCH CODES!!!

Once the interrogation and tests were done they all came in to give me the final verdict. I was developing pneumonia and the reason it hurt to breathe was because my lungs were rubbing up against my rib cage (I think that's what they said). And then, to top things off, they decided to destroy me financially and handed me a prescription for some very expensive antibiotics.

So here I am at home. I'm suppose to sleep lots (no problem there) and get rest. The problem is I have a few events yet to do and don't have staff for them all yet. So I will need to mix sleep with work to ensure things get done.

*Some of the events and details listed above may not be entirely accurate. Use your judgement.

A Quick Update

A lot has been going on lately and I haven't had much time for anything but work. My sister got married on Sept 16th (Congratulations Sherene and Ben!) and it was a great wedding. The reception was at the Saskatoon Inn and it was steak and shrimp plate served. But the interesting part was they mixed the eating with the program. So we would eat our soup, and then there would be some entertainment like a couple that did a tango for everyone. Then we'd eat our salad and then people would go up and give advice to the couple. It was really cool and made for a great evening. I actually wrote a song for the event and sang it at the wedding. I wish it would have been videotaped because it went over pretty good and was supposedly funny.

Other than that it has been work, work, work. Things are very busy now with hiring people and attending events. I've been to Regina and back a few times last week already and will head back there at least twice more. I like my job but there is just a lot to do right now.

As for my medical condition things aren't looking too good. My platelets keep dropping down to 7,000. Last week I was in the hospital for three more days of IVIG treatments. Yesterday I went to Nuclear Medicine to get a test done to see if I have an auxillary spleen that is causing the trouble. (Yes, amazingly enough I could have two spleens!) Today I go for a meeting with the Specialist and I'm guessing we will talk about future options. I've decided to not play soccer this season and someone else is running the team. Now I just have to find something to fill my time...I'm thinking curling!

Crazy Busy!

(I tried to add pictures to this post but it's not working...maybe I'll add them later)

Life has been very busy as of late. I had the low platelet count on Thursday night so I had to cancel all my Regina meetings on Friday. I ended up just taking Prednisone again since the Specialist was out of town and worked from home for part of Friday. Saturday I was off to Winnipeg for a few days.

I went to see the Illusionist on Saturday night at the Silver City by my hotel while I waited for the venue to open at 8:00pm (great movie, I recommend it!) After the movie I went to the Tijuana Yacht Club to see what it was like, etc. as our event was going to be there the next day. I was really out of place. I had to stand in line to get in and then they make you walk through metal detectors and search you before you get in. I was also about 7 years older than everyone else there. It was definately a party bar! I quickly talked to the manager and then zipped back to my hotel.

The event went well for the first two hours. We had lots of football fans come in there before the game as we were only a block from the stadium. But then 2:00pm hit and everyone left...and I literally mean EVERYONE! Ok, there were two people left, that's it. The staff basically just goofed around and our Frank's girls had nothing to do because there was no one to give samples to or to do trivia with. Luckily the blackout had been lifted so I got to watch the game for a couple hours.

After the event I went back to my hotel and decided to take public transit to Club Regent, a cool casino. It was pretty cool and was the nicest casino I've seen in Canada since coming back from Vegas. I also did something there that I had never done before (if you want to guess what that is leave me a comment). There's even a tunnel of water you walk through with fish swimming above and beside you.

Monday I set up shop in the lobby of the hotel after I checked out since my plane didn't leave until 7:45pm. In the afternoon I drove around Winnipeg with one of the Frank's reps and we visited some of the venues for future events which was good. I then visited one more venue on my own, went to the airport and came home.
Went straight from the hospital to the ER where they said it would be a 4 hour wait to get my blood checked for the Specialist. I then went to a Medi Clinic instead after I found one that was still open and had a medical lab. I was in and out in about 30 minutes and finally made it home around 10:00pm.

But then I spent another hour getting ready for my all day trip to Regina on Tuesday. I was running a little late and didn't leave the house until 7:30am and I had to be at the venue on the opposite side of Regina by 10:00am. Yes, I sped and managed to get there 15 minutes early. I spent the entire day driving around Regina and meeting with people. I finally made it home around 9:00pm and then worked at home for another 1.5 hours. Finally, after 16 hours of work I managed to go to bed.

So that's been my life. Combine that with needing to find workers for the event on Thursday in Regina (tomorrow) and then I drive back to Regina on Thursday to supervise that event until 10pm so I should be home around 1:00am, just in time to get up and go to another meeting with another venue in Saskatoon at 9:30am on Friday. But then, and only then, I am taking a break as my sister is getting married on Saturday and we have the rehearsal on Friday night. I am definately looking forward to a break (even though I am still on call as some girls from some Edmonton events have to check in with me...oh well, it's mostly a good break!)

Medical Update
On Monday night my platelet count was up to 156,000 which is good. The Specialist phoned me today and told me to lower my steroid intake to 15mg every other day and then I will meet with him next week. I also have another appointment with Nuclear Medicine on Sept 26 to see if I have a secondary spleen that is causing the problem. So hopefully things get figured out soon!