It’s the start of April and in southern Ontario, and many other locations in the eastern part of North America, we’re getting snow.  Some people talk like this is a strange thing.  But it’s not really.  It’s just an unwanted thing.  It isn’t uncommon to see snow for a few days in April and even into May.  I don’t really consider it a freak thing.  It maybe doesn’t happen every year, but I’ve seen it happen enough times in my life that I don’t complain too much about it.  I don’t like it… I don’t hide that, but I accept that it happens.

One thing that really does not fall into the category of accepted things would be the Blue Jays fans at the SkyDome (I know, I know… the Rogers Centre) tonight for the season opening game against the Detroit Tigers.  So, the dome is closed and the natives are stressed out by the snow, but throwing things on the field???  Seriously?!???  How old are we??

1)  The home team was well in the lead for the entire game… even if the come-from-behind speciality of the Tigers seemed a possibility at one point.  So why are the home team fans even thinking that this is an acceptable thing to throw objects out on the field?  What point does this make other than “We’re ignorant, rude Canadians who are ungracious hosts to the visiting team?”

2)  Even if people are ridiculous enough to counter by saying that, somehow, this is “part of the game”… how is also potentially endangering the home team members seen as something worth risking?

3)  Then there is the booing… how was booing the visiting team after throwing things at them making anything better?  I mean, sure, the Tigers were able to break the momentum of the Jays by taking that break from the field.  But it’s within the rules of the game to do what they did, and there was a legit concern.  And then booing after the announcer said not to throw things on the field?  Oh grow up!

4)  And my favourite… the stupidity of (hopefully only a few) fans could have cost the Jays the entire game.  Way to go there… the massive lead almost lost because people don’t know what kind of conduct is appropriate in public?  Or how to be civil to guests in your “home”.

What a loss of respect we have for humanity.  How easily it flies out the window in the name of “sport”, when there is nothing sporting about the behaviour at all.  (See my unwritten blog post about why I don’t like hockey too much because of the fighting, etc.)

For somebody who is considering following baseball again this year after a long (long, long) hiatus, this was a disappointing start.  And the Jays played well.  Way to go Jays!  But yah, the fans at that game should apologise to the Tigers.  And most importantly, shape up for the rest of the season.  I sure won’t be going to any games if that’s the way it’s going to be… besides the players, it’s not safe for the fans either.

This weekend is yet another busy weekend, but one that I am really looking forward to.  The overwhelming event of the weekend is Marked By Love going to North York Temple in Toronto for the Palm Sunday service, and all the rehearsals that go with that.  But definitely looking forward to singing together and celebrating… I will marvel yet again at how it all plays out, I am sure.  There are many things that seem exciting possibilities, so that adds to the anticipation even in all of the busy-ness.

I’ve already been out for a fine meal with friends and tried orange roughy for the first time.  I really enjoyed it, but may never have it again after reading a little about it.  We’ll see… a little anti-climactic there!  But the company was great too… better than the food.  The restaurant itself I also feel that I can and should recommend.

Saturday is “my” girl Allison’s 5th birthday.  That is very unbelievable news to me.  It seems like it was just the other day that she was born.  Of all of my sister’s kids, she was the one I held the earliest, and she might even be the most like me in many ways.  (Scary…. probably for both of us.)  Anyway, we’re going out for breakfast in the morning, so I really shouldn’t still be up.  But I’m looking forward to that… really hoping that she’ll enjoy it too.

In fitness news, I just did 13 consecutive knee-based push ups tonight.  That’s a personal best so far.  I was discouraged the other day that I wasn’t going to be able to advance to the 3rd week of the 100 push up plan (see hundredpushups.com and my plan to accomplish this goal) without repeating the 2nd week of the plan.  I could hardly handle day 2 of this second week, so I could see the writing on the wall.  After today’s session I was just shy of meeting the requirements to proceed to the 3rd week plan, BUT I was MUCH stronger than I expected to be today.  Seeing this improvement already is definitely encouraging.  Hopefully this second shot at the 2nd week will be much easier and my maximums will be much higher.

I also went for another fitness walk on Thursday, this time after work.  That felt really good.  I listened to some interesting podcasts while I was out and also found it easier to blow my cornet at band practice later on that night.  I hope to get out on Sunday after getting back into Guelph… that will depend on the time and the weather, of course.  The weirdest thing about my fitness walk on Thursday?  The OPP police car ripping down Brant Avenue with full sirens blaring… and I was just about to cross the road…. very thankful that I waited on that decision hearing sirens somewhere.

I just discovered the website iamsecond.com tonight. Check it out!

There are many things I am not. I am not really a phone person. (Although because I can be a people person, I can sometimes seem like a phone person. But generally speaking, I hate phones.) I am not a conflict person… I may create some, but not intentionally. And, whether I caused it or not, I don’t like dealing with conflict-y things. I am also not often what one would consider a clever or particularly helpful conversationalist in person. Perhaps that is just a self-perception but most of the time that’s one of the few perceptions I have, so I deal.

Anyway, one thing I am almost too good and too comfortable with is online chatting. Not emails as much as instant messaging, where both parties are present, although often in two distinctly different locations, and sharing in a real-time conversation via computer. Note I said “often” — this would be because I spend 5-days a week at the office sending various instant messages to people who sit within a stones throw of my desk. Actually less than a stones throw… I can throw a stone pretty far.

I have had a number of very deep, spiritual, personal kind of conversations over the years via one instant messaging program or another. One might call it “mentoring”. Or maybe “available”. Or better still, simply a friend. But nonetheless, that has become part of what I do and how I communicate with people who are geographically located all over the place.

There are many things about instant messaging that are less than perfect. You can’t tell how somebody is reacting for certain — only with a sense of who the person is in real life, or by discernment, can we get an idea of this. Also, some things literally get lost in transmission. I’ve had messages critical to the ongoing discussion never get to the recipient… the messages before and after, yes, but not the one that had the meat in it. If I’m lucky and catch on, I can resend it, but not always does it work out.

BUT… (apart from the obvious advantage of talking to these people in the first place) to me the best thing about instant messaging is the “think time” that it can provide. Granted, I am a fast typer and can let my response messages get sent off a lot quicker than I intended, sharing stellar remarks such as “that’s so goo” or “okya!”. But most of the time, the “think time” does apply.

I don’t take “think time” nearly enough in real person to person conversations (either on the phone or in person). Maybe I always feel the pressure to respond immediately, even without thinking something through. But when online, I can craft a somewhat witty response, or (on the other end of the spectrum) take a moment to pray or listen for the best response.

We’ve all experienced receiving a message where our out loud (negative) reaction is along the lines of “OH, come on!!! You’ve got to be kidding me!!” and our filtered reply is “oh really?” or “ok, that’s fine”, usually because there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. For some of us, we do this in person too… although many people don’t.

I like “think time” because it allows for a more quality response. By the time I finish typing my reply, having already re-read the typed out parts many times while typing the rest, I can immediately assess whether it is a good response… whether it is clear, kind, appropriate, spelled correctly…. any number of things. It’s just that smidgen slower (even for quick typists) in process time that it allows for the “think time” that is so easily discarded within the structure of in person exchanges.

Maybe I need to start typing my comments, questions, replies out in my head before sharing with the auditory world?

Having shared all of that, I don’t think I’m going to proofread this tonight. Hahahahhaa! Just more typing out loud.

Till another time, O live, people!!

I was hungry.  I wanted a snack for one.  Here’s what I did:

Small fry pan on the stove top at a medium heat.
Add a bit of butter.
Add some chopped onion.
Add a healthy amount of curry powder on top.
Stir.
Add some broken up pecans, almonds.
Keep stirring.
Toss in a little bit of sugar.
Let it all blend together.

Crack a medium-small egg into a small dish and beat.
Add a splash or two of milk to the egg.
Combine the egg and milk.

Add the egg-milk mixture to the fry pan.
Mix all the ingredients, and allow enough time to cook egg to the desired consistency.

Tonight I pretty much creamed the egg, as opposed to simply scrambling or frying it.

I also chose to serve my crazy curried creamed egg along with one of my favourite egg accompaniments… don’t laugh too hard:  cottage cheese!

This odd combination of eggs and cottage cheese was something I stumbled across on my own a number of years ago and it has remained a funny little favourite.  It is especially good when the eggs are hot but the cottage cheese is cold.  Although, cottage cheese works well as an omlette filling, either heated up or cold.

By the way, the egg experiment tonight?  Very goooood.  Mmmmmm.

Hmm, thinking about doing a “Silly Songs with Donna” segment on the olivepeopleonline.com website… and/or Facebook.  More on that another time… that was just me thinking out loud.

Another weekend has come and gone.  I’m so busy on my weekends lately (or should be… had to cancel a few recent sets of weekend plans due to bad health) that it’s a wonder that I look forward to them.  But mostly I love my crazy weekends.  Usually they mean I get to see wonderful people who I don’t see often enough and frequently bring a lot of music with them as well.

Part of this weekend was spent helping out my friends in the Ontario Central East (Toronto area) divisional youth chorus by filling in for their accompanist.  I got play for them a lot last season, so it was nice to be able to return and play for them, catch up with them, etc. again.  The amazingly motivated thing that I did before leaving Guelph to help them was take this 30-40 minute “fitness” walk around my neighbourhood – the first of its kind in a long while.  Actually, I’m not sure I ever really did a “fitness” walk before.

The distinction I am making here is that I will take nice long walks, but they are more like strolls.  This walk on Saturday was a walk with great intention to be exercising.  Moving swiftly, doing some cardio, getting the blood pumping… And on Sunday I have sore muscles… muscles that I forgot I had… maybe even muscles that I have never made sore before…  But it’s that “good” I-know-I-have-been-exercising-so-I-feel-better-about-myself-today kind of sore.

And now, I must retire… or at least go to bed and find some sleep.  Listening to books on my iPod seems to do the trick lately.

Until another post… O Live, People!

Today I split a combo with a friend for lunch.  There is an excellent poutine place in downtown Guelph called Pierre’s Poutine.  They sell burgers, hot dogs, etc. as well as their amazing poutine.  They offer a combo deal with the choice to upgrade to a poutine, instead of fries.  So, my pal and I opted for the cheeseburger with a poutine and a ginger ale.  We split it all down the middle.  But that’s the simple version of the story…

This was a meal all about compromise.  My friend and I have similar tastes in a number of areas, but toppings apparently are not one of these areas.  Compromise #1 – which kind of poutine.  Pierre’s has many types, not just the classic… my friend likes the classic, so I opted to forgo my usual “healthy” vegetarian version with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and green peppers.  Choices #1 & 2 – with cheese? yes – with bacon? no.  We came to these agreements fairly easily today.  Choice #3 – we agreed on Ginger Ale to drink.  Compromise #2 – pickles were present on the burger… but the fine burgermaster put them on one side only and said he would , so this worked well for us both.  Only a hint of pickle could be detected from the once nearby pickles.  Choice #4 – ketchup! no problems here.  Compromise #4 – mustard.  Bleck… my friend did without.  Compromise #5 – onions.  I did without.  Compromise #6 – relish.  I don’t usually, but don’t exactly mind it either.  Choices #5 & 6 – lettuce and tomato.  No problems here.  Compromise #7 – mayo.  I didn’t even bother asking.  I guess I could have.  I was hungry at this point and excited that the guy was actually going to cut the burger in half for us.

In the end, we had a meal we could share.  In fact, she paid this time around and I’m on to pay for the next time.  Maybe not exactly what either of us would get on our own, but it was still good and it all worked out.  We had food to eat and were still friends at the end of all the choices and compromises.   It was quite the journey.  Maybe a nuissance to the shop workers, but even they seemed to support our complicated effort at the same time.  And then back at the office it was all about teamwork to successfully split the food up… and dividing up poutine evenly is not a simple endeavour, for anybody wondering.  But we did that too!

Friendship reigned surpreme this day.  And the poutine was excellent as usual.  Even without the veggies.  (heehee)

So tell me… who dreams of a gourmet type hot dog joint, where all the Salvation Army folk go before a big concert or event????  There’s a huge line-up and it’s like being at Swiss Chalet before the National final program or the Festival of Gospel Song.  Except it’s not… because it’s the gourmet hot dog place.  The signs are bright yellow.  The location is downtown (New York, I think….?) and you can get to it from the back door or the front… although it takes longer from the back.  And it’s just across the street from the hotel where we’re all staying.  Which is actually kind of like the Axiom in Wall-E, with tracks for chairs that take you places…. except when you fall off or outsmart the system.  Man, I wish I remembered more… it was one crazy weird dream.

About a month ago, in the mess of pre-anniversary weekend stuff, I was in a minor car accident.  I was rear ended (in my lovely new car with less than 3000km on it at the time) in some messy weather.  I didn’t see it coming… I didn’t brace myself, so the injury to myself was a little bit of stiffness for a day or so, and mostly just the shock of it all.

I did the common, yet admittedly risky, thing of not going through insurance — at the request of the person (let’s call her Sheila) who bumped into me.  Sheila asked that of me, I told her I didn’t care as long as I got the money to cover the repairs, and we went from there.  Now, being in the present day and age, automobile bumpers are no longer made of materials that actually endure being bumped into like, say, steel!  No, now we have plastic bumpers that crack, or shatter, or (in my case) find a rather large screw permanently embedded in it.  And so proper repairs do not come cheap.  I wasn’t satisfied with a filler patch on my brand new car.  That actually would have been nearly as expensive as the replacement… crazy eh?  So, a full rear bumper replacement it was for me.

I had the repairs done and passed on the final cost to Sheila.  Then, these past two Wednesdays I have met with my new acquaintance to receive partial payments from her.  Tonight I received the outstanding amount and now we’re done.  Sheila and I never have to meet or speak again.

The thing is… the bumper is fixed… the money is paid to me before the Visa bill has even come due… but can’t stop thinking about her.  She’s not a bad person.  She’s not an unreasonable person.  It was a hard way to meet a new person, but overall I found Sheila to be nice and responsible, willing to take on the consequence of what happened.  In our various conversations, perhaps most notably tonight’s, I have learned little pieces about Sheila and what she’s gone through this last little while.  Basically I see somebody that needs… possibly longs for… a friend.  We have next to nothing in common, except our bumpers meeting each other a month ago… and yet I find myself concerned for her and her welfare.

I think I might call her in a few weeks just to see how she is doing.  So random.  So out of my normal way of doing things.  Yet so very likely that I will find myself doing just that.

Hi – my name is Donna Harris, and I just surprised myself again.

NO!  I cannot do 100 push-ups…. not yet anyway!

In fact, I can hardly do any at all… not of the real type… not yet anyway!

BUT, I have a plan!   (This is the Donna we all know and love!)

There is a website called hundredpushups.com and it is a plan to be able to do 100 push ups at the end of a 6 week program.  I just officially started today.  Granted, I am only doing the knee-based push-ups, but doing 100 of those should give me enough upper body strength to get going on real push-ups.

You can keep track of my progress, help keep me accountable, etc. by checking out my Twitter page.  All my progress on the 100 push-up plan goes here, because I have it linked up with the companion site to the 6-week plan, www.pushupslogger.com … so automatically Twitter gets updated when I log my workout sessions.  Neat eh?

There is also a 200 sit-ups site and logger site.  I may or may not do these… it only focuses on one kind of sit-up and I know there are many types… depends if there is a reason to do this for me.  More research is needed.  But for anybody interested, these sites are: http://twohundredsitups.com and http://www.pushupslogger.com/plog/situps

Let me know if you decide to follow these plans, or other similar online plans!