Goob and his Mama embracing their personalities!! TAKEN: JANUARY 2007 |
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
O IS FOR OBSERVATION
Sunday, December 17, 2023
SOME AFTERPARTY PETRO
TOP: Our festive holiday view of the falls in our sleepy little town BOTTOM: Watching the sunset, waiting for my coworkers to arrive. TAKEN: DECEMBER 15TH, 2023 |
Last Friday, my husband and I rented a large AirBnB home overlooking the Bracebridge Falls, and hosted an afterparty for fourteen; which included the seven coworkers I am closest with and some of their life partners.
I was pleasantly surprised by the individual reactions I received as they walked through to the kitchen and spied the gaggle of Petro Canada glasses neatly lined up on the counter. There was one on display for each of us.
None of them readers of my electronic journal, I told my story of how my collection of over two hundred glasses came to be, then poured them a spot of holiday spirit.
I explained that whomever enters my home for the first time, always has to raise a glass and have a drink with my dad. Because my home couldn't sleep ten like the rental could, I brought my glasses to them - as if they were entering my home for the very first time.
As I told the story, one of the project managers I work with (who is the same age as Jukebox) Facetimed his parents so that they could meet me and hear my silly story about my glass collection. Similar in age, they remembered when my conversation pieces were all the rage.
Then, as so many do, promised to keep an eye out for them in Southern Ontario and have their son deliver them to me. As it does whenever anyone offers to help grow my obsession, it warmed my heart.
As I reflect on the last year, I am grateful it has been exceptional. I think I finally have this work/travel life balance thing in check. I took the business to the next level at work AND I got to have a drink with my dad in some pretty cool places.
Under the stars at the Bellagio fountains Las Vegas, in the sun on a beach in Jamaica, rockin' Broadway in downtown Nashville, and with fourteen work buddies overlooking the beautiful Bracebridge Falls.
Life is really good!
And keeping my pops memory alive with my Petro Canada water glass collection is just an added bonus!!
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
HAPPY CANADA D‘EH
Poor Miya Maria. She drew the short Canada Day photo op straw. (Don't feel too bad, she had a chunk of roast chicken as her reward!) TAKEN: JULY 1st, 2023 |
When the Canada Day long weekend was
approaching, it is safe to say my Weather Network app was getting ten times more screen action than
everything else installed on my phone.
I will compare it to a flip of the coin scenario.
Rain we stay in town. Sun we stay at the cottage. Well, sunshine prevailed for
the entire weekend marking the fact that I officially got moved in.
It has been several years since I have lived
here for 100% of the season. I am glad to be back and am very grateful that this is the first time
in my entire career, that I only commute to the brick-and-mortar office with the
fancy sign out front just once a week.
When I changed jobs a year and a half ago, I
negotiated that I would work from home two days a week. Two led to three, then
three led to four. I am hoping by the end of the year, everything will be done via ZOOM.
Though I manage my time well and my boss is
pleased with my productivity, my workdays definitely last longer when working
from my home or cottage offices. Why? This doggie daycare/obedience school thing-a-ma-hoochie I am running has a very strict schedule that must be adhered to.
So, I start an hour earlier everyday to
ensure our 9:30am and 2pm breaks get rid of any excess energy, and they will sleep
at my feet for the duration. With two puppies and a high energy senior on point,
I need to keep them on track, or all hell breaks loose.
I am serious when I share that I will be working
away and balls and toys start getting banged into my legs or dropped at my feet and I must firmly say,
“Stop... It isn’t nine thirty yet!”
And believe it or not, they stop and settle until
my phone pings that it’s time for recess. I’m not complaining just reflecting. Never
a dull moment, and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Well, maybe the shitty internet connection because of all the rock that surrounds me, but that’s a post for another day.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Thursday, April 27, 2023
W IS FOR WOMEN
March 8th was when we celebrated this year! Cartoon (c) maxine.com |
In recognition of International Women's Day, I posted this to my personal Facebook page this year with a song link (which I have added to my post at the bottom):
In celebration of International Woman's Day I am sharing a song that has carried me though a male dominated sector, to which I believe I belong. Truthfully, I've seen it all as a mature woman in Muskoka construction.
I've been told what to wear, coached on how to manage men that should have been let go, and had my intelligence diminished by bullies that hated the outgoing personality of an well versed woman.
Most importantly, for being unconditionally loyal, I was totally gaslighted as the internal political climate changed.
The point of my story is I have never given up - and I am really very proud of that.
PS: If you truly know me and you've read this far.... AND you've listened to the tune I am sharing; you know who was on the other side of this exit interview!
Sara Bareilles - King of Anything (Official Video)
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
O IS FOR OBVIOUSLY
Leading up to the summer of 2016, my then boss at the time use to brag that he was the 9th Canadian to put his name on the list for the purchase of a Tesla electric SUV.
Well, the photo shown here was the day it arrived at the office.
I disclosed that a close friend of mine (also a P. Eng.) was envious at his purchase and he offered to take my picture in front of it for me to share with him. He even offered to let him come to the office and take it for a drive.
After it was all said and done, I praised the ding dong on his new car and his ego couldn't help itself.
He said, "If you work hard, set goals, and put in long hours, I can get an even better one next year!"
OBVIOUSLY, I was an full blown idiot. Why?
This photo was taken in July of 2016, and I allowed his chauvinistic, misogynistic behaviour, to gaslight me until I walked out the door never to return; nor look back and be treated as such ever again.
That life changing day for this cat was September 11th, 2021.
I may be smiling in this photo, but for years I would wake up in the night and suffer panic attacks. Again, obviously, I WAS an idiot. Past tense! TAKEN: JULY 2016 |
Saturday, December 31, 2022
REMEMBERING 2022
I don’t know about you, but I am happy to shut the door on the past year and look to the coming year with a genuine amount of hope and sincere optimism.
Personally, it has felt like I have been in mourning for the majority of the year. I didn’t write nearly as much as I had hoped because my heart was absolutely aching with both hurt and despair. Trust me, in spite of my mantra, it hasn't been something I would ever be able to laugh about.
Professionally, after taking the last three months of 2022 off to help my husband heal from a life saving surgery, I started the year with a new career challenge that has proven to be an excellent move for me. As I look toward retirement, I love that I am mentoring and team building with an amazing group of young, very upwardly mobile, professionals.
With the past year in the rearview, I have great hope for 2023. All the best in the coming year everyone. Cheers, and thanks once again for reading.
~ Rhondi
PS: For the first time, for my annual 'remembering' post, as I reminisce electronically, you can click links to journal offerings that you may have missed.
PSS: Enjoy!
Most significant moment (centre): The sudden passing of my closest friend and confidant, Brian ‘Smartie’ Smart. Who left us Easter weekend 2022. I am truly heartbroken, and the loss of his presence will be missed forever.
Sunday, October 23, 2022
SOME GENERAL (LABOUR) HUMOUR
What a great weekend to rebuild a deck. (Pleased to report I didn't get yelled at, not even when I told him he was wrong!) TAKEN: OCTOBER 23, 2022 |
When we bought the cottage some twenty years ago, we had no idea how much work and expense would accompany the purchase.
Granted, we didn’t pay a million bucks for the thing, but once you make your payments, keep the heat and lights on, pay the insurance and taxes, there was never thousand dollar bills lying around.
Though the building is structurally sound, for the last few summers exterior deck boards were replaced when we knew that what we really needed to do was tear down them off, level and rebuild them. We redid our main living area section last spring, and today we tackled the lakeside deck off the kitchen.
Now, the first thing I will say is that neither of us had any ambition for our task at hand, and we admitted that to the other heading into the cottage early yesterday morning.
As we pulled in the driveway, we acknowledged we'd probably need a wheelchair to get to work Monday morn, and I had only one request of my husband which was simply…. “Please don’t yell at me.”
That said, I think we work really well together as a team. I feel I am an above average general labourer and can wield a hammer, cordless drill, measuring tape and level as good as the next helper.
All well and good there, but when we team up, my site foreman tends to have a specific issue with me.
You see, I am forever questioning his math. Partially because the rule of thumb is that you should measure twice and cut once, and my crew chief tends to measure once and cuss twice; I mean cut twice.
Informed by the boss we had just the right amount of material for this weekends project, double checking measurements began right out of the gate and we never had a single mishap. He never raised his voice or per the norm, never told me to ‘go to hell,’ not even once.
After six hours of layout and levelling yesterday and five hours of hard assembly labour today, all that is left to do is screw nail the top deck boards in place.
As he naps and I type, I will admit that I always try to learn from every project we do together.
This weekend I learned that a 4” ardox nail is not your friend if you don’t have a framing hammer, and moving forward, maybe I should be the one that doing the material takeoffs.
Not because I want to - but the boss man was five deck boards short, and we ran out of nails.
Ah, the power of this keyboard as he sleeps....
He’s not going to know he is truly entitled to tell me to ‘go to hell’ unless he actually reads this!!
Ya Gotta Laugh About It
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
LEAPIN’ LIFE BALANCE!
In fairness to Miya, this was a bad throw by me... I didn't want my lunch break served with a side order of soggy! TAKEN: AUGUST 24th, 2022 |
In 2007 at fifteen years of age, when my beautiful yellow lab Toby crossed over the rainbow bridge, I promised myself I would take time to truly grieve his passing and not get a new pup during my extended time of mourning.
Not only did I have no desire to try and replace him, I honestly believe once you have a unique bond and connection like we did; that bond remains singular forever.
As a family, we were more than two years before we entertained another dog.
Now fast forward to the realization that our beloved Puddin’ had a rare form of cancer. Her long-term prognosis was grim, yet this time it wasn’t only me being left behind; it was our beautiful Annie.
They had been inseparable since we'd rescued her at five weeks of age. When she arrived she fit in the palm of my hand, was sickly and unable to eat, and Puddin' never left her side.
Worried Annie may die of a broken heart when Pud parted, we decided to smooth that transition by working with a CKC registered breeder to purchase another Labrador Retriever.
Miya Maria (seen above) was born on April 9th, 2021, and we picked her up on my father’s birthday in June. We were blessed to have Puddin’ live a year (less two days) from the one year anniversary of Miya joining our pack.
My point?
When I left my construction management job
last fall, I was truly blessed to have several opportunities present themselves - and
In the end, of the six formal offers I entertained, I had it down to two. One paid more money, the other offered me the option to work from my home office from Christmas Break to Easter without travel.
When I walked away from the money
and accepted the other offer in another sector, 48-hours before I was scheduled to start, my current
employer asked me back to the table with his counteroffer.
The most important item he presented was because I would report to him and he splits his time leading our teams, I would commute to the Muskoka office the set three days he's in. When he's working from our other company office, I would work from home for those two days.
It sealed the deal - and I have been grateful to get to balance my home office hours between the house and my desk at Orillia Lake.
I will report that the my current team's much younger than I expected, but I am excited to share that they look to my decades of experience and appreciate it. I love that I have entered the mentoring stage of my career after having so many really great mentors.
Also, I love the fact that those I am mentoring don't care to chase flying pigs into the lake, never beg for my lunch using drool, chase the squirrels I feed until they are ready to drop, nor smell like rotten ass on a rainy day from swimming so much.
...Truly making my work life/real life/doggie daycare life balance perfect!!
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
P IS FOR PERSISTENCE
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
W IS FOR WISDOM
Spit polished, loaded up, and ready to GO! TAKEN: APRIL 16th, 2016 |
From the April A-Z Blogging archives.
This was originally posted April 27th, 2016
I understand the sport isn't for everyone. It's usually something you either love or hate. I was asked by an engineer at work the other day why I'm so drawn into the sport and I think he was surprised at my response.
Saturday, April 24, 2021
U IS FOR UNEXPECTED
Happy 10th Anniversary Mikey Mike! Taken: April 2017 |
From the April A-Z Blogging archives.
This was originally posted April 24th, 2017
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Q IS FOR QUANTITY
My quest for a greater QUANTITY continues TAKEN: APRIL 17th, 2018 |
From the April -Z Blogging archives.
This was originally posted April 20th, 2018
Sunday, November 8, 2020
HELLO NEW-VEMBER
Loving life packing only a cellphone, a credit card & a smile! TAKEN: OCTOBER 10th, 2013 |
For a number of reasons, this is one of my very favorite selfies I have ever managed to capture. I snapped it in an absolute coffee induced euphoric state, the morning after landing in Old Montreal with a girlfriend.
As the story goes, I had seen The Eagles at the ACC in Toronto the Thursday night before, then hopped a plane to Montreal to see Bon Jovi at the Bell Centre that Saturday night.
I remember embracing the brisk November morning with an extra skip in my step feeling like a brand new person. Not because I was going to venture into historic Vieux-Montréal and its amazing architecture, but because I had made the life changing decision to quit my dream job; a milestone that happened seven years ago this week.
My point?
I think some of you may be surprised to read that for the first time in years, I once again have a skip in my step and I am sporting an ear to ear smile for making yet another life altering choice. I am pleased to report that I have left my sales and marketing position within the construction industry here in Muskoka... and I couldn’t be happier.
Just like seven years ago, my decision wasn't made lightly. It was a transition I had entertained for almost six months. If I am being honest, the reason for the lag was because I had struggled to wrap my mind around the logistics of such a life altering shift.
Like most things in life, timing is everything. I guess you could say, just like the day I snapped this selfie, I had to invest in myself and trust the timing in my life. Even with that trust, I worried my glass may feel half empty. Hence those months it took me to finally decide.
As everyone knows, this isn't rocket science. A job is a job, that in the end you get paid for simply doing a job - and people leave jobs all the time.
In this instance, my personal struggle came with the more than a hundred people I was blessed to get to know and work alongside of with a great sense of pride. It didn't matter which, I was connected to each and every one of them... How could I go?
In the end, transitioning has had zero effect with those I was closest with. Social media has helped close the landline conversation gap and not a day goes by that my phone isn’t a buzz with a meme, a text, or a call from one of many. I guess you could say our friendships are a different kind of payday for simply treating people the way we wanted to be treated.
As I wrap up my post and head over to Spotify, I can't help but reflect on those amazing few days and two great back to back concerts seven years ago. Today has me embracing, blasting, and singing, a number of those really great tunes performed live.
But for whatever reason... Already Gone by the Eagles and It's My Life by Bon Jovi seem to be bringing down the house!
Sorry. Couldn't resist the obvious comical musical punchline.
#yagottalaughaboutit
Friday, May 15, 2020
KEEPING IT REAL
This is US at Orillia Lake. TAKEN: 2008 |
Saturday, December 28, 2019
FORTY FOUR
What 44 actually looked like! TAKEN: DECEMBER 2009 |
Thanks again for reading.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
MY COFFEE CONSTERNATION
Snapped this right before I hit the reset button! TAKEN: JULY 13th, 2019 |
Because you weren’t. The only person responsible for where you’re at in any given scenario, looks right back at you in the mirror!
Because in the end, the fella that had labelled himself the favourite, showed up for a gunfight with nothing more than a plastic pocket knife!
If you don’t give a shit about how you treat people, you will ultimately end up being treated like a piece of shit.
Monday, May 20, 2019
WHEN LESS IS MORE!
(l-r:) Wonder Woman, Smartie, Bestest Bee, Darin & Me TAKEN (l-r:): 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016 |
Most people, myself included, make excuses. There's work, home, dogs, family, work & work, not to mention life in general: the circle of actual excuses, are in fact the vicious circle that kills most efforts.
My favourite are the times when one calls me. Simply because they feel we just need to hear the others voice.
Honestly, when you understand a person that well. You can handle whatever plethora of bullshit, life is gonna serve ya!
PS: Jo, NannyF, B-Rad, Sweenymiester, SBM, Tim & Twos, Lady Di... Thanks.
Friday, April 26, 2019
X IS FOR X-AMPLE
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