Bellini-induced Brain Freeze

Talk about timing but I noticed something looked amiss on my blog. Turns out blogrolling.com "ceased" operations as of last month. The inner packrat in me freaked out...all those blogs I used to read on the regular GONE! But - surprise! - I had saved a few of my old blog pages that show my old templates and blah blah blah...problem solved; found all my old blogging peeps. And then came the great purge. Blogger offers a blogroll of sorts, but I had to add them in one by one. Now was a great time as any to finally organize the list. I knew a lot of people had stopped writing - some have even dismantled their blog and it's as if it never existed - so I had to figure out which to keep and which (that were still online but not necessarily active) to toss. If I know you personally or if I've had any interaction with you over all these blogging years I have kept you on. Alas, some of you are long gone and it was with great sadness that I had to get rid of your link. *po...

“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” ~ Albert Einstein There is an Einstein exhibit going on at the Telus World of Science and you know I had to just go and check it out. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of hands-on science-y stuff to do re: Einstein. But what I didn't learn about Einstein's discoveries I DID learn about Einstein the person. A lot of the exhibit were letters he had written to various people (presidents, fellow scientists, journalists, and lovers. Yes, lovers. Apparently, Einstein was quite the ladies man. *thinks about whether she would have fallen for Einstein's charm back in the day*) The quote above wasn't at the exhibit; I found it in an article later on. But you've got to admit...how much of his brilliance was he holding back from us by being a normal guy and doing daily "normal guy" things? The quote also made me think of my current schedule. I t...

An update on my health: Yeah, I graduated from the Tom Baker Centre. They don't want to see me anymore. But I still check in with my ENT surgeon once a year to see how things are going. For the longest while, the worst byproduct of my radiation ordeal was my ear. It is so dry in there because it no longer produces its own oils so dirt and all sorts of nastiness just build up in there and my normal body functions do not kick into gear to clear it out like it should. So lo and behold, I had experienced my very first ear infection as a grown adult. Never had that problem as a kid, go figure. But other than the inconvenience of having to go every so often for him to clean it out (I don't dare take a Q-Tip to the area anymore) everything seemed alright. Until I guess one time he got it especially clean and noticed exposed bone in my ear. EXPOSED BONE! He figured the skin and tissues inside had sloughed off post-radiation and he referred me to a specialist to see what they ...

I'm sure everyone has done it at least once since they have discovered the joys of the internet. Admit it; you have Googled yourself at least once. At least. It came up as a random topic of conversation in the office today so sure enough we all looked ourselves up on Google for an update. I had not looked at my results for quite some time so I was surprised to see the very first match was for a site I had never heard of before. It gave me goosebumps when I clicked on the link. I would like to think that I am fairly savvy when it comes to protecting my privacy online. When news comes around of new sites gathering information and compiling them per person I do my best to make sure my details are masked and such...but this one was new. Sure, it had my age wrong and it was pretty obvious it had gathered a lot of my info off of the major-social-media-site-which-will-remain-unnamed, but yet there I was in fairly legitimate print. Chills. It reminded me (very much so) about all my...

I sighed as I saw the numbers on the scale scowling back at me at the end of my workout today. It definitely was not a surprise but most certainly it was a wake-up call. Almost all of the great work I had done over the past few years is now gone. Talk about sitting on ones achievements. And not even half an hour before that I had a terrible scare. My "regular" elliptical trainer workout was difficult...so difficult. I slowed my pace, figuring so long as I put in my time on the machine it was better than blasting through a shorter period of time. My knees were starting to ache, my legs were rebelling against the workout, walking backward (in my futile attempt to develop a butt. I have since read that there are NO exercises one can do to create a more prominent bum than the one you already possess. Woe is me...but that's for another time) was choppy and lacked any fluidity whatsoever. Two-thirds of the way into my session I debated whether I should give it a rest f...

This past weekend was baby sis' birthday weekend and as luck would have it there were quite a few shows to treat her to. Her best friend took her to Cirque de Soleil's Kooza - which worked out well since I am not a fan. Then on Friday us siblings went out to the Calgary Philharmonic's tribute to Michael Jackson: Thriller. On Saturday, baby sis and I joined up with some friends and took in Mamma Mia at the Jubilee. A music-filled weekend! Not only did it involve songs that I adore but it lit a fire under one of my true loves: music. Listening to the orchestra and watching them perform under their conductor brought out the eternal band geek in me. As much as I griped about the practices back in high school I would love to relive those times now. I haven't touched my saxophone in a loooooong time. The same goes for my piano, I rarely play the keys anymore. Now that my life is back to happiness and sunshine I can only imagine how much more joyful it would be if I b...

I have found myself in a deep and sad little funk as of late...and who knew it would be weight-related?! At my heaviest I didn't care about my size. I was happy, I loved clothes, I had fun and really did not see anything wrong with me. But since I "crossed over" I realized the thinner world was such a delicate place to be; I would almost say it lowered my self-esteem. The old Leah went on dates and enjoyed herself. Now she goes on fewer dates and worries that she looks awfully big compared to other girls these guys must have dated. And then she starts to wonder why they are even willing to go out with her. Was I a freak? Achieving a better body is supposed to build confidence, not shatter it. I thought I was awesome back in the day so what happened?! So then I figured there must be a happy medium. I all but gave up following my diet. It brought a little bit of joy back but not the right kind. As you will recall I was in a very toxic work situation so I tried to...

"Are you dating?" she asked. I replied "no" because that's the truth. Or at least I'm pretty sure it is. If we were dating I'd probably/hopefully see him more often and we would most likely have longer conversations...you know, that sort of thing. But what is scary is that I think nothing has changed in all these years. I'm still looking for more. Chances are I'm going to get hurt again. Need to nip this in the bud. I have been trying to meet up with other guys, and what is strange is that they are more my "type" but yet I still cannot seem to get very excited about it at all. Maybe I have been wrong about my type all along. Deep down I realize that doesn't make sense; I have more to talk about with these guys. I suppose until one of them asks me that one specific question I am pretty much fair game for anyone. But what then? Would I get excited about it then? So much for rainbows and unicorns. But if any of them say t...

Tonight, I did it. I signed up for a course in continuing education. A tad scared...not going to lie. It's been - let's just say a while - since I've done the textbook/homework/exam bit. And as excited as I am to start this journey I figured it would be best to pace myself and ease back into it. Hence, the (let's hope) easy-peasey ONE class this semester. But things are so different now. I was not working full time the last time I was in school. I was also more accustomed to studying and doing classwork back then. At any rate, what an adventure this is going to be! May I also add that since changing companies I've had a HUGE turnaround in my life. I knew my past job was toxic but I had no clue...none...how draining it was on me. This was where the whole "I have got to get out and do something better for myself...I deserve more" mission started to grow within me. Really, I should not have been surprised when I asked my former employer to consider ...

I watched dating drama unfold for a friend the other night. Hearing - secondhand - both sides of the tale made me contemplate how much of the drama we create for ourselves. Does it all stem from a common source? One thing I noticed right away was that we all deal with it differently. Maybe there are other factors uniqute to each situation but it seems clear to me that a lot of our drama is fueled by insecurity. Examples that come to mind: - Latina's recent dating scenario - Mr Guy the relationship addict and his domestic bliss - Myself - yes, I recognized (for the first time?!) that I harbor some insecurities Let's start with Mr Guy as he is the most dated example and it won't take long to break him down. My feeling was he was too insecure to be comfortable with his singledom. His track record BL (Before Leah)hinted at it from the get-go. Married, then long-term relationship, then engaged. After we met for the first time he vanished off the face of the Earth. You...

I read an article in today's newspaper and felt compelled to jump onto the soapbox that was once my blog. As many of you know, I'm not much of a follower in all things political/governmental so this will be more of an emotional response but I felt I had to say something. The article can be found here. but I have cut and paste the article at the bottom of this post in case this link ever disappears. A while ago I wrote about how I panicked when the Tom Baker Centre had decided that I had graduated out of my annual follow-up appointments. Reading today's article made me realize how very fortunate I had been - and for so long, too. I remember when I had my first appointment at the Tom Baker. Talk about a whirlwind. Following my parotidectomy they did a biopsy of my lump - standard procedure - and found it to be a bad guy. I don't think it was even a week after my surgeon told me the news and I was already walking into the Tom Baker with my parents to find out what wa...

I can't tell you the day when it happened, how it came to happen, or why it happened but at some point in my life I stopped looking down to see where I was going. For the most part looking up and ahead never failed. Yes, there were a couple of times when I would trip up here and there, but looking people square in the eye as you pass and scoping out the area where you were headed usually meant I was confident in my direction, in myself, and I would get there without incident. A couple of weeks ago I finally met Mijo after knowing him from the internet for 13 years. 13!!! That's insane. I've met other people much faster but then again they've come and gone. (I wonder what they're up to now?) But Mijo's always been there and now I've finally met him. It still boggles my mind thinking about it, actually. Anyway, I digress, he can be a whole other post entirely. So I had a whole whopping 4 hours or so to hang with Mijo and his lovely girlfriend and she...

As you can probably tell from my template I'm a huge Tokidoki nut. Funny thing is I probably would not have even heard about him if it weren't for all the knockoff LeSportsac bags I came across in the Philippines. I'm not a big LeSportsac fan but when I saw the Tokidoki prints I immediately fell in love with them. They are the cutest thing to enter my world since Hello Kitty. Mozzarella is one of my favorites, as is Bastardino, Donutella, Ninja dog, Unicorno....of course to fuel the addiction even further Simone Legno has been pumping out Tokidoki for Hello Kitty for a few years running now. Thank goodness the brand is somewhat hard to come by here in Calgary or else I'd probably go berserk. Whenever I go to the US I make sure to hit up a Macy's and they've usually been a blessing for finding a shirt or two. Thanks to my brother I've learned I can usually find a few pieces at Urban, and I've bought some also at Winners and Smashing Cosmetica. I rece...

So because I've been putting it off forever I finally got my driver's license in November 2008. At the tender young age of "I'm not telling you." I have been driving for less than 2 years. How many cars have I had? Two. I bought my first car on May 12, 2009. Although she wasn't the color I was hoping for we were a match made in nirvana. I named her Jetta James because, well, you know..."at last." She had a sunroof, heated seats, heated mirrors, all wonderful things I have decided I cannot live without. New Year's day of this year her and I, along with my siblings as my passengers, got t-boned by a gentleman running a red light. The fact that he took full responsibility and that none of us were hurt were very little consolation to my pride. My precious Jetta James took a bullet for me and now her and I could roll no longer. My very first lesson in insurance matters, too. If it was not my fault, why was I the one being inconvenienced? I ha...

Every once in a while I take a look at my lonely little blog (it's my homepage whenever I open my browser) and wonder how I could neglect her for oh so long. I don't buy into New Year's resolutions. Resolutions can be made on any of the other 364 days. But I sure do miss writing. Now that I'm here, though, I'm not sure what I want to write about. An update on my last post: My favorite (as I took to calling him) told me at the very last minute that he was leaving to work in another city. I had just come back from Hawaii when he decided to tell me this. Fast forward a month later and a guy I was planning a date with found a girlfriend while I was away in Mexico. Something tells me my love life suffers when I travel, hehe. Despite this, I still haven't gotten my Puerto Rico on. I still haven't been to Cuba. I still haven't been to Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Argentina, Brazil... I'm in big trouble. A couple of months ago I had my...