We are at the place we were meant to be

But don't you find life surprising?

Parts of the future you thought you could see

Are the ones that don't end up happening.

So who is to stay what is up ahead

and what is just beginning?

For every day you live your life

Is a choice that affects the ending.

But the fact that so much is yet to be

Isn't that what makes life exciting?

I'm happy that my future's not cast in stone

It's what makes each day worth living.

It's Christmas at our home now!

Coldest Canadian Winter in 15 Years

... aren't I lucky?!?!

Today, Vineet and I had a symbolic winter day. There was a snow storm last night which left about 15-20 cm of snow so we started off the day by shoveling our backyard and our part of the back lane way. I must admit, you don't feel the cold when you're working up a sweat shovelling. I told Vineet I was happy to help him since it was still a novelty for me... but to expect that he'd be doing it solo for the rest of our lives! Even Joey had so much fun in the snow and we made our first snowman! (I just realize from looking at the picture now that I completely forgot to put a mouth on the snowman! =))


What did I learn from this whole experience? Wake up early to shovel snow in the laneway. It was easy to shovel the snow in our backyard which was untouched. But outside was much more difficult. We had gotten up after noon and vehicles had probably already driven over our part of the laneway.. so the snow was packed solid! Oh well.. we'll probably only have 1-2 more dumps this season =)

525,600 minutes in Canada...

What a year.... so much has happened since I came on October 19, 2006! I look back and sometimes I feel it's gone sooo fast... then I think of all that's happened and then I feel that it was ages ago when I arrived at the Pearson airport!

Of course, when I look back on the year, getting married to Vineet tops the list of things to celebrate and be thankful for!! (you probably don't want to hear me go on and on about this =D) In second place, would be a related one - the wedding itself and getting my whole family together as well as friends who travelled from all over to be here with us (THANK YOU!) Tied for third would probably be buying our house that's so near the beach (my childhood dream!) and getting Joey (my baby!). Next would be the 9 months I wasn't working (needs no explanation... I know it makes some people green with envy... there are DEFINITELY days when I miss it). Then that would be followed by getting a really good & challenging job (and I must admit I still can't get over the half-day Fridays).

But thinking about the past year in Canada also makes me feel sentimental about "the past". First, I miss my family more. I know it's not as if I saw my mom or nephew & nieces every week when I was in Singapore but now it'll likely be every other Christmas or something. I also miss friends in both Manila and Singapore... some of those friendships I know take years or a very unique situation (like that we had in Singapore) to build. But I guess these aren't really "in the past" cause I do try to keep in touch (although I've been remiss in my blog the last 2 months). But I do miss you guys!!!! So if you read this... tell me when you're next Toronto visit will be!

"Undefeated in Ultimate Frisbee Playoffs!"

The summer Ultimate Frisbee league we joined has just finished! I'm pretty sad to not have the Thursday game to look forward.. the only time in the week I get a good cardio workout. But I'm glad to say we were "undefeated in the playoffs!"... hehe.

The reason I say that in quotes though is because that is just a function of the marketing person in me pushing for the most aggressive claim. The reality is we actually lost ALL games in our regular season (about 10 of them =)). But since it was a recreational league, everyboday makes the playoffs. And the "playoffs" consisted of one game to play for 9th place!

It was still nice to end the season with a win though. We were a group of 13 people who signed up as "individuals" but eventually became better at playing as a team. Our first few games the score would be in the range of 19-1; 19-3... but our last few games of the regular season were, 19-16, 17-13, so not too bad!

The other thing that struck me though is how a win really brings the team together. The energy after a win just gets so infectious and brings out the lighter side of people. So we all headed out for drinks and agreed to have a barbeque at our place to celebrate our claim of "Undefeated in the Playoffs!" =)

Looking forward to the fall league of Volleyball that Vineet and I signed up for now... and seeing what claim we could make then =)

Missing Big Bang sa Alabang...

Yesterday, after going to a barbeque with people from work, Vineet and I decided to go to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) which is in Toronto for 2 weeks. It reminded me so much of Big Bang sa Alabang!!! The fair games, the slightly chilly wind, the super greasy food options, the "tiangge" areas.... haaaayyyy. Yon lang. =)

Full G!

I passed my test! =)

After a month and a half of not being able to drive the car without a fully licensed driver, I am now free! No more (unless by choice) going to the office on a combination of taxis, trains and buses!!!

It was so annoying because I had been driving in Canada since I arrived in Oct-06. It was legal cause I had an international driver's license which they would honor for a year. But since I got my work permit, I had 60 days in which to secure an Ontario license. What I didn't anticipate was the moment I took the written exam and got issued my G1 license (equivalent of a learner's permit), they would treat me as a novice driver. Even if I was still within the 60-days grace period which any newcomer to the country would drive!!!

Thak God the examiner didn't ask me to parallel park on my exam.. thata was the only part I was worried about ;-)

HOME AT LAST!

Thankfully, we moved just before a long weekend. That on top of half-day Fridays helpes us settle into our new home. All the stuff we brought is in the right place now BUT our storage room is a mess, we haven't really vacuumed or cleaned and we're still waiting for our new furniture to come. The place is quite liveable now though! We LOVE our master's bedroom - which now feels like a master's bedroom, we LOVE cooking in our new kitchen and have room to peacefully cook together now, we LOVE our backyard where we've had a fair amount of meals and where we read the paper and we LOVE being right across the beach!

We had guests over on Saturday (just our 3rd day in the house!), We met up and walked over to the beach (with Joey in tow for the first hour cause it began to get too hot for him) to get some sun and watch Terry compete in the provincial beach volleyball tournament (they emerged champions in their class!) Then we went over to the swimming pool to cool down before heading back home. Pasz & Mel, Terry & Carla stayed over for dinner after which we walked over for some Baskin * Robbins on Queen St.

Unfortunately, no pictures of the house to share cause I dropped the camera on the beach.. and the and's so fine I think it got into the lens and ruined it =(