A little deeper

It is interesting how the body adapts.  Once a long time ago, I was with a man who was above average in penis size.  My body took it in in all ways, and it was not a big deal.  But then over the course of the last nine years ago or so, I was with penises average and below average.  My body adjusted accordingly.

But what happens when you surprise your body with big again?  You had the same one before, my body should take it all in.  But sadly, it does not right away; it takes a little work, some miscomfort, and a little break.  And of course multiple occasions to get back up to par.  But what is there to not like about all that practice?

Mount Royal

I summited my first mountain.  I would be very proud of myself, except this mountain was really a hill:   Mount Royal peaks at 764 feet.

I walked from my hotel to the mountain, walking the last two blocks up before getting to the 'mountain' was the most strenuous incline.  Once getting into the park, you have two ways to get to the top - taking the stairs or walking the pathway.  I decided on taking the pathway up so I can see parts of the park and the stairs on my way back down.  Frommers was correct in estimating it would take about 45 minutes to get to the top. 

The park was designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead, the guy that designed among other things - Central Park and property at the Biltmore Estate.  Although I have to say, the park was a little more 'boring' than other parks.  The gradual dirt path brought me around to beaver lake, a nice green area, a lake and a restaurant.  This was a very nice area where people would gather; it was very relaxing.

A short walk from beaver lake, you reach the lookout.  Truly a wonderful view of the city.

And about a 15 minute walk further is the cross.  There was a little construction in that area so I couldn't get much further than getting the picture below.  

I took the stairs down the hill; they were quite steep, and I can understand why people go there just to walk to the top. 

http://www.montreal.com/parks/mtroyal.html

My turn as Vanna

Part of my job description is to manage Board operations and with that comes several things I find amusing. 

During our Board meetings, I sit off to the side next to the podium where am in charge of the slide show.  Yes, you read that correctly, I hit the button to move to the next slide - and take notes for the minutes of the meeting.  I suppose one could find that difficult to keep up with the speaker, but 90% of my speakers read off the slides, so it is quite apparent when the slide needs to be changed.

Another of my duties is to stand on a stage during our optional black tie awards ceremony.  I was not sure what to expect my first time, but I wasn't nervous.  My boss sent me up on stage at the very beginning - and I positioned myself in the far back corner because I was not the main person to look at, I was trying to blend in.  So, I stand there during a 10 minute speech - the only other person in the room standing.  I had no idea if everyone was looking at me wondering who I was and why I was on stage.  I smiled, I fake smiled, I stopped smiling because I thought maybe I looked fake. I tried not to move because I didn't want to appear shifty.  I led the audience in applause after the speech.  There was a very brief award given out, where I presented the gift to the person who handed it to the recipient, and then it was time for an eight minute speech, where I again positioned myself in the corner, my feet/legs starting to shake in my heels.  At last my time came.  I felt like Vanna White except I wasn't elegantly walking back and forth across the stage, but was handing the gifts to the presenter to present to the award recipient and scooting backwards so I was not in the picture.  Luckily they stopped allowing the recipients to say anything, they just posed for a picture.

Flaunt those legs

I have been wearing a lot more dresses and skirts at the new job, but I am still not comfortable sharing so much skin.  I think my lower legs are my best feature but I do not have much experience wearing something shorter than my knees. 

When I sat down, the skirt was half way up my thigh, and all day I was distracted by pulling my skirt down.

What are you self conscious about at work? Where do you draw the line on how much skin you show?

squatting over toilets

Whenever I move, the first thing I do is replace my toilet seat. I want it to be mine...not have been used by so many people.


When you travel, do you sit on your hotel toilet?
I am not all that consistent.  If I am at a seedy place or a public restroom, I definitely do not; I squat or lay toilet paper on the toilet.  It isn't super comfortable to squat and poop, but I have done that before too when I am just so disgusted or know it will be quick.  I have good intentions to squatting or placing toilet paper on a toilet everywhere, but sometimes after a flight and a cab or shuttle ride I get to my hotel room, the first thing I would do would be to use the bathroom - then I think 'oh crap, I forgot I didn't want to sit on the toilet' but at that point, I already did it once, so the harm is already done. 

Is the harm done?  Or should I start laying down the paper when I remember to protect my butt from the butt germs before me?

So if your answer was a NO, then what about when you go to a friend's house?  There have been many times I have squatted over my friends toilets.  Should I wonder if I should be friends with these people if I can't sit on their toilets? Of course, I also have a few friends who are cleaner or who I feel more comfortable with and I have never thought about squatting.

Why is this such a thing for me?  Whenever I move, the first thing I do is replace my toilet seat. I want it to be mine...not have been used by so many people.  So why is it that I am

Poutine

I was sitting at the hotel bar, waiting for my french onion soup, minding my own business (since I have a hard time socializing with strangers), when a guy comes and sits near me.  We start chatting because the odds of us both being staff was 98% and it is always 'safe' to talk to colleagues.  So he drank his beer, I ate my soup and then we both finished around the same time, he and his other friends invited me to go for poutine with them.

I had no idea what poutine was, and I just had soup for dinner, but I thought - it would be good to go out and get to know some colleagues.  I was proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone.

We get to the restaurant, Frite Alors! on St. Catherine and the atmosphere was super laid back.  The place was only had 4 other people in there at 9pm on a Saturday night, but it was recommended by the hotel concierge.

Poutine La Boucane

I enjoy trying the local flavors of places I travel to, but I was a little cautious with the fries.  It turns out that poutine is french fries smothered in gravy with cheese curds.  Then you can get other varieties that also include onions, peppers, smoked meat, peppercorns, etc AND they have several varieties of mayonnaise based dipping sauce.  I do not like mayonnaise, so I did not order this - but they did have a nice variety that if you did like mayonnaise, I am sure you would enjoy the sauces. 

So they bring out my 'petite' bowl of fries.  There is no way I was going to eat the whole thing (although I was the only one at my table to not eat the whole thing and they also got small sandwiches with theirs and a slightly smaller version of the basic poutine). 

It was interesting. I liked the gravy on the fries, and I love cheese - and this was my first time having cheese curds.  My variety was extra cheese and there was also peppercorns , which I was not expecting.  I did try the variety with the smoked meat on top - it was not a lot of smoked meat in proportion to the amount of fries, but the meat had an excellent flavor.

I say give poutine a try if you are in Montreal or other areas where it is a common food, even if it is only a small taste.

The mini size was about $7, the petite ranged from $8 - $12, and the larges were a little more but I don't remember and can't find the menu.

L'Original

L'Original in Montreal has a limited menu, but the items were quiet delicious and the presentation of everything was nice.

I started off with the mixed salad with buffalo mozzarella, walnuts and red grapes with a delicious truffle dressing.  The salad was really good, I normally put red grapes in my salad, but what I thought really made it was the candied walnuts and the dressing. 

For my entree I ordered the bison osso bucco.  I never had bison before, so I was not sure what the meat was going to be like; I was pleasantly surprised.  The meat fell apart with the fork, the quinoa was good, and the brussel sprouts were decent. It was a nice size, I had three pieces plus the bone marrow (which I did not eat).   I gave half of one part away so my co-workers could try it and I still had a little bit left in my plate when the waiter took it away.

One colleague ordered the grilled elk steak with wild mushroom and bacon salsa.  I tried a tiny piece of the elk, and although it was a little more rare than I would choose (he explained why they cooked it that way), I still found it pretty good; although I enjoyed mine more.

I also tried the octopus special, but I can say that I am not a big fan of octopus. I ate a smidgen of the small piece she gave me.

The restaurant smelled like vanilla (my favorite smell), and the atmosphere was a little dark & rustic but nice.

wishing to share work trips with a special someone

It was about the time I started blogging that my ex told me he was going to go on a work trip with me.  He even bought a ticket (he emailed me his confirmation) but then a day before departure, he changed his mind.  I was pissed, I mean, I could have asked someone else. 

This time around ManFriend told me he was 'seriously' considering coming to Montreal with me for a few days of my trip.He loved this city since he spent so much time here in college.  After our incident a week or two ago, I assumed he wasn't going to come & asked a few other people if they'd like to come, but to my surprise he said he most likely was - and he was my first choice.  Up until the day before I left he was still a maybe.  I arrived in Montreal I sent him an email asking if I was going to be alone or not, he responded - but not to my question.

How do I attract these people? I mean sure, I don't need him here, and either way it would not really affect me - since my schedule is quite busy, but it still would have been nice to know if I'd have someone to have dinner with one night or someone who could drive back some of my stuff.  Surprises is nice, and it would have been wonderful if he just showed up, but just not saying anything isn't nice either.  But instead, I will get to sleep well since I don't have to worry about his sleep apnea noises.

Oh FH, where are you? I am hoping I meet you this week!

Zippadie do da

Last weekend I tried Ziplining...you know, in case I ever go on the Amazing Race, I need to have this skill.  No, in all seriousness, I purchased a LivingSocial deal in October thinking it would be fun, and since it is on my list of things to do if I ever go to Costa Rica, I wanted to know what I was getting myself in to.

So the place was in Hyde Park, and is very much a beginner course.  There were I think 8 lines.  The group was small (ours was 6, but the max is 8) and two staff.  The staff were wonderful, for first timers, they did ALL the work, they attached us to the line, caught us, removed the thing from the line, attached us to our holding spots...everything except the ride.

I was much happier that our group was all newbies, so we all respected the time it took to build up courage that first time when we left the platform.

We also had 2 Tarzan ropes to get down to the ground with...that was a bit scarier than the zipling.

Two of the platforms we reached by climbing up a firetruck ladder, so we weren't really too high up (ie - if we fell, we probably would have survived in 98% of the course)

Little by little, after each segment, we all started to relax and enjoy ourselves a little more.  On the 7th ride I went off the ledge backwards, and from 6-8 I used one hand to steer myself.  I don't think I every let go completely, I should have...but it just gives me a reason to go back.