Who Steals Parking Tickets?

This weekend I went to this really interesting event on Creativity and Innovation. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, learning how to "fire up my brain" and also the history of creative theory.

Apparently drinking pure water (coffee/tea don't count) is the number one thing you can do to make your brain most effective. So if you're going into a big exam or meeting, have a big glass of H2O before you begin. I'm kicking this up and am going to try to drink 8 cups a day, which is equivalent to just under 2.5 times the stainless steel water-bottle I have.

I had 2 tickets to this event and invited a friend to come along with me. Then when I got there, I got asked for a $20 'donation' per ticket. Kind of embarrassing when I told my friend they were pro bono and I didn't have any cash. Anyway, no biggie, quick trip to the bank machine and I covered both tickets. I'll just expense them but I wasn't anticipating having that money out of my account so another area will have to be cut out this period.

Anyway, it got worse because I went out to feed my parking meter half way through and a shop keeper comes out and tells me that I got a parking ticket and a homeless person stole it!!  Only one question come to mind here... uh, why? Was he also going to pay it for me? Somehow I doubt it...  Why would someone steal a parking ticket? Was this person so vengeful towards others that he was hoping I'd get a second ticket?  If that's the case, peace be with him. What a way to live your life!

The parking signs are so confusing in this city, they might as well be in Swahili. The parking authority has paid at least one salary on my parking tickets alone since I arrived, I'm sure. Anyway, now I have to call them to see if they can find the ticket because of course, it triples in price if you don't pay it in the first week.

I hope no other unexpected expenses come up this week!

Blogging - The Secret to Weight Loss?

A strange thing has been happening since I started this blog - I started losing weight!

It definitely wasn't a planned thing but when I began this blog, a few new habits began to form and low and behold -> blogging = weight loss. I'm not talking a lot here but I've probably lost about 5 - 7 pounds, yay! Perfect timing too with Summer just around the corner.

It began when I stop my very expensive habit of buying lunch on work days. I was mildly trying to buy healthy lunches - turkey sandwich w/ milk, or veggie panini w/ salad, etc. They were always really large portions and I'm the type of person who will more or less eat until I'm stuffed if the food tastes good and is in front of me. My food schedule usually consisted of eating breakfast before work, one large lunch and a late dinner. I wasn't too worried about my weight but was always about 8-10 pounds over my ideal.

Fast forward to today: Now I pack my lunches every day! And generally try to include a lunch item plus three snacks so that I can eat at regular intervals.

8:00am, Breakfast before work - toast w/ natural peanutbutter & banana

10:00am, Snack - green apple

12:00pm, Lunch - dinner leftovers or Lean Cuisine microwave meal

2:00pm, Snack - small yogurt or carrots

4:00pm, Snack - dark chocolate cherry Kashi granola bar

8:00pm, Dinner - Spinach salad w/ chicken breast

(obviously this isn't what I eat every day but it's a good representation)

Because of this new schedule, I've really noticed that my metabolism has been kicking it up. I'd heard this before but had never tried it myself. Now I'm a believer, eating 5-6 small meals a day really works. My budget also allows me to fit in hot yoga once a week without feeling guilty at the cost. So I'm doing that weekly now too.

So, what I have to keep doing to get ready for summer is,

1) Keep bringing my own lunches to work

2) Eat at regular intervals

3) Hot yoga weekly

4) Blog about it!

Power Weekend Run-down

This was such a great weekend, I wish I could rewind and do Sunday again. It was so beautiful here in Toronto and this morning, it's slushing, yuck.

Thanks to S's extra injection of funds into my account, my budget is not looking half bad this period! And the weekend didn't knock me off course. On Friday I went to go see my cousins; Saturday I slept in and was late for the art show I wanted to see but went to say hello anyway, did my grocery shopping, went to the concert S had tickets for. On Sunday, we woke up early, had breakfast, went for a 27 km bike ride down to the waterfront and up the Humber river, walked down to Kensington market, went to hot yoga, watched ANTM on youtube, went to sleep!

Money-wise

Friday

Bottle of wine - $9.75

Saturday

Used Book purchase - $13.64 - The Portable Dali

Groceries - $75.04

Personal Care - $13.00

Sunday

Bulk Quinoa - $8.00 ("Nutrient Powerhouse", cheaper in bulk!)

Sushi lunch - $16.45 - treated S $5.95 each plus tax & tip

Hot yoga - $18.00

Total Spent $153.88

*It's now slushing plus thunder & lightning, I don't want to leave the house today!

My addiction to Hot Yoga is completely growing and the more I go, the less the heat bothers me. This week we were working on anchoring before twisting to get a deeper stretch. I'm by no means an experienced yogi (this was only my fifth class) but after a few weeks of getting used to the heat and learning the basic poses, this was the first week I really noticed my flexibility had increased. I've taken to going on Sunday evening because it's a great way to calm the mind and spirit after a full weekend and to prepare for the week ahead... which is starting Now.