Week 52 - Giving to the Church

Like many Christians, I look forward to attending the Christmas service at my home church (Zion Lutheran in Pembroke). It's a time to refresh my spiritual side, see some old friends and acquaintenances, and sing some carols (terribly off key in my case). The service also provided a relatively easy option to complete my last week of giving, by donating to the church.


Although this year had its challenges, I enjoyed completing many of my improvement efforts. Although many of you seemed to get a kick out of the mini-blinds post, my favourite weeks were a toss up between the cooking challenges, and the giving ones. Since there are plenty of awesome cooking blogs out there, I decided my 2011 project will be '52 Weeks of Giving'. I plan to donate time, money, and other goods to charities and not-for-profit foundations each week next year. The exact paramaters are still up in the air, but I'll let you know by linking the new blog to this one as soon as it's reserved. I feel that I lead a very charmed, fortunate life, and want to take steps to enrich the lives of less fortunate people in 2011.

Here's wishing all of my readers a wonderful holiday season, the merriest of Christmases, and a happy new year! See you in 2011!

Week 51 - Giving Vision

Some of you may know that I had laser eye-surgery in February 2008. It was one of those 'life altering' experiences, and I could talk at length about how much better I feel about myself without glasses.

While cleaning up recently, I found 5 pairs of glasses in my hall closet. Before tossing them, I thought there must be a better way to dispose of eye glasses. I remembered seeing a donation bin of some sort in a glasses store at the Rideau Center, but when I checked back last week, it was gone. After searching, I found Hakim Optical has a program in place to give used glasses to needy people in developing countries. After that, it was simply a matter of finding a convenient location, and dropping off my older glasses.

Stay tuned for my final post next week. I'll let you know what the plan is for 2011's blog!

Week 50 - The Ottawa Food Bank

A couple of my frisbee friends throw an annual holiday party that incorporates a food drive for the Ottawa Food Bank. Given their large social circle, these two lovely ladies raised a considerable amount of food and cash donations in 2010. Given the worthiness of the cause, not only did I bring some canned and boxed foods, I decided to make a donation on the Ottawa Foodbank website.

While reviewing the website, I was impressed to read that $1 donated to the food bank generates $5 worth of food into the community. Sadly, these donations are necessary, as the Ottawa food bank provides 43,000 people each month with emergency food assistance, 40% of whom are children. All this to say, if you happen to be looking for a worthy cause this holiday season, the food bank has a high need for donations.

Regarding my last personal goal of the year, I'm happy to report that due to an extra game of ultimate, and a hard work-out tonight, I'm inching ever closer to my sub 170 lb goal by year end. So close...so close...

Week 49 - The Ottawa Mission

As indicated last week, my goal for the last 4 weeks of this blog is to find worthwhile charities, and make donations. This week's charity is the The Ottawa Mission. The Ottawa Mission provides basic needs (food, clothing, shelter), addiction services, healthcare services, and other client services (i.e. job training) to those in need. Their annual holiday meal is famous, and apparently their cost to provide this amazing feast is $2.97 per person.

I've also decided to give myself one last goal to accomplish this year...lose that last, ugly 5 pounds. I'm sitting at 175ish as of this morning, and am looking to end 2010 under 170. This should help motivate me run a little harder in frsibee, make it out to the gym 3 times a week, and eat smarter than I have been lately. I'll keep you posted on my progress toward this goal.

Week 48 - The Season of Giving

Looking back at the last year, I realize how fortunate I've been. I have a loving family, supportive friends, and a job I look forward to every day. Given how lucky I feel, I decided the last 4 weeks of the blog will be about giving back.

Last week, an email went out about an 'Angel Tree' at work. I'm not good at much, but I like to pride myself on buying thoughtful gifts. On Thursday, I went to Zellers at lunch and bought a customizable car set that I thought would be fun for a 4-6 year old boy. Have to admit, it felt great to be the first one to put a gift under the tree at work :)

Not sure what the cause will be this week, but I'm going to find something worthwhile.

Week 47 - Dead Ant, Dead Ant

A couple weeks ago, I noticed some mini-ants around my bathroom sink. So after seeing some on top of my microwave last week, I took a walk over to the Home D'Pot across the street, and picked up some Raid ant killer.



Turns out Raid ant killer is super potent, and after placing a couple drops in some strategic locals, the mini-ants completely disappeared within 2 or 3 days. For $4.99, the stuff was a great deal, and allowed me to do a much easier home improvement project.

Week 46 - Home Improvement

This week's project was captured in pictures.

I've had a bedsheet covering a broken mini-blind in my bedroom for the past 4 or 5 years. Pathetic, I know...



Not being very handy, I avoided trying to fix the blind, or doing anything about it. However, given the blog, I took some measurements, and dropped $20 on this:



After 3 hours, a cut finger, and the insightful realization that it'd be so much easier to use the holes that were already drilled, I present you the final result. A blind with slats that function in both the open and closed positions!





In the future, if you need mini-blinds installed, don't hesitate to...flip right by me in your cell directory :P It was a fun challenge, but it's rare I have 3 hours to waste on something that takes my handy brother-in-law about 10 minutes to do.

Week 45 - Movember Project

I've decided to participate in Movember this year http://ca.movember.com/mospace/1131500
If there's one thing I excel at, it's growing facial hair. Having never went more than a few days without shaving, I thought growing a moustache (it's more of a goatee so far) would be good for a couple of laughs. As an added benefit, Movember raises money for a great cause -> prostate cancer research.

So far, the facial hair is itchy, and I look awful. I can't wait to shave it off, but it's worth it for prostate cancer awareness.

Week 44 - Trying something new

New experiences are always a tad scary, even if you're doing something you enjoy. Having signed up as an individual in a 4-on-4 ultimate league for 10 weeks, I knew my first few games would be the hardest. Luckily, I ended up playing against a team last night with a few friends on it, and brought out a sub to play on my hat team. The captain of the other team quickly explained the rules to me, and I didn't screw anything up too badly during the hour game...and my team won! Granted, we actually would have forfeited since we didn't have enough women to match the other team when then went 2-2, but that's not the fault of anyone but the people who allowed a hat team with two women to be in the league.

I'm already looking forward to my next game on Sunday, where hopefully we'll have the two women that signed up, and maybe an extra? *fingers crossed*

Weeks 41, 42, and 43

The last three weeks have been extremely busy, BUT I've managed to fit in three projects.

1. The week of thanksgiving, I bought 3 people I know gifts to acknowledge the effort they made going out of their way to help me. I'm not the best at verbalizing my appreciation, and thought this would be a nice gesture given the season.

2. Last week, having spent Tuesday night evaluating ultimate players wanting to play in a winter league, I decided to put myself under the micro-scope, and be evaluated on Wednesday. There's something to be said for challenging yourself, and I was happy to have pushed myself on the turf Wednesday night...even if the result didn't reflect the effort.

3. A couple weekends ago, I managed to close the cottage by myself. Yes, I still plan on blowing out my water lines this weekend, but I got done a bunch of work, and am fine with leaving my little peice of heaven in its current condition this winter. I even managed to wrestle out the water pump...despite my back's protests.

Since it must be pretty obvious by this point that I'm losing interst in this blog project, I'm happy to report I have a great idea for my 2011 blog. Stay tuned!

Week 40 - Joining Up!

I write this is a CFA affiliate member :) Two more years and I'll be an official CFA charterholder. For a designation I more or less gave up on 3 years ago, I'm very glad that I kept pursuing it, and actually answered emails.

I also rejoined my local gym, which is something I usually put off until the end of October when my pass code stops working.

Although it was a rather expensive week, the memberships are both good long-term investments.

Weeks 38 & 39

Week 38 consisted of me having a preventative check-up on my car (cause Civy deserved it!) and resulted me spending mega bucks on getting my front breaks fixed *sigh* Definitely the costliest week of this journal :(

I accomplished a very hard goal in week 39, and got my docks out of the water (2 of them) and tied (the other 2). My arms are just killing me after the lifting and lugging, and I have huge bites on both of my legs (likely spiders). Having said all that, I'm so happy to get it done. It's the one really hard job associated with closing my cottage.

Week 37 - Insured!

So it took me longer than a week to get in place, but my cottage is now officially insured. Now I can rest easier, as it was a worry for me when I didn't have all the forms (and there were tonnes) and pictures (5 required) that needed to be submitted.

Anyway, week 38 is all about getting my car fixed and bringing it at a frisbee tourney in the states....and I'm half way there already!

Week 36 - The Cottage is Operational!

After doing some pre-shopping at Ikea Thursday night, and taking Friday off work, I picked up a rental cube van early Friday morning and got a table and chairs set and bed at Ikea before heading out to the cottage. After emptying the cube van, and throwing in a double mattress the previous owners left, I headed back to Ottawa while my parents cleaned and assembled furniture. By the time 9pm rolled around, the cottage was clean, and my bed was assembled and ready to be passed out on.

A big thanks to my parents, Scott, and Janice for helping me get the cottage in tip top shape. Now I can enjoy it the rest of the fall, at least when I'm feeling better.

Week 35 - Sticking to my budget

As previously noted, I closed on my cottage last Friday. After setting up the financing, I resolved to stick to a budget in August, to ensure adequate funds were in the bank to close.

I'm proud to say that I stuck to my budget, and spent less than $XXX on my credit card last month :P I still managed to put all my groceries, gas, and the usual stuff on the credit card, just stuck to "only essentials" after those usual expenses.

This week's goal is to get the necessities for my cottage, so I can have my parents up next weekend. This will also include some heavy duty cleaning.

Week 34 - Lefty Flick!

As the summer ultimate season winds down, I was looking to put one of my new skills to use, and throw a left-handed flick in a game. I've been practicing left handed throws since last winter, so I knew it was time to bust one out. The tricky part is finding the right game situation, where I wouldn't be too obvious about testing something new, that could be interpreted as insulting if we were up by a lot.

As luck would have it, we were blowing out a team last Friday, and one of my friends who was subbing had been playing left handed all night. When I told him of my plan of wanting to catch a pull, a throw a short pass to him left-handed, he was on-board immediately. He even encouraged me to continue playing lefty after the flick...which I'm proud to say was completed :)

Knowing not to push my luck, I decided to stop after completing my first in-game lefty pass, but guarantee you it won't be my last. Now it's just a matter of increasing my confidence in that particular throw to the point I'm comfortable throwing it in a higher tier, and more stressful situation.

Week 33 - James's Food Revolution

After watching Jamie Oliver's series where he tried to change the eating habbits of a college town in the states, I requested his new cookbook "Jamie's Food Revolution" at the Ottawa library, and got it this past week. I decided to test my mad cooking skillz with the Butterflied Steak Sarnie. Granted I was missing rosemary and watercress, but I took a stab at the recipe. I also substituded a whole wheat wrap for a ciabatta loaf. My steak ended up looking like this:



Not too shabby (minus the socks with sandals)? It tasted fantastic, and I'll definitely make it again since it only took about 15 minutes. The only thing I'll have to improve at with the dish is cutting the steak in half (horizontally) prior to cooking. Thank you Jamie Oliver!

Week 32 - Phone Plans

Here's the situation, I have a home phone line I barely ever use, except on Wednesdays and Fridays forwork. I also have a cell phone that I barely ever use, with a $10/month plan (I know, I know, big spender!). Between these two phones, my bills come to approximately $40 taxes included.

Which brings me to this week's goal - consider eliminating the home phone and moving to a cell phone. This required checking various plans from providers, and figuring out exactly what I would need in terms of plans.

Turns out it'd be very close to the same cost for me to switch to only one phone. Virgin Mobile would likely be my best choice, and their plan would cost about $33/month before taxes and service charges. For that, I'd get 100 minutes, unlimited local incoming calls, and 50 texts/month (plenty for me). I'd also have to switch my home phone number to a new cell (which I've been considering getting anyway).

With the cottage closing at the end of the month, I think this is something I'll put off til next summer. Even though the cost will be the same, and one phone would be more convenient, I don't have the time to go through the hassle right now. Ah well, it was worth a look!

Week 31 - Le Budget

For an accountant/auditor/finance guy, it might surprise you to know I've never followed a budget. I'm generally good at keeping my spending moderate, and haven't seen the need to stick to a constrictive plan...until now.

My offer on the cottage was accepted, and with my financing in place, I realize I have to be a bit smarter about my spending if I want to pay off the cottage in a year (my goal). With that in mind, and an August 27th closing date, I've set a "limit" on my credit card spending in the next month (mostly gas and groceries), and "capped" the amount of cash I'll be taking out of the bank each month for pocket money (mostly for food, discs, and shiney things).

Will I stick to le budget? A ce point, je suis en course, mais, si ca changera, je te rapportras!

Week 30 - Cottage

For the past few months, I've been checking cottages out, on-line and in person. I had a mental checklist and a budget. After 3 or 4 months of searching, I made my first offer today.

I don't want to jinx anything, but I'd like to get this one. If I don't, it's not a big deal, I'll keep looking. I'm proud of myself for making an offer though...it's a big step.

Week 29 - Winning & Having Fun

I didn't have a goal in mind at the beginning of the week, but knew I'd be playing No Borders with Mule on Saturday and Sunday. After getting off to a rocky, 0-4 start on Saturday, I went out Sunday with one thing on my mind: have fun!

The change of attitude did wonders for my game, and Mule went 3-0 to with the Sean Green Cup. High-light of the weekend, and my ulty career so far, was catching universe point against Magma in the semis to make it into the final.

It might have taken me over 4 years of ultimate to realize that having fun and winning are compatible, but it's a great lesson to learn.

Week 28 - Paying it Forward

Having recently read the novel Pay it Foward, years after seeing the movie, I was on the lookout to commit a "random act of kindness". While still choosing a kind deed, while in Vancouver, I was given a ticket to a Vancouver Canadians baseball team by an elderly gentleman who happened to have an extra.

Fast forward to last Friday at Bluesfest, where due to a friend buying a pass for the festival, two other people backing out, and another person being afraid of a little rain, I found myself in the possession of an extra ticket. Along the Ottawa River Parkway, music lovers listen to the shows outside the fence. I decided to 'pay it forward' by giving one such individual my extra ticket. It felt great to bring a smile to someone's face, and help make their day. This was definitely one of my favourite weeks yet :)

Week 27 - Cabless in Vancouver

This week's goal was to stear clear of cabs in Vancouver. After spending a small fortune on cabs in Europe, I decided to save money by using Vancouver's public transit system.

Upon arriving in Vancouver, I bought a set of 10 tickets for $21.50 (regular price is $2.50 per trip). After 4 days in Vancouver, and just one trip to the airport to go tomorrow, I still have 3 tickets! Even better, I didn't break down and take any cabs. Having Internet access in the hotels has helped a bunch, as has Translink's trip planner.

Not sure what I'll be up to next week, likely something to get my pain-chocolat expanding belly back in shape.

Week 26 - Vacation Planned!

After considering an east coast roadtrip, the required driving scared me off, and I decided on 5 days in Vancouver instead :) I'm booked in two very nice hotels, at special government of Canada rates. I also found a relatively cheap round trip, direct flight on WestJet.

If any of you have suggestions of places to go, or things to see while in Vancouver, I'm all ears. At this point, all I can guarantee is that there's some running, relaxing on beaches, and pick-up ulty in my near future :)

Week 25 - The Intraweb on my Computron

As some of you know, I'm not the most technologically inclined male around. In fact, a cogent argument could be made that I'm on the low end of the tech continuum. However, in the last week, I took a small step to change that - Internet banking!

You're probably thinking "welcome to 1998 James". I can't blame you for thinking that, but having received a $12 money transfer, I needed to act before July 5th to receive the funds. It took me a 5-minute phone call with my bank, and I was good to go. Unlike most weeks, no money was spent to achieve this week's goal, instead I received $12!

My goal for next week is to plan my 3-week vacation. Nothing too glamorous, but I'll let you know what I come with.

Week 24 - Loyal Customer

"Do you have an Optimum card?" - Shopper's Cashier
"No" - Old James

"Do you have a Petro Points card?" - Gas Attendent
"No" - Old James

I'm a creature of habbit. I eat the same breakfast every morning, take the same bus to work, take lunch at the same time, take a break at 3pm, take the same bus home, and read for a half hour before bed. Being a creature of habbit, I get my gas at the same Petro Canada near my place, and by my convenience goods at the local Shoppers every Sunday.

At some point last week, I realized that if a store I frequent has a customer loyalty program, and there's no cost to it, there's no harm in enrolling. Therefore, last week, I got a Petro Points card and a Shopper's Optimum card. I'm curious to see how many points I can rack up over the next year.

"Do you have an Optimum card?" - Shopper's Cashier
"Yes!" - New and Improved James

"Do you have a Petro Points card?" - Gas Attendent
"Yes!" - New and Improved James

Week 23 - Layout D!

I didn't have a concrete goal this week, as I was a little stressed captaining my first tournament team. Britannia Beach is a local tournament, played on the beach, and I beleive there were 9 teams. Although my team finished 4th today, we put in a great effort, and I was very proud of the way we played.

For about the last 2 years, I've wanted to get a run-through, layout D. Laying out on the beach is forgiving for a body as old as mine, and when I saw an opportunity to bid on a throw to a friend of mine in our 2nd last game, I went for it...and got my first layout D! Glad to have accomplished that goal, I'll have to try for one on the grass this summer.

Week 22 - All Guac'd Up!

I spent $13 and bought enough ingredients to make guacomole in two different ways. Last night, I used this "easy" recipe to make a very tasty batch of guacomole. With my goal accomplished, I left the slightly harder recipe to make later this week.

Haven't picked a goal for this week yet, but it might have something to do with forming my team for a beach ultimate tournament next weekend.

Week 21 - All Shot Up

As of Thursday night at 6:15, I'm hereby immune from measles, mumps, rubella, and tuberculosis :) After waiting about a year to get the shots, they only took me about 2 minutes to receive. My right arm was a bit sore for a few days after.

This week, I have a fun goal - make guacamole. Never tried, but I love the stuff, and I'm going to give it a go this week!

Week 20 - Back to the Gym

Although it doesn’t sound like much, after a few disappointments, I was able to take some positive steps last week, including accomplishing my goal of returning to the gym for a hard workout. I’d been slacking off big time, and the work out felt extra tough after 10 days away from the gym.

This week’s goal is also straight forward – get some shots that I’ve been putting off for almost a year. Immunization should be more of a priority for someone who was sick for more of last winter. Here’s hoping that getting the shots is an easy win…since I need to build a few of those up

Week 19 - Definitely Failure!

Got cut from the ultimate team I was trying out for on Tuesday. C'est la vie. As of tonight, I got picked up for 4 tournaments this summer (plenty for this old body)...and will look to find a team for Northern Flights. Rather than the setback relating to ultimate, life's pretty sweet right now.

Promise to blog more consistently, and well-roundedly going forward :P

Week 18 - Failure? Or Extension?

Last week's goal was simple - make an ultimate team as a handler. I didn't make it, but was offerred an extended tryout this weekend at TUF. I'm struggling to stay optimistic, but have a great support system who are pulling hard for me to come through this weekend. Whatever happens, I plan on giving it my all.

Week 17 - Confidence

There are certain areas of my life in which I'm very confident - financial matters, my work, and certain key relationships. On the other hand, like most people, there are areas in which I'm less confident in my abilities. As surprising as it might seem given the amount of time and effort I invest in it, ultimate is one of those 'less than confident' areas.

Week 16, the big defeat I referred to was being cut by Firebird...first night. Definitely not my proudest moment, given I was playing with the open guys every Friday night this past winter, and worked extremely hard in the gym. Having said that, considering the evaluation process, I wasn't shocked to be told I didn't have to bother coming to the Saturday morning tryout.

After a day or so of feeling sorry for myself, I decided I still want to tour this summer, and that I better motivate myself to go to the coed tryout on Wednesday (I barely remember filling out my application for coed as an afterthough). Luckily, I have a very supportive group of ulty friends, who not only helped me get pumped for the tryout, but helped push me during the 2 hour session.

About an hour ago, I got my invite to the 3rd coed tryout this coming Thursday. I can only surmize that I was able to get enough confidence back by last Wednesday to show I still had something left in the tank. Granted, I'm only being considered for BigFish and Arrested Development, but it's a positive step in the right direction after being so down about Firebird.

I'm promising you, and more importantly myself, that I will make the most of this opportunity, and dominate on Thursday night. I know that's big talk coming from me, but what can I say...I have my confidence back!

Week 16 - Work Victory and Huge Defeat

There's two ways for this entry to go: incremental and positive, or bitchy and negative. Since this blog is all about the positive, and because life is too short to dwell on defeats, I'll pick the former.

I have an incredible Manager at work, who encourages me to strive for the next level. One of his suggestions this year, was for me to make a presentation to our group at the monthly "best practices" meetings. My presentation skills have always been strong, and I had a timely topic that I decided to present yesterday.

All the feedback I got was very positive, and I think I did an effective job of conveying my points. Completing the presentation was a good step forward for me, and I'm glad I accomplished it.

Week 15 - Getting Your Money's Worth

I'm not sure what it is about me that leads friends and relatives to give me giftcards at Christmas. Regardless, I had about 10 giftcards that I was determined to use, or at least consider using last week. As previously stated, I hate giftcards, knowing that almost half of them never get cashed, leading to easy profits for giftcard companies.

By week's end, I only had 1 of the 10 giftcards unused or unstarted. The one is from a mens'store in Pembroke I looked at over Easter, but couldn't find anything. Not to worry, I'll be back to Town and Country in Pembroke this summer to get your money's worth!

Week 14 - Showing Civy Some Love

When you own a Honda Civic, the most reliable car on the road, you tend to take it for granted. For that reason, I decided last week was prime time to show my girl Civy some love. I treated her to a car wash at my local Esso ($10), an oil change ($50ish), and a bottle fuel additive/cleaner ($7). Civy is now looking and running great! She's good to go for another year of low-to-no maintenance :)

Week 13 - Getting My Money's Worth

With a gift certificate for a one night stay and breakfast for two at the Lord Elgin Hotel set to expire on March 31st, and because I hate to let gift certificates/cards expire (that’s exactly what the gift card companies want you to do…it’s a billion dollar industry), my goal for last week was to book my night. In order to get maximum value (in truth, I got a great deal on the gift certificate through the United Way auction at work), I made a reservation for last Saturday night.

Not only did I have a wonderful night’s sleep in a king-sized bed (my first since Turkey), the breakfast was sensational. If bacon was a performance enhancing drug, I’d be an Olympic caliber athlete for the next couple of weeks while it works its way through my system. A good night, good company for breakfast, what more can a guy ask for?

Week 12 - Back It Up

"They say I'm cocky, and I say 'What?'
It ain't bragging motherfucker if you can back it up!"
Kid Rock - Cocky

Last week, my current Thursday night team Gauntlet of Destruction (GoD) played my former team Five Finger Discount (FFD). As is prone to happen on such occasions, there was a whole lot of trash-talking that preceded the game. Along with the smack-talk, which I admit to enjoying a great deal, there was a bet. The stakes for me consisted of posting a ridiculous, falsehood about my feelings toward the color purple if GoD lost (btw – does GoD EVER truly lose?). On the plus side, when GoD won, I got to take a picture of two friends with a sign that I’d construct (more humorous than anything) and tag them both on Facebook.

My goal was obviously to win the bet, and I planned to do this by contributing to my team’s win in any way in which they needed. With a smile across my face, I can safely say mission accomplished. We prevailed with a 1-point victory (much closer than I expected), and I played a very solid game.

My contributions were mainly on the defensive end (surprising as that sounds) where I matched up against the other team’s best player most of the night. Although I can’t say I shut him down, I did get numerous D’s, and held my own on offense despite not being our primary target.

As sometimes happens when you accomplish your goals, I got a beautiful reward in terms of a picture that will live in Facebook infamy forever.

Week 11 - Influencing People

After reading Dale Carnegie's famous book "How to Win Friends and Influence People", I was excited to put some of the suggestions into action. With a EUR 160 invoice sitting on my desk, for a conference I didn't attend in Brussels, I decided to put some of Dale's tips into action.

Let me preface what I did by saying, after registering for the conference in advance, and seeing notice had to be given before canceling, I fully expected to HAVE to pay the invoice. While in Brussels, my schedule simply became much busier than I expected, and I didn't have time to catch any sessions at the conference.

As per Mr. Carnegie, I put myself in the mind of the other person, apologized right off the bat, and explained the situation. The email took me about 10 minutes to draft, and I felt very happy with it at the end.

Arriving at work the next morning, I received a short reply relieving me of my EUR 160 debt, and instructing me to tear up the invoice!

If you haven't read Dale's book, I highly recommend it. It paid off huge for me, and I've ordered a copy of Ebay for reference purposes.

Week 10 Recap - CFA Pursued

I lined up 2 of my 3 CFA sponsors last week, downloaded the appropriate forms, and will send them along this week. The third sponsor was on vacation, but will likely say 'yes'. I'm counting that as mission complete!

Have to think of something for week 11. My neck is pretty sore, so I want to get a little extra sleep. Will post tomorrow :)

Week 10 - CFA Pursuit

Back in 2002, I took (and passed) my first of three CFA examinations. Having received my CMA and CIA designations between 2002 and 2006, I put the CFA on the back-burner. I beleive I passed my last CFA exam in 2007, and knowing my internal auditing experience didn't count as "eligible" to achieve the CFA charter, I stopped caring about adding that third set of letters behind my last name.

I received quarterly emails from the CFA society, reminding me of reporting the necessary experience to get my charter (i.e. use the designation). When I changed jobs in January 2009, I realized that what I was doing could count toward the CFA experience requirement. Last week, I got an email from the CFA folks, indicating that I could apply to be a CFA "affiliate" member, while gaining the necessary 4 years of experience.

This week's goal is to line up the necessary CFA references (I work with a bunch, shouldn't be a problem), and get done the paperwork to become an affiliate member. Looking forward to taking this big step forward in my career :)

Week 9 Recap - Threw It Away

Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later...I failed in week 9. I was on track with 2 throw-aways after the first game, but then doubled my mental mistakes and threw away 4 discs instead of 2 in the second game. Not horrible decisions, just being overly aggressive.

On the plus side, failing is a sign that some of these challenges are stretches...which is a good thing. Pushing myself will pay off down the road, even if it doesn't on a weekly basis.

Here's hoping next week will see me getting back on track...

Week 9 - Minimize Mental Mistakes

This is the first week with an objective related to my favourite sport - ultimate frisbee. Reality is that over the last three years, I've actually played less and less ultimate, but it's still a passion of mine. More important to this post, I'm still looking to improve at frisbee, since I'm considering trying out for the open program this summer.

This week's goal is relatively straightforward - 5 or fewer throw-aways. As things stand right now, I'm likely playing 3 games this week. If I could choose the distribution of throw-aways (which of course I can't), it'd be 2 (max) during each Thursday game, and 1 (max) on Friday. Statistically, I'm much more likely to throw-away more passes on Thursdays, as I'm more aggressive with my throws on those nights.

My self-imposed definition of a throw-away is putting a disc out of reach of a given receiver, not giving them a chance to catch it. If a cutter drops a disc, it's not my fault. If a cutter who I suspect will lay out for a disc, doesn't lay out, not my fault. However, if I the disc it in a tough spot, that requires an extraordinary effort, and the disc is missed or bobbled...my fault.

My only disclaimer with this week's goal is if I end up picking up in Sudbury this weekend...the goal goes down to 4 throw-aways on Thursday, and as many as my little heart desires in the Sudbury snow :P

Week 8 - Remounted ;-)

Get your mind out of the gutter people! :P So, yes, drinks went well, it was easier than I thought, and if nothing else...I found a bar in Ottawa (Pub Italia) that carries 200 beers, including some of my favorites from Belgium.

My one big lesson learned this week was to stop fearing the unknown. It's not that scary, and things generally go better than I expect.

Not sure what this week's challenge will be...as I'm pretty down about catching yet another throat infection. I'll keep you posted.

Week 7 - Getting Back on the Horse

"Comes a time when you get turned around, and
Life itself just wears you out, but
You keep getting ready for the big parade
Ah you shine your shoes and you fake a smile
Salute the players with that famous style, cause
Keepin up has kept you in chains"
OLP - Paper Moon


We've all been down, faked a smile, and went on with life. The difficult part of being down is finding a way back up. In my experience, small, manageable steps work best. That's why tonight, I'm taking one of those steps...and meeting someone for a drink.

No expectations, no plans, no pre-conceptions. Just taking a step back onto the horse.

Week 6 -- 2nd Day From Home

For those of you who noticed I slacked off this past week, and forgot to post my plan for the week...kudos! Although this is supposed to be a slow time of year at work, that hasn't panned out. On the bright side, I did accomplish my goal for the week, have a discussion with my Manager about working a second day from home each week.

I've noticed how much more productive I've been working from home the past 4 weeks. There are so few distractions, and I tend to plan my work better the day before. Both of these factors have contributed to me being extremely efficient while working at home.

Since it's part of my company's plan to have more people working remotely, more frequently, I talked about the idea of trying a second day at home each week with my Manager. He was very open to trying it, and all I have to do is complete a few forms, and seek a few approvals this coming week. I might be able to start as soon as Thursday...or possibly Friday (I think it'll work better doing Wednesdays and Fridays, as opposed to two days back-to-back).

Anyway, I'll try to post my goal for this week by Monday night.

Week 5 Recap - Uncomfortable Situation Not So Bad

One of the most relaxing things for me is watching a movie. Due to...unfortunate recent events...I find myself with one less person to go to movies with in the theater. This posed a problem given I REALLY wanted to see Avatar, after hearing many positive reviews. Then there was the fact that I've never went to the theater alone.

Last Wednesday, I swallowed my pride, headed out to South Keys, and watched Avatar alone!

Lessons Learned:

- Avatar was worth putting myself in an uncomfortable situation. It was a fantastic movie, and one that I'm glad I saw in the theater.
- I counted at least six other people who were alone in the theatre. This fact made me slightly more comfortable.

I'm no longer afraid to go to movies alone. Putting myself in an uncomfortable situations was very much worthwhile.

Week 5 - Uncomfortable Situtations

Objective:

Put myself in one or more uncomfortable situations.

Reasoning:

About 5 years ago, after I attended a friend's wedding, I made myself a promise that I wouldn't knowingly enter any uncomfortable situations that could be easily avoided. However, I've noticed my life has become a little too "routine" lately. Therefore, I want to spice it up a bit this week. One can't argue with the greatest mind of the 20th century, Albert Einstein, who said "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.”

Special Considerations:

I'll keep my plans quiet of how I'll put myself in an uncomfortable situation, in order to create suspense for my weekly recap ;-) Having said that, there's already an iron the fire that will lead to a least one uncomfortable situation in the next couple of days.

Week 4 Recap - Better Now

Going to bed early, popping vitamin C's everyday, and chalking myself full of medicines paid off...no more bronchial infection! The cold is gone (as of Thursday), and I haven't coughed up anything too gross since Wednesday.

Lessons Learned:

- Out of all the things I did, going to bed was probably what helped most. I only saw 11:01 three times this past week, giving my body lots of time to recover.
- One of the added benefits of going to bed early was all the reading I did. I got through Douglas Coupland's 'Generation A' (excellent novel), and am about half way done another book on investments.
- Expect the unexpected. I planned on being home on Thursday in plenty to make my self-imposed 11pm bedtime. Instead, I made the most of an opportunity to pick up with my old IID team, and won my second game of the night...that happened to end at 11pm.
- This was one of the those weeks that required a bit of a budget to accomplish. I ran out of Tylonol cold and flu, and had to stock up. My fitness week (2 weeks from now) will require about the same $20 budget.

Four weeks, four small improvements accomplished. Despite some personal stuff, I feel proud of going 4 for 4 in January.

Week 4 - Get Better

Objective:

Get rid of my bronchial infection by getting to bed at 11pm, and reading until 11:30 at the latest.

Reasoning:

This is the third week that I wanted to have a fitness objective, but this lingering sinus/bronchial infection has held me back. Although I think it's slowly getting better, reality is I'm still coughing up and sneezing all kinds of awful phelgm. By popping some extra vitamin C, chugging Buckley's, taking my Tylonol cold and flu each day, and sleeping a little more, I should be back to 100% by next Sunday.

Special Considerations:

I have plans next Friday night that will likely mean getting home around 3am. Therefore, I'll give myself one "cheat" night. Although, I'll try to sleep in Saturday enough that I'll get at least 8 hours.

Week 3 Recap - Portfolio Rebalanced!

Squeezing in under the Sunday night deadline, I just placed 3 sell orders, and consider my portfolio rebalanced. I sold another stock on Wednesday, and identified one I'd like to sell within the month. A total of 18 stocks seems much more manageable than 23.

A by-product of my portfolio rebalancing is that I'll have a bit of cash to re-invest in my non-registered and registered accounts over the next couple months. Maybe I have another objective for an upcoming entry ;-)


Lessons Learned:

- Cleaning up my portfolio was a lot more time-consuming than I thought it would be. It took me about 4 hours to go through 23 stocks.
- Much like cleaning my house, rebalancing my portfolio became easier the more stocks I reviewed. I started to develop very objective criteria to keep stocks, and hope to keep these efficiency gains in the future.
- For those of you who might be interested, the stocks I sold are XIT, MBT, HR.UN, and PGF.UN. I'm looking to sell BBD.B sometime soon.
- I have to reconsider my investment in HD given I think it's one of the buyers my group reviews at work (I've never looked at it from that viewpoint...and obviously couldn't due to a conflict of interest). Good news is that I know who to talk to at work and will get his informed opinion on my ability to continue to hold it.
- Another nice by-product of going through the rebalancing exercise is that I identified some of my current holdings that I'd like to add to.


Third week in a row with a goal accomplishment and I'll admit, it feels great. Next week's objective should be relatively easy...

Week 3 - Rebalancing Investment Portfolios

Objective:

Rebalance my unregistered, registered, and tax-free investment portfolios.

Reasoning:

I wanted to do a fitness themed week, but since I'm still not feeling 100%, I thought this would be a well-timed activity. With 23 different stocks, in 3 portfolios, I'm looking to simply a bit by rebalancing my holdings.

Special Considerations:

It's a good time to rebalance, since the market seems to be in neutral in early 2010. Furthermore, I expect to be selling more so than buying. I'll use the proceeds to buy more into stocks that I already own, and increase my cash holdings. Ideally, I like the number 16...since I think I could track about that many stocks regularly.

Week 2 Recap - Officially Mobile!

My first Wednesday working from home was a huge success! Not only did I cut out over an hour of commuting from my day, I got to sleep in an extra 30 minutes, and was uber productive! Since my one telephone meeting of the day was canceled, I managed to work my way through two cases, and start a third. It actually made me reflect how I'd have a difficult time accomplishing that much in the office.

Another high-light was when the Helpdesk dude got back to me and told me how to connect wirelessly. Cutting the cable...literally...was huge since it means that I can now work on Wednesdays from wherever there's a wireless connection...from Pembroke to Paris!

Lessons Learned:

- My willpower to avoid turning on the tv, or doing other little projects around the condo is much better than I gave myself credit for. I honestly worked 7.5 hours today.
- Working 7.5 hours without distractions leads to a crazy increase in productivity. At some point this year, I should try to figure out how to minimize my in office distractions.
- Planning ahead pays off. I printed out some documents I'd need to reference yesterday afternoon at work, and it was great to have them handy. Maybe I'll make a habit out of that each day before I leave work.

I'm at the point now where I can't wait for next Wednesday so I can try to duplicate my success. Not going to lie, sleeping in a little later was a big bonus of today too. Two weeks, two missions accomplished...this feels great so far!

Week 2 - Go Mobile!

Objective:

Start working one day a week from home.

Reasoning:

I read this book before the holidays called "The Four Hour Work Week" that talked about increasing your mobility to increase your enjoyment of life prior to traditional retirement. Since my job lends itself well to working at home, and because my employer encourages us to work remotely one day a week, I decided to talk to my Manager about trying it out this week. He was supportive of the trial, and I'm looking forward to how it'll go on Wednesday.

Special Considerations:

Today, I tested forwarding my work phone to my home phone. I also contacted our help desk about a problem I'm having connecting wirelessly to our corporate network at home (I have to plug in via Ethernet cable right now). Tomorrow, I'll print off anything I need for my reviews on Wednesdays. With all that complete, I should be good to go :)

Week 1 Recap - House is Cleaned!

I'm typing this from the cleanest condo this side of Martha's Stewart's pad. If memory serves, the final total was 6 big bags of garbage, 4 bags of clothes donated to Value Village, and a couple of boxes of books donated to the library. If I may say, this place has never looked better.

Lesson Learned:

- Cleaning takes time. I must have spent 15 hours cleaning last week.
- De-clutterring is very satisfying. My life feels so much more organized and uncomplicated.
- When planning to clean house, stock up on garbage bags.

Admittedly, I meant to write this last night, but I managed to catch a cold the first week back in the city. Therefore, my week 2 goal is a bit less ambitious and time-consuming.

Week 1 - Clean House!

Objective:

Clean every room, closet, and cupboard in my condo by next Sunday night.

Reasoning:

Prior to Christmas, when I had people over, I caught myself shutting the door to my spare room in an effort to hide the mess. Additionally, my kitchen table and dresser are usually so full of papers that it's hard to see the wood tops. I was extremely busy this past summer and didn't get around to my traditional spring/summer cleaning...so it's time to get on it!

Furthermore, I read an excellent book by Gail Blanke titled "Throw Out Fifty Things" last fall, and agreed with her premise that organizing your physical possessions (including tossing out the unnecessary crap) leads to a better mental state. Admittedly, lately, I've had a lot on my mind, and hope that de-cluttering will relieve some of that pressure.

Special Considerations:

Since I cleaned my spare room today (Friday), I'm actually giving myself two extra days to accomplish this weeks objective. Considering I tossed a full garbage bag of crap, and gathered a huge bannana box of books and three garbabe bags of clothes to donate, from a 10x12 foot room...the extra days are desperately needed.

The Concept

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
- Confucius

Let me start by saying that I love my life: I have wonderful friends and family, a job I adore, a financial situation that doesn't leave me wanting for anything, and plenty of hobbies to keep me occupied in my free time. However, there are aspects of my life I'd like to improve. Some might seem minor, others might appear to be giant hurdles to overcome in a single week, but I'm up for the challenge. I've decided to limit myself to a week for each objective in 2010, and see how things change by year end.

You might be asking yourself why I decided to blog publicly about my near year's, year-long, series of resolutions. The most accurate answer I can give you is that I enjoy writing, and think that keeping this record public will push me to accomplish more than if this was private. Having blogged and journalized before, I fully expect that there will be a few critics and negative commenters in 2010, but...I don't really give a fuck.

A of my quick stats before I start the entries: 31, 6'1, 170 lbs (including 5 extra holiday pounds), living in Ottawa, and trying to strike the delicate balance between working and playing equally hard.

Let the improvements begin!