Category Archives: In a Nutshell…

My life – day by day

Christmas, twice… my jackpot & emerging from the underground.

  By Pia | January 5, 2012 - 2:11 am | In a Nutshell..., Update
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I love Christmas. There is something about the season that is warming and comfortable. It makes me feel like the world is somehow more united, people flood out to the malls and (mostly) put up with each other while buying gifts for others. Ok so I know it is a little delusional to think that everything is so apple pie (or should I say mulled wine) during the season but for me, the season is perfectly cosy! So this year, things have obviously changed. We moved to Sweden not long before Christmas and into our home just a couple weeks before we were to leave for England to spend the holidays with Neil’s family. Our Christmas tree was about 2 feet tall and although I decorated with a few strings of lights (in the basement where we have been dwelling) there wasn’t a lot to signify Christmas at the Holden … Read More →

Swedish living… a change in perspective…

  By Pia | December 14, 2011 - 7:58 am | In a Nutshell..., Update
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I have been in Sweden for 2 weeks now and I am amazed at what a difference 2 weeks makes! Two weeks ago when we arrived in Sweden, I completely understood what it feels like to be without a home. It just felt so empty to know that you have no home address. I think being sick made it all worse since I think people tend to want to be all comfy cosy at home when sick…  Last week I really hit rock bottom. We moved into our new home with a few suitcases of clothes and little more. We managed to purchase what we needed until our container arrives and I think we’re both grateful to have this opportunity but I think there is more to it than the adventure of it all. I had a little pity party for one several times throughout the earlier part of the … Read More →

Whirlwind of Change. Marriage, Moving and Medicine?!

  By Pia | December 3, 2011 - 12:36 am | In a Nutshell..., Update
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Wow things have changed dramatically since I last posted. To recap, on September 10, 2011, my Soul-mate Neil and I were married at Heritage Pointe Golf Course. What an amazing day.  We are still in disbelief that it all actually happened and so perfectly. The few issues we encountered were so minor. In May of 2011,  Neil and I were both away at separate conferences in the US. Neil was in Denver and I was in Sacramento. Neil was asked to speak at his conference, doing a presentation on his research. That led to two opportunities and eventually, two job offers. In August, Neil and I were flown to Sweden for 4 days while Neil had a job interview. Then a couple of weeks later, Neil was in Seattle for another interview. Two nights before the wedding in September, we had to make the decision… were we going to move … Read More →

All about blogging…

  By Pia | May 23, 2011 - 9:26 pm | In a Nutshell...
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Funny thing about blogging… you actually have to sit down at a computer, think about something interesting (or not) to say and then type… So I got an Iphone a couple of months ago… and guess what happened?  I stopped picking up my laptop and I started usign apps for everything.  For the record, typing on any handheld device sucks!! So I am going to try and get back to blogging!  I have a lot to type about!  I recently attended the STC 2011 conference, I am still getting married in 108 days and I have a poor sick kitty! So… I’ll TRY to get some words down.. share some interesting foodie reviews and let you in on my wedding planning secrets. No promises though

Family, Travel and Life Changes…

  By Pia | December 5, 2010 - 9:34 pm | In a Nutshell..., Update
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Life is so unpredictable yet everything that happens is inevitable. Last year, we lost my step-mom June to cancer. This year, we lost my niece Jessica to a stroke, Neil’s mom Jackie also had a stroke and then we lost my aunt Anne to an unexpected heart attack just a week after she recovered from a  car accident.  You tend to expect death at old age and even though it is still sad, you can at the very least rationalize that the person lived a full life but it is the unexpected occurrences as young as early 20′s and 60′s that is hard to accept. This year, I have done a lot of travelling (maybe not a lot more than my new usual but a lot still by my standards). Some of the travelling has been for leisure and part for less enjoyable reasons.  In June, Lauren and I ventured down to Las Vegas. We … Read More →

The Proposal…

  By Pia | May 14, 2010 - 8:51 am | In a Nutshell...
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So my boyfriend proposed to me last weekend (May 8th)!!!!!  Here is how it all happened! His commentary on the events are in the blue text… We decided to head up to Banff for a romantic weekend.  We booked a room at a hotel and reservations at one of our favourite restaurants. So on Saturday we drove out past Lake Louise to Bow Lake [So I had been planning to propose at Bow Lake for at least a month, and I had no back-up plan].  When we arrived, we discovered the lake was still completely frozen over and everything else was buried under 6 feet of snow. My boyfriend was adamant that we go out to this bridge by the lake to “take some romantic pictures”. As we started towards the path, another couple came by and warned us to stay on the path and that we should be “okay” … Read More →

Taxes, The Happiest Place on Earth and Special Requests…

  By Pia | April 19, 2010 - 8:46 pm | In a Nutshell..., Update
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I finally decided to sort out my taxes. For the first time since becoming an employee, I regretted it!  I can’t believe how much of a tax hit you can take when you are most of the year as an employee and a few months as a contractor.  I won’t go into details about my actual tax owing but I can tell you, a glass of wine was definitely needed! I am hoping that the government looks at it and finds out I figured something wrong.. hoping hoping hoping! So much for having a savings account… sigh! So it is Friday morning.. which in general seems to make people a little happier.. it is spring too, so that helps.. but this morning, Lauren and I were at Tim Hortons and it seemed like the happiest place on earth! It is ‘roll-up-the-rim’ time and so the long Timmies line-ups are generally … Read More →

The Cubicle…

  By Pia | April 1, 2010 - 11:30 pm | In a Nutshell...
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It is an interesting dynamic moving from an office to a cubicle. Granted my office space was shared so my real estate wasn’t reduced by much but the walls came down and that is where things are different.  I feel somehow liberated.  Even though I am more exposed now… my privacy non existent, I am somehow more organized.  It is like being forced to scale down and taking down the walls has made me think about my space more efficiently.  I remember this now from when I was in a call centre working as a phone rep.  Everything had a place.. albeit a small one.. but things were orderly.  The occasional rep had a horrible mess for a desk but in general, things were tidy.  I have been getting teased though.  Apparently by moving in my gumball machine and multiple photos of friends and family, I have made the place … Read More →

Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy!

  By Pia | March 24, 2010 - 1:17 pm | In a Nutshell...
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I am SO grumpy today!  Even as I type this I can tell I am super grumpy because I am pounding the keys harder than usual.  I don’t know why I am grumpy.  I will assume for now that it is some chemical imbalance. I get this way sometimes.  I slip into a mood or phase or some other category yet to be defined and like Snow White’s kiss, only one particular trigger will snap me out of it.. the problem?  I don’t know what that trigger is. I think what bugs me the most is that I have everything to be happy for and nothing to be grumpy for. Ok so I know I have a bad habit (unconscious) where I tend to absorb the moods of those around me.. but to my knowledge no one around me is overly grumpy today.  Who knows.. maybe I am channeling someone … Read More →

Writing, speech and education…

  By Pia | March 8, 2010 - 11:46 am | Education, In a Nutshell..., Writing
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Another day recently… I was in the elevator and I was witness to this comment…   “I haven’t been sleeping well lately.. I don’t know if it’s something in the air….??”   Seriously, What?  What is in the air? What IN THE AIR is making people not sleep???   As a technical writer I laugh at these comments people make because we’re all guilty of it… figure of speech… slang…   I have a good friend named Connie who is Chinese so English is her second language.  What happened with her is a constant reminder stuck in my head about why figure of speech and slang are useless in communication… We were discussing location of the buildings we worked in and I explained to her that my building was kitty-corner from hers.  She looked at me completely puzzled and said, “what is kitty corner????”.  I said.. ” diagonally”.  She then responded … Read More →