Lets Talk Anti Aging

At the goodbye Q&R party on Saturday night we got talking about anti-aging products for wrinkles. The question: when is the right time to start the anti-aging process.

I'm all for getting older, and doubt that I'd ever do anything drastic to slow the process (Botox, face lift, etc) but that's not to say I want to have wrinkles soon. So far I don't have anything real. When I get a crappy nights sleep (like saturday night I got 5.5 hours), i had some fine lines visable under my eyes, but they were super fine and are only there when I'm really tired. I doubt anyone other than me would ever notice them.

So, who has started using face creams geared at anti-aging? When did you start? What are you using? basically, I want to know, what I'm supposed to do in my later 20s to avoid getting wrinkles prematurely. Right now, I just a face moisturizer with spf 15 from neutrogena and that is all.

Monday Again

So another weekend, another monday.

This past weekend was another busy one at 16 cedarwoods. Saturday was the regular errand running and it meant that I didn't get a chance to ride my trainer yet again. Boo! We did however get to go to a goodbye party at burger's house for Q&R. Q is starting a new job (and leaving the gradschool life behind) in Vancouver at the start of February. In fact they flew out this morning, so may already be starting their new life in BC. I'm going to miss them. Ditto Burgers comments about Q needing to join the blogging community!

So yep. EKs done, Burgers done, QC is done, JD has left town. MK is finishing this afternoon. That leaves lonely little me. It's quite sad that everyone else is done before me and I'm left here by myself. I'm also uber envious of them all starting their new lives and me still being stuck in the hell of trying to finish up this god damn thesis. Good news though, I'm getting pretty close. I should have my results all done by this time next week and as soon as neil approves my chapters I'll be done. We'll see if that actually happens though. Sometimes things don't really go according to plan as Burger would be able to tell you. I just want to be done so that I can start working.

Speaking of Working, I have an interview at burger's company next tuesday. I hope I get a job offer from them since they are a company I'd love to work for. This one is for real this time, the other interviews were more for practice. Wish me luck!

Back to School Thursday

Man, What is wrong with me? First I'm sick, then I think I'm better and then I'm sick again and worse than the first time. Man. It's depressing too, since I really needed to have a productive week and it really didn't happen :( Damn sickness, why did you have to throw a wrench in my plans like that????

Nothing else really to say other than that I'm sooo happy that is looks like winter outside now. I mean seriously, that was getting pretty depressing there for a while. I hope winter stays this time (although it is supposed to rain again tomorrow, BOOOOOOOOOO! Hopefully not too much snow will melt!_

My fever at 3 am this morning. 102F. :( Yuck. I took 2 advil and that really helped my temperature to drop (almost normal when I got up), but now the headache is coming back, so the fever isn't too far behind. I thought I was better :(

Monday Morning

Da Da, Da-Da Da!

Meh. What I lousy weekend. Thursday night I started developing a head ache and a bit of nausea, but didn't think anything about it, Friday morning general feeling of crappiness increased to include a back ache and a stomache ache. I ended up leaving work at around noon and went home. I slept for several hours and when I woke up, I took my temperature. 101F. Nice. So I think I had the flu. Saturday the head ache had subsided, but my stomache ache and back ache were a million times worse. Sunday morning - a little better. Good thing too since we had a tonne of stuff to get done including returning merchandise, grocery shopping and laundry. On top of that, it was AFs birthday so I made him breakfast, made him a birthday cake, and took him rock climbing/to dinner. We both really sucked at the climbing yesterday. Me with getting over the flu and AF who had a nasty cold on the weekend.

Over all not a great weekend in Apartment 1507. Sucks too since I had big ambitions of getting some big stuff done at school on friday that would have allowed me to start my model simulations for real. No go though since I felt like crap, I didn't manage to get much accomplished. Hopefully I can get it done today though which would mean my simulations would be underway tomorrow.

Laura's Useless Fact of the Day

Did you know that when the day's start getting longer at the end of december, the time that the sunsets actually gets later? On the shortest day of the year, (Dec. 22), the sun rose at 7:52 am, however, now and until the 8th of January (next monday) the sun rises at 7:55. True story, we are just gaining more time in the evening than we have been losing in the morning. I found this interesting.

Yes I'm light obsessed. Getting up at an ungodly hour to run in the morning is easier if there is at least some type of sunlight, however, it looks like I'm in for another dark month ahead. By the end of January, the sun still won't be rising until 7:40 am which will still be black, however by the time I actually start working, It'll likely be getting lighter in the morning which will make getting up to run early easier.

Laura's 2006 review

2006 has come to a close with the new year just in the beginning stages. Time for reflection over the past year.

January went by quickly, dating AF and seeing our relationship develop. We went to the Banff Mountain film festival which was fun and will be repeated this month, though this time will be in Waterloo. Can't really remember too much of January, though I have a feeling I spent a lot of time on the phone ;)

February was another great month of developing our relationship, although things at school started getting more stressful with deadlines looming. Mid Month I had a wonderful visit from KB who was in Ontario to visit. At the end of the month, and the beginning of March I went to BC to do some skiing with my Dad and his friends.

March: after getting back from skiing in BC, AF came with me to B-ville to meet the family. We had a great visit with lots of family (Dad, sister, b-i-l, aunt, uncle, cousin... etc.). We went skiing at Blue Mountain and while there, my mystery illness that would end up plaguing me for the next 3-4 months began. At the end of March we met C-dubs man in Peterborough.

April was another stressfull month school wise chez Laura's. I was frantically trying to get my stuff ready for the conference in Monterey and finishing my paper. Mid (?) month we also learned that AF's sister had a brain tumor that was going to need to be operated on, scary news, but they were certain that the tumor was not cancerous. At the end of April C-dub, Nej and I took a trip to AB to visit Niks for her wedding reception. Great, but short, visit, although I was a little ball of stress the entire time.

May saw my stress level slowly decrease. The first half of the month was spent preparing my presentation for Batelle. I got news that my granny's health was deteriorating and AF and I went to visit her for the weekend on Mother's Day. The next weekend I flew to California for the conference and stayed there for half a week. While I was enroute back home (likely while I was hanging out in the San Fran Airport, D was in labour delivering god daughter #2.) We visited with the happy family at the end of May.

June was another stressful month. although not with school. At the beginning of the month AF's sister had her surgery, and while waiting for her to come out of the surgery, my dad called my Cell phone, I immediately knew it was bad news. My Granny was slipping fast and was going to be starting morphine to help with the pain management. I knew I had to get up to see her as soon as possible, so I took off a few days the next week to go and visit her one last time with my Dad. I got back to Waterloo late on the evening of the 16th and AF and I celebrated our first 6 months together on the 17th. We went out to dinner, early on the 18th my dad called to tell me that Granny had passed away. To say I was devestated would be an understatement. We went back to TO that weekend since AFs aunt was coming in from Sweeden. The next day though AFs sister had to go back into the hospital since her brain was leeking spinal fluid. Finally at the end of the month, the light started to brighten a bit, AFs sister was released from hospital for the second time, and started to recover. My health wise, the doctor had me on new medication that was finally starting to make a difference in how I was feeling.

July was another busy month. AF and I decided to move in together, My dad got engaged, I discovered I would be inheriting a big chunk of money from my granny's death, went to the peterborough triathlon (one of only two races I did last year), had burger's wedding shower, had a mini-vacation at my dad's house which AF insists is cottage like (I don't see it.)

August AFs other aunt from Iran came to visit, and while here applied for refugee status. In anticipation of my future wealth, I bought a new camera which I still love although I've been horribly bad about updating my photoblog. perhaps when things slow down I'll start up with it again. At the end of the month Burger got married! Wonderful party.

September saw me slowly starting to pack up my belongings and move them over to AFs apartment. We went up to Wasaga beach for a weekend for me to do my first olympic triathlon, but alas, wind cancelled the swim and I wimped out at the prospect of running 15 km, so I switched to the sprint duathlon. My dad also turned 60 and we had a big party.

October I spent a week with my sister on Drive Sarah to the Hospital Duty. She didn't have her baby that week, but she did the following week so I became an Aunt! I got to visit baby Eddie the following weekend. October also saw AFs aunt recind her refuge claim and head back home hoping her husbands days of abuse were over. At the end of the month saw me in the lab crazy hours and we ventured down to Windsor the P&Js Wedding Bash. Good times were had by all.

November after spending crazy hours in the lab at the end of October, my lab results came back and they were not good. Turns out I would have to redo my lab work in November which shot a hole into any plans I had of finishing up before christmas. Outside of school I turned 26 and had a fabulous birthday present - big sis moving home from Africa! yipee!

December was a stressful and busy time with school spent trying to get as far along in my research as possible before the christmas break. that combined with the lack of snow but me very much NOT in the christmas spirit. AF and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary and he had his first christmas ever. We visited with my immediate family, D and the girls, my mum's side of the family, my dad's side of the family, and of course Nej and C-dub. So it was a busy busy week and a half off, kind of hard getting back into the grove of things this morning.

Last year I made from resolutions, so I'm going to see how I stacked up...
1) Fitness wise - < 1:20 in peterborough sprint, < 2 hours in a half marathon, finish an olympic tri
Um, peterborough and the half mary didn't happen since I was sick, oly didn't happen because of wind, although I'm sure I could have completed it
2) Go to Batelle in May and completely redeem myself after being unprepared for ORTs.
Completed with flying colours. It was a stressful 5 months leading up to Batelle, but the conference went smoothly.
3) Finish writting my thesis in rough draft by the end of July leaving August for revisions.
Um, nope on this one.
4) Travel a bit before fall convocation and finish school for good!
Nope, Nope, Nope
5) Get a job that I love in a city that I adore (aka not the loo!)
Nope, nope, nope. Not only that, but I think I'll be staying in the area for at least a couple of years yet.

Obviously I don't do well with goals. Actually, normally I do, but several of them hinged on my completion of school and well, that didn't happen.

Goals for 2007
1) Goal Races - Spring half marathon, summer half ironman, fall full marathon.
2) Finish school for good and get the hell out of here. I'm SO ready to be done.
3) Be a happier person. I think school is really starting to get to me and bring me down. It is always this stress in my life and it doesn't help that people ask me all the time "So, when are you going to be done?" I think I heard it 10,000 times over the break. dude's it's a touchy subject, if I want to talk about school let me bring it up.