Life of Shanks

Well- I must say, after a very long, tiring week- I’m glad that I had a restful weekend. On Friday, Anna and I went down to Lacombe to visit some friends and have some much needed chill time. Friday we helped Myla set up for a garage sale on Sunday. As you can see by the picture, she’s collected a lot of stuff over her short lifetime. With her upcoming wedding, it was about time she got rid of some of her stuff. It was interesting that I found quite a few items of mine that I haven't seen for a number of years. Saturday was the day of food. Had a delightful breakfast with some friends at Lindsay's place

then had a fabulous lunch with some more friends, followed by an afternoon of relaxation and guitar playing- or in Darin's case, Ukulele playing.

tonight I'm going to see the Harlem Gospel Choir, which should be exciting! If it is... I'll be sure to fill you in on it. I think thats about it for now....

Yes, Its been awhile since you've all gotten the Shankel-update. Lots has been happenening the past few weeks.... friends having babies, stolen cars, friends having babies.... Ahhh. It hasn't seemed to slow down. Congrats Karri and Tash on the new loves of your lives! Besides the new additions in my friends lives... unfortunately an important part of my life got taken from me. On saturday morning I went down into my parkade in my apartment building to get something in my car ( who I've affectionately named Stella). Unfortunately Stella wasn't there....

Yes ladies and gents. stolen. I think i was a bit in shock for the first 2 minutes. I just stood there staring at my parking stall. Surprisingly I was very calm about the whole situation. It helped that my friend Anna stayed over the night before- so at least I had someone who could drive me around if needed. I spent most of the morning o the phone with my insurance company and the police. About 4 hours after I discovered it was gone I had a call saying that they had found her. She was parked in another parking stall somewhere. Anyways, I picked her up from the impound lot... and this is the amazing part.

( my car Stella.... parked back at home in her stall )

The guy only gutted the ignition- but Stella was still drivable with a screwdriver... ( car thief tip of the day) . So I drove her home. Second amazing part. I had probably about 20 cds in the car ... and a pair of running shoes ( worth about $80) and an ipod transmitter for my radio ( worth about $75) and 2 pairs of sunglasses ( worth about $40). The only thing the guy took was my sunglasses. Amazing huh? Nothing wrong with the outside of the vehicle- and he took my sunglasses. I feel very lucky and blessed. Things could have gone a lot worse for me! oh- and my landlord sliped a photo of the car thief under my door this morning. Seems that we have good surveillance system. Its rather freaky that I know who the guy is... still trying to figure out if thats a good thing or not.

That being said- It was a very exhausting weekend. Between baby showers and car thefts... I'm spent. I hope the week prooves to be less stressful!

Wow what a week. This pic is the outside of my second home- the Winspear Centre. Pretty ain't it? Its caused me nothing but stress the past four days. And now- a new week, a new day, the sun is shining and I'm attempting to forget about all the craziness in my life the past few days.
Yesterday I got home from work (yes, my job requires me to often work on the weekend) and I baked and baked for a few hours. I had a rough day. Some people eat, some people run, some people clean. I bake. Today my coworkers got to enjoy the results of my de-stressing.
I think I need to work out an extra hour today so I can burn off the calories that I baked last night.
It's such a vicious cycle.

Ahhh… Winter has finally arrived. Not of course in the month it should arrive in… and of course on the eve of Spring. C'est La Canada!

This is the view from my Window on the weekend. On Saturday, Edmonton got 20 centimeters of snow. Translation- A LOT.
The roads were crazy, buses were stuck, people were falling, tires were slipping….It was a sight to behold. What ever happened to a nice spread out of the snow over the winter months? We've had none up until now.
Oh well- it is a beautiful sight. And I did get to wear my new winter boots this weekend too... so I shouldn't really complain.

Of course being the crazy Canadians we are, guck-covered streets or not-myself and 15 other people still ventured out to celebrate our friend Anna’s birthday on Saturday night.
We headed to this wonderful little Indian restaurant in downtown Edmonton- one that I frequent regularly during the lunchtime hours at work.
Its not very often all of my friends can be together in the same room for an extended amount of time- so it was good to see everyone!

Congrats to my best friend who just got engaged on Saturday! Yahoo!
Check out her blog for the story- her fiancée was very creative with the whole engagement plan. The wedding is in 3 months so it’s a bit of a planning frenzy- but very possible!
www.mylocalgirl.blogspot.com

Refer back to my blog a few blogs ago- the pocket idiot guide to being a groom... um yeah. Same boy. I'd like to think we helped in the encouragement arena.

Life has definitely settled down the past few days…. Besides starting a serious diet- now that I’m in a wedding in 3 months, I have been trying to nurse my ankle back to its original shape. It was feeling great there for a few days- but then I realized I was on a wonderful dosage of advil that I’m not taking anymore. Suddenly I feel the hurt once again. Its ok. It just means I gotta take it easy!

On that note... I'm going to watch the season premiere of america's next top model- a guilty pleasure of mine. Crazy anorexic chicks fighting with each other. Pure entertainment.

Yes- I know its been awhile since I've written. Things have been a tad bit busy. Event planning- 12 hour + working days- a PR crazy person- thats who I've been. We launched our new season- in arts organizations, thats like the olympics opening ceremonies. And I get to plan em. Every year. This year I was so ahead of myself. Organized- staying healthy. All ready for the big press conference day. Then of course on Saturday night.... my ankle started swelling up- kinda looking like it was badly sprained or something. Thing is- it wasn't. I hadn't done anything like that. Doctor still doesn't know whats up and I have been limping around for 4 days now. NICE. I love our health- millions of tests and nada.

At least the press conference went good. keep ya posted on the ankle.

Music is life. This is what is above my fabulous red sofa in my fabulous cutie little apartment in Edmonton. Pretty much my whole life revolves around music- my job, my social life- if I ever get one- everything. Last week I went to the opera with Lals.... we went to see Edmonton Opera's production of Bluebeard's Castle and Ewartung ( click here....
.http://www.edmontonopera.com/2005_06_season.asp#bluebeard for synopis)

It was amazing. So visually beautiful. If you ever get a chance to see it please do- its not your normal opera. From the opera to the broadway stage- or least broadway stage on the big screen....
On Sunday, we all went to see RENT ( the movie). My all-time favourite musical. I've seen it quite a number of times. Its one of those musicals that just grabs you and make your heart shake. There's just something about it. If you haven't seen it- you must! Fabulous. But the movie came out in November- and it was just one of those movies that I never had the time to see.... so finally saw it. wonderful....Yay for me it comes out on DVD on Tuesday!

Today one of my bestest friends- Lindsay, is coming up to Edmonton- it was her birthday yesterday so we're going to go do something fun today. Food and music will be a big part of that fun. ( I'm dragging everyone to the symphony tonight- its jazz/swing music!)

I'm singing in church today. Good times. I love my team. We all work extremely well together and don't sound half bad if I do say so myself. Today will be crazy cuz we have 12 musicians on stage ( its not a big church) But it sounds amazing. Some of us were up jammin till 10pm last night- considering I have to be at the church at 8:30 this morning and still had to get groceries last night... it was a bit late. But it was so fun- i'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Anyways- i better get my butt up and get ready for the day. Did I mention that at one point it went down to -41 this week? Oh yeah baby! Its cold outside:) I hope its warmer today.

So last evening, me and my girls were at Chapters. And of course being the time of year that it is- they had a table right at the front of a store- dedicated to weddings. Of course I wandered over- considering I've planned a number of weddings, and there it was. The golden book for all grooms... The Idiots Guide to Being A Groom! ( pocket edition)
Whose face popped into my head first?None other then Myla's boyfriend.... Rob. We all thought he may enjoy a little help in getting the ball rolling- I mean its not as if the "wedding idea" hasn't been talked about.

So Lindsay, Anna, Sabrina ( she wasn't there- but she was on the phone) and I purchased the book as a joke ( of course secretly hoping that we'd help get the ball rolling just a bit faster)

We spent half the evening writing a dedication and highlighting certain pages we thought he'd might find useful.... So when Myla and Rob got back from the Oilers game they were at- we dragged Rob out of the car shoved the book in front of the camera and died laughing. He was a great sport about it- and swears he's going to get us back. I don't think much can top that though... it was so funny!

Buenas Noches Mes Amies. Yes my biggest blessing and problem is having a French background. As you can see- I add French into all my Spanish sentences. Fun times getting rid of that habit. Fun times also getting rid of the French accent I worked so hard at getting. But the good part is that a lot of French words are similar to Spanish- so I'm catching on quickly.
Tonight was the 2nd class of Spanish... My teacher Juan ( pronouced HUAN) is from Spain. He's a funny older man. Tonight he wore a big yellow happy face pin that said Buenos Dias! Lol. He's so funny. He goes off on a tangent all the time. About what? I couldn't tell you. It's in Spanish.

Mozart Day was a huge success- over 200 people showed up to the event. How I pulled something like this off in 1 week is beyond me. Someone is definately looking out for me! I made friends with a few politicians- so thats always good... AND the event was mentioned in Associated Press! Thats like winning an golden globe for a small orchestra's publicist. ( did you notice I didn't say oscar? that would be getting on Oprah) Happy Birthday Mozart!! Now i'm planning a big press conference for the end of the month to launch our season. This month doesn't seem to be slowing down. Yes- and its only Feb 1st. March oh March where are you?

Did everyone get their RalphBucks? Mine came and went. Ahh the joys of bills. I miss the days of being able to be frivolous.

Its bedtime and I need to get up early and visit the gym.

Buenas Noches!

Ciao you beautiful people:)

Wow. Very interesting election. or not. I don't know. Fact is- this is actually the first election I've voted in. Reason being- the last few times I've tried, I've either gotten in a car accident, somehow had bodily harm inflicted on me, or been out of the country... Yes I know- excuses, but all extremly valid. ANYWAYS. Yes I voted. Good times. Thats about all I have to say. I'm not sure how I feel about this new government- not like we all really have a choice.. but oh well.


On another note.... One of my best friends (Lalitha) bought a puppy. And I must say she is the cutest thing to hit this town in awhile. Her name is Piper and for the life of me I can't remember what she is. My new favourite thing. Thats what.


On Friday- the City of Edmonton is declaring Mozart Day. ( Thanks to Me:) ) Jan 27th is Mozart's actual birthday and so I am in the midst of planning an event that includes the public, politics and the ESO. ( for more information- visit www.edmontonsymphony.com) The event begins at 1:30pm. I hope ya'll can make it :) hmmmm.... do you think I could get them to declare it Shanky Day? ha ha. Joking.

I think I should run for Prime Minister. This country needs a whole lotta style. 3 snaps up. 3 snaps down.

I went to my first NHL game tonight. I've been to tons of NBA, CFL and MLB games- but never hockey. Good times. Too bad they lost:( Final score was 3-1) Actually the Oilers played like crap. They really did.

Sometimes I just love my job...connections in every industry... which led to the free tickets to the Oilers/Buffalo game tonight. The big decision was figuring out who take with me. It ended up being Myla's boyfriend Rob. I wanted to take someone who would truly appreciate the game and Rob won the bidding. Honestly- what better way to spend a Monday evening then to spend it with Shanky. Almost 3 hours- I made it- Whew! And no awkward silences. Amazing. The best part about the the game was the multiple fights that broke out. Pure entertainment. I wanted to get in there and kick some serious butt myself. Hooyaaah!!!

On that note. I have to take people to a radio station for an interview tomorrow morning at 7:30 so I'd better head to bed.
I wish Edmonton had an NBA team.

So I don't like the whole new years resolutions thing. I'd prefer to think of them as goals. ( mine include learning Spanish, learning a martial art, being healthy, learn how to rock climb, take guitar lessons... etc) Just to give you an update on how this is all working out for me.

I'm going to register for Spanish classes tonight! ( Yay!!) I want to learn Spanish- in part because I'm going to Guatemala in August and in part because- well- I just want to. Its a great language. And it may be good to know someday in case I decide to suddenly move to Mexico, Spain, Belize, Honduras or even San Diego. So Annie, Lals and I are going to make a visit to the Edmonton Hispanic Association and sign up for a few classes. I did try learning from a book a few months back- but the only I think I remember to tell you right now is Hola. I think I may need the whole people interaction.

Another goal of mine this year(And I imagine about 60% if the North American population)is to be healthy. Something I've tried to do in the past and miserably failed at after 3 months. Well- my healthy is meaning working it out. I'm not a junk food addict or lover even- so I've already scored a few points there. So how do I propose to tackle this goal? Get up crazy mad early. ( well- for me) 5:45am. Thats right kids. I'm at the gym by 6:30am. ( this is very abnormal for me) 3 days and counting. I'm hoping that this won't be a hard thing to maintain. It just means I can't go to bed insanely late anymore. I guess I gotta grow up sometime. I think this is a pretty good start to the new year. I always just say I'm going to do something and hope that It magically does itself. Well-I ain't no Harry Potter.

Well... people said they had issues with my other blog- so I thought i'd create a different one. No more complaining now. We had our girls christmas party this weekend. Good times. I got a fabulous jewellery case ( very much needed) and stainless steel coffee mugs ( also needed) both of these were at the top of my list so I was very happy.

Even though it was supposed to be a "secret santa" we all figured it out cuz we just can't keep anything a secret( myla had my name) and ya'll know I just need to know everything.

Lots of food, games and good girlfriends- and then of course there was the party crashers- Darin and Kris. Good friends are hard to come by... but when you got em- don't let them go.