Will Advise For Food

I am hoping to get CSOL going again. I am always available to meet with business owners (or individuals who would like to improve their professional presence online.) I am free most evenings to have a brainstorming/consultation/strategy meeting for the cost of 'dinner.' Later on, if desired I do actually charge for content creation, execution services, and media management but all of that is work and not just sharing information and advising.

CSOL - Christine Sweeton OnLine
General Strategy and Social Marketing Integration Consulting
First Meeting - 2 Hours - Cost: Dinner
Discuss the proper integration of all aspects of marketing and messaging with clear objectives, target audience, and content flow. Determine how to get optimal performance and ROI with social media marketing. Often, very few individual components are in place; this leaves a significant opportunity for unified and consistent messaging. Suggestions for various upgrades in digital marketing norms, resulting in the opportunity to better connect and engage customers and/or professional community.

Funny Monday

I do a fair amount of administrative-style tasks at my current job, and have at many previous jobs before. Often, frequently used documents or signs get saved to be reused and reprinted later; sometimes, you may forget to change a key detail or two. I was amused by this mistake.

On the door of the Men's Bathroom at work:

TEMPORARILY 

OUT OF ORDER

Please use the freight elevator down the hall.

Thank you, Building Management

Big Sunglasses

Gotta Stop Taking Selfies

Jason & I in the Badlands, Alberta

I have new sunglasses now but I did enjoy rocking these ones that I found at The Cottage that my mom wore in the early 90s. I feel like they are 'back' now, right?

Alberta Trip - Animal Sightings

While on the our recent trip to Alberta, Jason and I saw the following (most while in a car):
- thousands of Colombian Ground Squirrels who would chirp warnings way too often
- a Coyote acting a little strangely on the far side of a field 
- bunch of Bighorn Sheep up on a cliff at the side of the road
- one Black Bear, though it is was brown in colour 
- Red Squirrels that are tiny and cute
- lots of Magpies which I really like
- a Little Brown Bat on the road during a hike, it was probably sick
- Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels that are easily mistaken as chipmunks but are really fat
- herd of Bison at Waterton Lakes in their Bison Paddock Loop Road
- a couple of Mule Deer, including some with a fawn or two
- Chipmunks but hard to tell which of the five or so types that are native to Alberta
- mother Grizzly Bear and two tiny cubs, SO CUTE! (The best sighting ever!)
- big waddling Porcupine
- so many Elk (or Wapiti), including one with an epic set of antlers
- some White-tailed Deer, a few with decent antlers too

Sadly, Jason and I didn't see these animals, but I have seen them in Alberta during my other trips there:
- Bald Eagle (saw two once while driving to Canmore with Anne)
- Moose (pretty sure there was at least one sighting when I went to Alberta as a kid)
- Wolf (once saw one running along the side of the road, I was in a Greyhound bus)
- Mountain Goat (we missed Greg's sharp eyes, who spotted when Teri, him, and I went to Banff a couple of years ago)

Thankfully, we did not see these animals, but were warned by various nature parks about them:
- Black Widow Spider
- Cougar, though we saw some warning signs about one on a hike we did
- Rattlesnake
- Scorpion, though Jason says he saw one on the road while driving but I missed it

A Timeless Tail

Today was the third day in a row that I brought Two to the office with me. I don't know if it was the fact that I was already in a bad mood, but she drove me crazy all day! Tomorrow I am going to take a break from her and even though it will make work a bit more lonely I plan to leave her at home. I will bring her in again on Friday. Cats being a bother is not a new thing...

 

Inky paw prints presumably left by a curious kitty on a 15th century manuscript. This reminds me of Binx's blog post and Two helping me with my thesis.

Trips To Alberta

Jason and I got back from a summer trip to Alberta last week and it led me to think about how often I have visiting this amazing province.

As a kid...
August of 1999 during a large 'Out West' camper-trailer trip
Time in Alberta: A couple of weeks
With: Mom, Dad, and Mike 
Saw: Dumheller, Royal Tyrrell Museum, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Waterton Lakes, Banff, Lake Louise, Columbia Icefield, Jasper

Part of a road trip...
April of 2009 to help a friend of Teri's drive her car out to Vancouver
Time in Alberta: A couple of days
With: Teri and K
Visited: Aimee, Mike, and ERin
Saw: Edmonton, Jasper

On the way around the world...
July of 2010 at the start of my BIG summer trip
Time in Alberta: Two weeks
Visited: Anne, ERin, Aimee, and Mike
Saw: Calgary, STAMPEDE, Canmore, Edmonton, Jasper

A couple of years ago...
July of 2011 to do Stampede and Banff with Teri and Greg
Time in Alberta: About a week
With: Teri and Greg
Visited: Anne and Mike
Saw: Calgary, STAMPEDE, Banff, Lake Louise

A great birthday gift...
July of 2013 to visit Alberta and Stampede with Jason
Time in Alberta: A week and a half
With: Jason
Visited: Anne
Saw: Badlands, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Calgary, STAMPEDE, Waterton Lakes, Banff, Lake Louise

Money Challenge - Week 7 - Early To Work

MY CHALLENGE 
Time Frame: One week. Monday July 22 to Friday July 26, 2013
*Get to work for 8:30am each day and travel via the TTC* 
Notes: This challenge is a bit like a previous week when I didn't take cabs or use any of my car sharing memberships. I plan to commute all week using the TTC, since I have a July Metropass. I was away for almost two weeks this month and it actually may not have even made sense to get one so using it is even more important. Also, I am paid hourly, so getting to work early means I will make a little bit more this week. I am super productive first thing in the mornings too! (I am going to  be bringing Two with me this week.)

Alberta Trip - Flight Home

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Flying to Home
We have a late night flight back to Hamilton from Calgary this evening. Jason's car has been parked at Greg and Teri's new house and Teri has been kind enough to agree to come get us at the airport. Jason and I both have to work tomorrow.

Alberta Trip - Lake Louise Luxury

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Staying at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise!!
Thanks so my cousin, Kev, who got us the Friends & Family rate, Jason and I will be spending tonight in The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Hotel.

Alberta Trip - Banff Luxury

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Staying at The Fairmont Banff Springs!!
Thanks so my cousin, Kev, who got us the Friends & Family rate, Jason and I will be spending tonight in The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

Alberta Trip - Waterton Hike

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Hiking in Waterton!
Today Jason and I are going to attempt a pretty hard hike - The Crypt Lake Trail.

Alberta Trip - Waterton Camping

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Going to Waterton, Alberta, to camp!
Jason and I will be spending the next couple of days camping in Waterton Lakes National Park in the southern part of Alberta.

Alberta Trip - Calgary

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Visiting Calgary!!
Jason and I will be enjoying Stampede for the next few days in Calgary. While we are here, we will be staying with Anne.

Alberta Trip - Badlands Hikes

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Hiking in the Badlands!
Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Most of the park is a natural preserve. To protect the natural preserve and to ensure public safety, access is only by guided interpretive programs. So Jason and I have booked two guided hikes for today - The Centrosaurus Quary Hike and The Sunset Tour.

Alberta Trip - Badlands Camping

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Going to the Alberta Badlands to camp!
Jason and I will be spending the next couple of days camping in Dinosaur Provincial Park in the Alberta Badlands.

Alberta Trip - Flight There

Pre-Scheduled Post:
As per our trip itinerary (bar any issues/changes/complications etc.) 
Jason and I should be ....
Flying to Calgary!!
For my birthday, Jason gave me a summer trip to Alberta! We are starting the trip today, flying to Calgary from Hamilton in the evening. We are then renting a car and staying in a hotel near the airport because we will have an early morning tomorrow.

Looking At Pictures

Every time I go to a wedding I am so excited to see the photos, and it always seems to take so long for them to show up. They slowly trickle into Facebook and I always want more! Kristen and Noah's wedding was beautiful, every moment was either fun or magical or both!

Kristen and Noah at the Crane Wall

(1000 is a lot of cranes to fold!)

Photo by Taylor

Kristen Is Getting Married

Today is Kristen's wedding day! She will be marrying Noah on her Aunt's estate in the countryside near St. Catherine's. I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle. It is going to be so amazing to be at this wedding, I have watched this relationship grow from its early days with Kristen uncontrollable beaming smile that occurred with every text message from Noah, tried to provide comfort and insight during struggles over different thinking patterns and lifestyles, seen their excitement at moving in together and the general joy that they bring to each other every single day, received the phone call from a thrilled Kristen announcing their engagement, and over the last little while helped fold paper cranes for their wedding and prepared to be their MC. I am so happy for them and so excited to see how this magical day will unfold!

Kristen's Bachelorette

Kiyomi, Tessa, Taylor, Danielle, Me, with Kristen in the front

At her bachelorette a couple of weeks ago we made her wear a veil to help her 'prepare' for her big day, even though I don't think she is planning on wearing a veil today so really it was just to slightly embarrass her.

Look! No More Polio

I have mentioned before that I am in full support of vaccinations, actually I have mentioned it three times before! In 2007, 2008, and 2009.

I saw that Anna had posted the following graphic on Facebook and thought that it really showed the power of vaccinations.

The Plight Of Aging

"In a couple more years I'd give in to corporate coffeehouses, start buying a fudge brownie on the way up the elevator, a muffin at break; I'd get lazy, sleep later, and wake up one day with a solid ball where my  waist used to be. This version of me would read industry magazines and go to trade shows."

 --- from Sushi Daze by Rob Payne

I read this passage on the bus this morning and it really hit home. My morning routine is fairly consistent but it currently exists in a number of different forms: at Rrunuv Bayit, at Rrunuv Bayit with Jason, or at Jason's place. The middle option tends to involve a Timmy's run so that Jason can go and get coffee. On these mornings I have him bring me back an Iced Cappuccino and either a croissant or a chocolate glaze donut or ideally both. Now, every morning I crave the sweet chocolate donut and every evening I look back on my day and realize that I was painfully short on fruits and vegetables. I need to figure out how to have a healthy breakfast that is still fast. Right now the simple answer is - Bananas. 

Short Workweek

Danielle works for The Provincial Government (Ontario) and posted the following quote to facebook:

"I'm worried about how I am going to fit the 15 minutes of work I actually do into this four-day workweek." - from someecards

I really miss working for the government! I remember times when the Government of Canada (Federal) felt like that. Now I feel much differently about shorter work weeks, especially since I start my holidays this Friday and will be away for over a week. Not enough time to get everything in place so that I feel comfortable leaving it - means getting in earlier and working later.

July 2nd

First day back at work after a long weekend? This feels about right:

------ from Twitter