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| Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | | 11:25 am |
A Long Time
So it's been almost a month since I last posted here! Figure I better fix that. So in point form... - Lex is getting big! He's up to 13lb 14oz as of yesterday! The growth rate is slowing though. Today we take him to his first baby swim session, which should be a lot of fun. If he likes the pool half as much as he likes the bath then he'll have a great time! - I'm still hacking and having breathing issues from getting sick almost two weeks ago. It's getting old now. I wish I had an inhaler that I used to use as a kid, but getting one would involve going to the doctors, which I don;t have the time for. - I have orthotics. I haven't given them a true test yet, but the walks Elise and I have gone on seems much easier. As I said to her when I first got them, 'is this how feet are supposed to work?' - Tomorrow night is my first group study session for the In Depth Tax Course, which means I really need to finish working on the problems tonight! So far the self study portion is proving useful, so I'm glad I enrolled in the course. I also need to get my ass in gear with the US tax course that I'm been working on as I only have until January to complete it. - I've ordered a server for the office, and take over a second office space next month, where my part time person will work. Come the new year she'll be working for me full time! Business is good, but could always be better, so anyone looking for a good accountant... ;) - Lex, Elise and I fly to Vancouver for a week, leaving on the 31st, and getting home on November 9th. This means we rush to the airport after Crown, and will miss Hare. I'm not too sad about missing Hare, but am sad to miss the great visiting with friends that comes with going to Hare. Pizza & Pajama's is worth the drive to Ottawa! We're going to Vancouver so that I can meet with a business contact from Scotland to formalize the work that I do for their company. He's bringing me whiskey. :) Since I had to go to Vancouver anyway we decided to turn it into a vacation. We'll go down to Seattle and visit with Tim & Truly for a few days, and visit some of Elise's family that lives there as well, then head back to Vancouver on the Wednesday when I have my meeting, and hang with Ben, April and Sage for a few days in Burnaby! I'm looking forward to the trip! And that, in a nut shell, is that! Current Mood: busy | | Friday, September 25th, 2009 | | 11:43 am |
Skeldergate Fight Practice
I went to Skeldergate last night with Konrad for fight practice. This was apparently a rather stupid idea. Not the the fight practice is anything other then fun or top notch, but because fighting when you're back is screwed up to start really doesn't help the situation. Today, I am unhappy. Prescription anti-inflammatories and lots of pain killers to boot have me sitting up straight, and I can feel it loosening up, but yeah... You'd think I'd learn better... Current Mood:  blah | | Monday, September 21st, 2009 | | 7:44 pm |
Weekend and Coronation
Not surprisingly, Coronation dominated our weekend, starting on Friday. Cenedl, Draco and I headed to Tavistock for noon, where Aibhilin met us with the feast supplies. The first few hours was mostly spent running around getting the SOP, the bar stock, and a few other supplies. A surprisingly good lunch at the local fish and chips joint was thrown in there as well. It was around three before any decorating really got underway. Fortunately by then we had been joined by Dwynwyn and Amhlaidh. The decorating did seem to take forever, which I think was largely due to the fact that pretty much everything needed to be hung from the ceiling. With only one ladder and fussing around to get thing to hang straight, the time really disappeared. There was also planning for the outside shelters due to the nice weather being forecast. I think we got home around 10, at which point we needed to load our baronial gack and personal stuff into the car. We also decided that we were going to stay at the hotel in Woodstock the following night so we could get a couple of hours to visit our friends. Oh, and I made a new sword in case I actually got to swing it on Saturday. Saturday dawned the way the weatherman predicted! YAY!!!! Bad weather would have been bad! I was on the road by not too long past 7. I needed to stop at a number of places before getting to site, and we had told people we'd be there by 8:30 to finish setting up / let the kitchen staff in. The day got off to a bit of a shaky start but quickly seemed to recover. In Roak and Jocea's final court I was made a Companion of the Order of the Wain, which was cool. Odette's laureling was a very nice ceremony which I was glad to be present for. Nigel and Adrielle's Coronation ceremony was great! And talk about looking the part. There was one point in particular, when Nige had the cloak on and the sword of state across the throne and Adrielle beside him that was a perfect SCA moment! OK, I know I'm biased towards them, but it really was uber cool! The rest of the day really is a blur after that. I did manage to put on armour long enough to fight Nigel in the Pas, which made me happy. It's how he celebrates in the club, so I wanted to be part of it. Then it was time for feast, and what a feast it was! Trout, elk, beef, fritters, pies, shortbread... I was stuffed half way through the second remove! It was great, and I'm so thankful tot he kitchen team for such a great job. In evening court Cenedl and I were able to recognize Dietrich finally with a guidon. We've been wanting to do that for a while but it's been hard to catch him in court. We also gave Draco the silver border, and Ed the Red the jewel of RamsHaven. When it came to packing up and cleaning up, we received a lot of help for which I am thankful. Quilliam and Bleddyn cleaned our feast dished for us which is incredibly appreciated, and Quill and Her Excellency Dohmnaill helped with breaking down and packing our presence. Lot's of people helped with the hall clean up (Konrad & Alyce, Ed & Rylyn, Eyrny, Draco, Ann & Tiberius, and likely others I'm forgetting) so we managed to get to the hotel by about midnight. Then, it was drink time! We stayed up until 1:30 or so visiting and hoisting a few. The next morning found us visiting some more in the hotel breakfast room, then off to a local grease joint for a real breakfast with the family. We got home in the early afternoon and the rest of the day was spent in napping, with a brief stint of returning left over alcohol from the event. Then early to bed. All in all, an exhausting weekend that was well worth it. But, the next time Nige win's Crown I think his squire can host the Coronation! ;) Current Mood:  happy | | Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 | | 12:15 pm |
Course Acceptance
Well, since I received my password and login information for the course website, and my credit card has significantly less room on it then it did before, I guess I'm accepted into the tax program I applied for. Current Mood: chipper | | Monday, September 14th, 2009 | | 11:32 am |
Joining a trend... Maybe.
A lot of my friends and colleagues seem to be either starting new companies, new jobs or going back to school this fall. So, what have I done you might ask... While I did exit from my previous partnership, I can't really count just that as starting a new job. And going back to school full time isn't on the to do list. So instead, I have enrolled in Canada's most comprehensive tax training program, the CICA In Depth Tax course. The format is self/group study for 6 months, followed by a 6 day intensive in class, then repeated for part 2 of the program. It isn't cheap by any stretch either. Now, while I have enrolled there's no guarantee that I'll get into the program. The enrollment cutoff is August 31, with the late enrollment cutoff being tomorrow. As I just enrolled today, I may be told that Kitchener has enough students already, so too bad. While taking the program has always been in my professional development plan, it was slated for next year. That being said, Elise and I talked about it yesterday, and there wasn't a really good reason not to try and get in this year. Both the financial and time commitments have me a little nervous, but it will be worth it in the end. Current Mood: excited | | Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 | | 5:30 pm |
Coronation Feast
Prepared by Baron Aeneas, Baroness Aibhilin, Baroness Margaret, THL Vlad, Lord Ludwig, and a host of assistants! Feast Fee of $15.00 per person offers the following menu... First Course * Oat cakes (v) * Cheeses (v) * Kale potage * Salad greens with flowers (v) * Poached brown trout stuffed with leeks and garlic * Mustard sauce * Rose custard and shortbread (v) Second Course * Bread and sweet butter (v) * A small Hagese * Roast Elk * Red current sauce * Sauteed Broad Beans (fava) with onions and garlic and wine (v) * Buttered herbs/greens (v) * Pear and custard pie OR Damson Tart (Plum and Currant Tart) (v) Third Course * Vegetable and lentil soup (v) * Herb and Onion fritters (v) * Roast beef * Pepper sauce * Joutes (Herbed Beets) (v) * Fresh fruits with fresh mission figs, drizzled with honey (v) * Roasted Almond Mazipan (v) * Nuttye [spiced chestnut cream] (v) (v) - vegetarian appropriate – NOT VEGAN Pre-registration is going quick, so email Her Excellency Cenedl at eliskimo (at) rogers (dot) com to pre-reg today! Current Mood: excited | | Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 | | 12:04 pm |
Software
I received my demo of a new US tax software this morning! And this has me excited... *sigh* I shall hang my head in shame at my geekness. Current Mood: chipper | | Saturday, August 29th, 2009 | | 12:56 pm |
Irony
Irony is the accountant hasn't reconciled his business bank account since... well, ever really. Which means December 2008. I guess it's true that you focus on your own work last. Current Mood: amused | | Monday, August 24th, 2009 | | 4:16 pm |
General Updates
Today has been a productive day! Unfortunately most of the things accomplished weren't on my to do list when I woke up. I'm beginning to really appreciate the idea of having a staff member who can do the routine work for me, leaving me free to handle the special project / queries / client contact parts of the job. Sadly though, one needs sufficient revenue to support and justify said staff. I'm getting there, but quicker would be better. Since the second week of July, I've been working from home. This is when I moved out of my Cambridge office and broke off my partnership arrangement. Working from home has been a mixed bag. It's nice to not have to go far, and my clients have been great, but it's also very easy to get distracted and therefore be less productive then needed. This will all change next week however when I move into my new office in Elmira! I'm looking forward to it. I'm subletting space from a couple of financial planners I know. It's a nice office in a very high traffic location, being right beside an MTO licensing office. And the rent's good! Lex is doing really well, and we're continuing to adjust to life with the little one. Everyone keeps asking how are sleep is though, and for the most part it's not too bad. Most nights seem to be 1 or 2 awakenings to be fed or changed. There's only been a couple of fussy nights. However, the one thing I'm learning is that, should I be woken up any time after 3ish, then getting back to sleep is almost impossible for me. I guess I've had enough sleep by that point that my mind and body are ready to go again. Rather frustrating really. I will shortly be heading out to Hamilton fight practice, for the second week in a row! Yay fighting! And I think a road trip to Skeldergate is in the works for Thursday! That oughta be fun. I haven't been to one of their practices in years! And on that note, time to check the fighting clothes and start packing up. Current Mood: okay | | Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 | | 8:37 am |
Gym!!!
I actually managed to roll my butt out to the gym this morning! I haven't made it in quite some time. Before we headed to Missouri and Kansas to visit family, I had a training session with my trainer who provided a new total body routine for me to try. I got through it this morning, but it was hard. By the end I wasn't doing the mini-circuits, but completing one exercise at a time. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain the circuits soon. Current Mood: happy | | Monday, July 13th, 2009 | | 11:39 am |
| | 8:54 am |
Alexander James Kingston
Alexander was born yesterday, July 12th, at 3:53PM. He weighed 7lb 12oz and is 22" long. There were other measurements, but I have to be honest in that I've forgotten them. They are recorded though. Once the camera has some fresh batteries we'll post some pictures of the happy little one. Momma is doing well, resting as comfortably as can be expected. I'm sure she will want to post the details later, so I'm going to leave that for her. I do want to thank Tanya/ ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) beithgrove here though. Having you with us, and your tireless support made such a huge difference for both Elise and I yesterday. We're both so incredibly grateful, and I know from watching you yesterday that you've found your calling. Now back to watching a baby! :) Current Mood: excited | | Friday, July 10th, 2009 | | 10:05 am |
Last Day
Well, today is my last workday in the Cambridge office, though I have to come in for a couple hours on the weekend, unless the baby decides to interfere with those plans. I'm somewhat torn between taking everything but the furniture out today, or leaving some of it until my soon to be former partner and I have the final conversation Monday morning. I'm for sure getting all my client files and other paperwork out today. I'm waiting for my associate to get back from holidays, but it looks like I'll be taking office space in Elmira. It was both the nicest and most reasonably priced of what I looked at. The tie in of sharing space with financial planners ought to be helpful as well, at least at personal tax season. I think it's going to be a very positive change! While lots of things are coming to a head, I do feel like this week has been a holding pattern. Can't finish dissolving the partnership as the partner is on holidays, can't finalize office space as my associate is on holidays, waiting in nervous anticipation for the baby to decide to join us on the outside world... lots of waiting! :) Current Mood: determined | | Saturday, June 27th, 2009 | | 9:04 am |
Saturday
Baby class trumps Melee. Last minute decision which may have some ramifications, but so be it. Current Mood:  stressed | | Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | | 7:07 pm |
Shopping!
We just returned from a successful shopping trip to pick up some of the last majour items we need for the baby. We are now the proud owners of a stroller / car seat / travel system thingy! I'm reasonably certain that it cost more then my first car! We also picked up a baby bath. And I have to admit to some confusion on this one. The bath that we got comes with the tub, and a little support platform, and a shower attachment which can also be used to make a 'soothing whirl bath'. This cost the same as the plain formed plastic tub. I obviously don't understand pricing models... We also picked up some newborn socks and a some other small things. I'm definitely being proven right in that baby's make for expensive pets! Current Mood: happy | | Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 | | 3:53 pm |
| | Sunday, June 7th, 2009 | | 4:03 pm |
Pikemans
Pikeman's was a fun, laid back event, with good fighting. A number of cool things occurred during the event. Friends held a surprise baby shower for Elise, and we were gifted with many SCA themed gifts for the impending little one. I'm both touched and grateful. :) Our friend and baronial seneschal, Odette, was put on vigil for the Order of the Laurel, which is very cool! Now to wait until we know what event the elevation will happen at. Fighting was fun, and where I spent most of my day. I had a good warm up round with Duke Edouard, who helped remind me of some of the things Brannos was showing us last time we were in Detroit. I did rather suck in the open speed tourney though. Won my first fight, got caught flat footed by a beautiful flat snap by Bleddyn in the second, and caught by Bjarn in the third round while thinking about the previous shot he had thrown. Oh well, such is life. I missed the Polearm tourney as that was when the surprise shower was starting. Then it was the 2 on 2 9' spear tourney, fought on the bridge. I got to fight with my knight, which was a lot of fun! The fact that we (and by we, I mostly mean Ed) won the tourney was also nice. We had 12 victories, with the next closest team having 8. It was the third tourney that Ed won yesterday. In court, I was nominated for the unbelts team at Pennsic. Sir Evander said many nice things. I guess that means I need to pre-reg now, and hope I can make it down for a couple of days. Feast was amazing, with a variety of well cooked dishes, all coming out quickly! I was impressed and very glad that we decided to stay. Then it was off to the laurel-in-law's for the night. And now we're home! Current Mood: happy | | Thursday, June 4th, 2009 | | 10:24 am |
So Slow...
Today is really dragging. Why can't it be Friday yet? Both Elise and I are taking tomorrow off so we can go and take pictures of a site for an event bid in the morning, then head down to Their Highnesses for the weekend. I'm very much looking forward to the weekend as a whole! First, I won't be TOUCHING anything to do with work from tonight until Monday. Visiting Doug, Gabe and Gil is always a lot of fun, and relaxing, which I think I need. The last few months have been painfully busy. Pikemans should be a lot of fun! Not only are there no scheduled meetings, but even if there were I wouldn't have to go! FREEEEEDOOOOOM!!!!! The day will be spent visiting and fighting. Since I won't be making Pensic, I'm not too concerned about practicing with the unbelts after the scheduled fighting is over, but will hopefully get some pickups with people I don't get to fight very often. Sunday will be a relaxed return home, hopefully with an Ikea stop to pickup some shelving to replace the wardrobe we've been using to store SCA stuff. Current Mood:  bored | | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | | 11:39 pm |
Home
Home now. Uneventful travels, which is my preference. Sleep now. It's been a long couple of days. Current Mood: exhausted | | 6:41 pm |
I'm sitting in the Houston airport waiting to come home. My connecting flight is in Memphis, with a very short layover. Back in TO for 10:20. Current Mood: bored |
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tired