January 26, 2020: RIP Kobe Bryant...

as well as his 13-year-old daughter (Gianna) and seven others who were killed in a devastating helicopter crash on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Such a tragic loss that occurred the same day as the 2020 Grammy's...as well as at the beginning of the Year of the Rat, Chinese New Year.

So long, farewell...

I attended MSIT (mon sheong inspired toastmasters) last night again after nearly 2 years (give or take approximately 21 months).

It was nice to visit and see the changes, as there has been many. Mainly that except for the President (who actually only came BECAUSE I was attending), I recognized no one. All the members were new to me. Ah well, such is the toastmasters club life, especially still so new.

Regardless of the feeling of being included (they asked me to be the timer), I’ve sadly come to the conclusion that even though I am still on the MSI Toastmasta!!! group chat (as I had originally requested as I was a founding member and hadn’t planned on leaving), this may be an indication that my time is up.

Mostly because the group has drastically changed and isn’t a priority for me at all. Actually, to be completely honest, partly due to location and the members (wink wink), if I DO continue with toastmasters, I would probably sign up with my friend, Winnie’s (Eglinton Yonge Toastmasters). However, THAT is ALSO still a ways to go.

Until then, as Bill Lee and Julie Andrew’s song from ‘The Sound of Music’ goes...

It's been so long since I've last been to Frankie Tomatto's!!!
Mind you, I cannot stuff myself at buffet's like in the times long past....BUT it's always nice to have MORE options! (Literally just grabbing small bite-sized portions...)

Enjoyed a great dinner with Jordan last night at Stack a smokehouse specializing in bbq food. It's been much too long since I've last been there and the bbq ribs, mac & cheese with my additional s’mores shake was VERY FILLING!!! (BUT worth every bite)

This is especially nice after starting my new job. Major perk is that even though I go in part-time, it's actually at a wage which works out well so that I can do more than just work... :)
As well, the office environment is so welcoming and I hope this will be a nice long term project...fingers-crossed!!!

'I like to say David is yolo koko...you only live once so keep on keeping on, man. Keep on struggling with this & learning this and learning this...and growing!'

Said by Stevie Wonder in David Foster: Off the Record
Totally agree with Stevie on this sentiment...it's all about learning and growing through the struggle!

So in preparation for the upcoming year of the Rat, went to Art Inn Runway, a salon at Pacific Mall (that I go to now) to get a haircut on Saturday! I even have my preferred hair stylist, Benson (riiiiiight?!?!?!? SUCH an artsy stylist name, lol)! Personally though, I didn't want it cut too short so just a couple of inches...

Afterwards, we (even Ames!) went to Niagara to relax. Caught a show by The Voca People at the casino where the premise is that a group of performers dressed all in white with red lips. The Voca People claim to come from the Planet Voca (somewhere behind the sun) where all communication is based on music and vocal expressions. Their motto is "Life is music and music is life". During the show, The Voca People are supposed to sometimes mingle with the crowd...during THIS performance, one of the performers tried to sit on my lap (I was sitting in the aisle seat) but as my purse was in my lap, the performer jumped off like something made my lap unpleasant! It was the PERFECT prop!
Went to the Canyon Creek Chophouse for dinner where I had a Kansas City Steak Soup (slow roasted prime rib, carrots, celery, onion and garlic) and Prime Rib Sliders (prime rib on baked buns, cabernet jus and horseradish sour cream) as my meal. I also had a bit of Dad's Peppercorn New York striploin and some avocado from Ames' salad, yum!

After coming home in the early afternoon, I'm now catching up the tv movie I'd taped off of the W Network called Love In Winterland with Italia Ricci & Chad Michael Murray. Normally I don't go out of my way to tape cheesy tv movies BUT because I saw that Mr. Murray was in this, I was hooked! One of my crushes from back in the day in One Tree Hill with another cutie, James Lafferty....why not? Shelley and I used to LOOOOOOVVVEEE catching the show in between our studies during school! Such pretty faces to look (not just the guys) at in the show. Even though the show's ended since 2012, I'd still watch reruns if they played it (like Gilmore Girls :)) He's still quite the hunk and even though I'm just at the beginning of the movie, I'm totally rooting for him and Ally! Why not?

Aiming to get a good night's rest as tomorrow I begin another chapter...hopefully a longer and not as much struggling in this one! *fingers-crossed*

The day's been a turmoil of feelings but it's come out positive and can only go up now...woot! 👍

You've made this day a special day by just being you. There's no person in the whole world like you and I like you just the way you are.

- Fred Rogers

Enjoyed New Years in Niagara and went to see 'Little Women' at Fairview mall with mom thanks to Louie's movie tix present!

As this is the beginning of awards season, the Golden Globe Awards is happening this weekend and so in an effort to clean up all my taped shows, I've been binge watching 'A Very Brady Renovation' and 'The Masked Singer'. ;p