Stopping to smell the roses ...

wow.  look at that.  it's February already?!  my last post was back in December 2011.  you'd have thought i was hibernating.

well .. you might be on to something.  :)

the last month and half was a crazy busy time for me.  from home, to work, to personal life .. it just didn't stop.  i'm taking a short break now to provide this update. 

overall, things are pretty good in pudgyland.  i had an opportunity to take on a part-time contract with another consulting company recently which has eaten up much of my weeknights and weekends.  is pudgy all work and no play?  not really.  i still find time to do non-work related activities.

this year, i also won a photography contract with the ottawa badminton association - i am one of the main photographers for their events.  :)  my friend Clem and Ming are the other photographers.  we contribute to Clem's ottawabadmintonscene photo blog site.

my wine class has been going well.  i really enjoy it and it doesn't take much effort to study or remember the course material.  i wrote my midterm recently.  hope the results are good.  in the spring/summer term, i am hoping to take two classes a week - vinification and food and wine pairing.

for those of you who are concerned about me turning into an alcoholic, rest assure .. the wine courses have not turned me into a regular wine drinker.  my schedule is too busy for me to drink on a regular basis.  yes, i should be practicing and training my palate but it's not something i do regularly.  besides, it can get pretty expensive and y'all know how frugal i can be!  :)

some friends and i have started a monthly dining club where we go and try a different restaurant in the city.  last month, we went to the Cheshire Cat Pub out in Kanata.  it was a pub out in the middle of no where!  but y'know what?  it was so worth it.  the place was packed and the food was really good.  i had the mushroom, elk, and stout pie with mashed potatoes and veggies.  the portions were huge!  we all agreed that it was a place we would go back to. 

this month, we are going to the Lindenhoff for some German food.  i heard their ham hock is huge!  i'll post pics on facebook.  :)

with all that eating and drinking, how do i stay so slim?  :)  there is still time to exercise.  during the regular season, i've cut down my badminton time drastically.  with wine class being on wednesday nights, i have only been able to play badminton one night a week.  i used to play 3-4 times a week and by cutting it down to one night a week?  it's really not the same.

i end the week with hot yoga at the Moksha Yoga studio.  it helps with stress reduction that has built up during the week.  i used to take regular yoga classes but i found that i wasn't able to focus or get the full benefits of yoga.  a friend of mine introduced me to moksha yoga, which is a form of hot yoga.  it completely changed my view of yoga.  i don't know if it's the heat in the room but somehow it managed to keep me focused and i wasn't just moving from pose to pose.  i sweat buckets in 60 minutes but i feel good and i am able to sleep better at night.  the class i take is a charity class where the proceeds go to a local charity.  i highly recommend it ..

before i end this post .. i wanna say that i fulfilled a "dream" recently .. i went snowboarding!  i've always wanted to do it and my friends helped me achieve that.  it was so much fun!  too bad the weather hasn't been that great lately .. too warm for snowboarding.  :(  i hope to do it one more time before the season ends but there's always next year.

i encourage you to go out and try something new ..