Merry Christmas!


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This year's vacation to Cancun Mexico was a bit different than last year in the sense that we spent some time out of the resort!
We had lots of fun in Execellence Reviera Cancun plus we got the chance to spend some time in Puerto Morales, shopping some of the hand crafts of the area. We read, spent lazy time under the sun, ate, danced and enjoyed the shows at the resort. This time we tried the spa. The massage and facial we got was heavenly!! We attended a dance class there to learn more from the pros! We wind sailed and this time we enjoyed it further because the instructor was very thorough and we had more experience with the sail.
It was a bit windy but we managed to go to the ocean and spend some time in the pool. We got upgraded to a honeymoon suit since the room we wanted wasn't available! We enjoyed the prepared fruit and the Champagne and towel decoration, the festivities that we had last year at Excellence Playa Mujeres!
We couldn't take as many pictures as our camera died on us during our time there! Our flight back was delayed for 2 hours due to snow storm in Toronto! In the meanwhile we played Sudoko and Solitaire while eating M&M!
What surprised me the most was the number of flights from Cancun airport to Canada, that night, at least 6-7 flights to Canada, within 2 hour period, 3 flights were to Toronto only! I guess it shows how Canadian would like to run away from the cold weather!!

Speaking of cold weather, I could feel that it took 2 days for us to warm up to the vacation mode! It was very relaxing and the best part was that we went only 3 days to work until Christmas.

We enjoyed Christmas at my parents house, exchanging gifts, dinner and playing poker! And bought a new camera on boxing day!

Today we will visit Pishi's cousin's baby and tomorrow is off to work again for another 3 days before the new year! I think in the mean while we need to come up with new years resolution and look for a new place to live! We most probably need to move by the end of February!

Braces

I have been sick for the past week and I couldn't go to work for 2 days! Fever, along with running nose and eyes, muscle ache had lead me to have fluid diet! I am feeling a bit better today and to that end I am going to Pishi's company holiday party and hoping not to get worse and eat some solid food!!
Imagine in the midst of all the above, I had to get my top braces! So not eating solid food was not just due to being sick but also to the fact that I couldn't chew much!!

Since the time I have been with production I have lost 2 kg! I think I have found the solution to all the dieters in the world;) Anyways I can't wait to get better. Next week this time we will be getting ready to head to Cancun again and enjoy a week of peace, relaxation and getting ourselves ready for the big "W"!

The wedding Date


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Last night we watched the wedding date, a 2005 romantic comedy movie directed by Clare Kilner. I have watched it before but it's one of those movies that the actors and actresses show their emotions very well. Debra messing and Dermot Mulroney were great together! I found the funniest scene was the dance class and how Dermot took charge! The most moving scene was the end, where Dermot decided to fight for his love.

The past week was extremely long for me! I guess starting early in the mornings have something to do with it! Monday morning, I was so out of it that I slept with eyes wide open in front of the computer while reviewing the SOPs!! Such that people talked to me but I can't recall any of the conversations!!
I am getting used to it now and the best part is that people are very nice and helpful. Although I must say I find it hilarious at times from an observer! All the yelling, joking and frustrations makes me think of an adult kinder garden! So far in the program, I have found production as one of the most interesting places in our company. Lots to learn but at the same time lots of fun!!

Friday night was my company holiday party. It was lots of fun. Pishi and I danced the night off. We have attended my company's parties for the past 3 years. This year because I have been to different departments, I know more people. My company's Holiday party is very live! about 700 people show up every year and dance to all kinds of beats from Indian music to swing, Latin songs.

Next week is Pishi's company party and I can't wait to see how that one is, as it's going to be held in one of the cool clubs by lake Ontario! In the mean while, I have to finish up two of my assignments that I haven't finished from my EHS time!

Old friend

Last Friday, pishi and I along with a couple of other friends had the chance to meet up with one of our old friend who used to live in Toronto before but moved to San Fransisco a year ago. It was fun to catch up and hear the success of this friend. It was a while since the last time we sat down for a real interesting conversation. Of course Marche's food and great desert amplified the fun!

Last night pishi and I went to watch the unedited wedding video of one of my friend's wedding who we missed in summer. It was great to meet up with another group of friends and see the great time they had at the wedding. The next two weeks each weekend we will be partying at my company's holiday party and pishi's company party and hopefully we go for a week of vacation down south some where warm to revive ourselves and get ready for the big "W". Already it has snowed and got pretty cold last week, -16 with windchill!

The last two weeks I spend time with EHS group. I learned about occupational health and safety act and its guild lines and regulations. MOL inspections, MOE expectations and the waste disposal at our facilities. I learned about ergonomics and how to conduct accident investigations and write reports and fill the WSIB or other insurance forms and etc. The most refreshing part of the past two weeks was that we learned about experiences of a manager about successful supervisors. We wrote a number of quizzes and assignments in the past week and interestingly I learned about what a supervisor says or not says and its implications to his/her team. I guess the hardest part of being a supervisor for me is to discipline. I have a difficult time micro managing a team, specially about their non-technical related affairs.

For the next 8 weeks I will spend time in production and to that end I have to go to work very early in the morning! Imagining that I have to be at work at 6:00 am is still unreal for me! I guess the best part is that I will leave early!

Adventure in fitness!

Last week, I finished being in QA department and I said good bye to my desk as well! It was a bit emotional but I did some clean up for the person who is going to replace me for the time that I am in the leadership program.
I must say that although I used to work in department of quality assurance and compliance, I still believe that this department is one of the most interesting places in our company.
Compliance works were interesting but not as interesting as I used to think. I used to think that in their reviews they do more analysis than what they actually perform in order to make sure that the process is in control. Tomorrow we will go to EH&S and security.
This weekend my friends and I went to Aradia fitness classes open house. It was pretty interesting and after not being that active for a while and forced to exercise, I feel as if someone has beaten me up! In their fitness open house, they had a verity of classes including pole dancing! I must admit that pole dancing is not as easy as it seems!
Last night my mom invited our family friends to pagosha the bride and groom in our circle of friends! It was fun to see everyone again but after exercising and helping my mom last night, I am still tired and can't believe it's back to work tomorrow!

Halloween!


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Last week was quite fun at work! We had an inspection going on in the facility I was in and I was part of the back room crew!!Seven of us where sitting at the table, each one working on his/her laptop and at the same time alert for the questions that came through the chat line or emails!
It was fun being there and getting the questions and trying to find the answers! The inspectors along with upper management where in the room next to us and we had to keep shushing people as the wall between our room and theirs were very thin! In fact the room we were in was part of the board room that they were in but separated by a removable wall! This event reminded me of the college puzzle challenges that Pishi and I used to participate in that Microsoft planned event. It also did help that the compliance group are a fun bunch! It's amazing how their manager kept calm and goofy at time during the inspection.

Last weekend the housewarming gathering was interesting. I think during the past few years I have obtained a no nonsense attitude and that holds true for the no point non-value added discussions that are just for wasting time! Having said that I don't know now if I am considered to be a boring person or not. In any case it was good to see friends.

This Halloween we were invited to one our friend's place. I am glad that she invited us as my brother who was hosting his own party didn't invite us as he said that we are now old for his crowd! We danced off the night and it was great seeing old friends after such long times. My costume was a devilish formula one rocker girl and Pishi was my handsome corpse groom!!

The weekend has been very relaxing so far, we watched a 1965 movie called "what's new pussycat" directed by Clive Donner. Peter Sellers and Woody Allen were as hilarious as always!
Today I am hoping to get some work done after sleeping most of the day yesterday!

Snow in October!

Last week, we spent time in supply management. It was a pretty interesting week in terms of the things they do as well as the team they have. They all seems to go well together. I believe though the biggest factor in their department success is their leader. She is optimistic, energetic and has great listening skills. This week I am in QA at another site and so far I have been reading deviation documents as well as getting a good look at cleaning validation! After being in non-scientific departments it is refreshing to get back to my roots and look at technical issues.
I must admit that this plant works pretty effective. In their meetings, I truly see a big family that despite their own ways of thinking, they truly care for what they are doing and want to help!

Anyways, last Sunday Pishi and I went to Kathy and Hamid's wedding. It was wonderful. We danced the night off and had a great time. The bride and groom were elegant and looked great together. This weekend we are going to a friend's housewarming gathering and I am thinking about Halooweeeeeeen!!! The weather is getting cold and we got the first snow in Toronto today!

Thanks Giving Long weekend!

After going through a lot in the past weeks, from apartment hunting to helping Pishi with his work and trying not to explode of anger at work, this long weekend was very fruitful!

Saturday, we went to the beginning series of philosophy classes that are going to be focusing on Democracy and its meanings in different contexts. Going back to U of T and attending that class reminded of the times I used to attend philosophy classes in 2000. The only difference was that it was only 4 of us that joined the new classes and that now I am going there with my pishi!

Sunday a group of our friends and us went to Hilton falls for a day of hiking and picnic! Surprisingly we hiked 11 km! and by the time we got home we both dropped dead!! It was the perfect day for hiking and enjoying the nice weather! Last year when we went to Hilton falls the fall was dried but this year thanks to the wet summer, the fall was up and running!!

The program at work is going well, the only thing that frustrates me is my classmate!! He is in constant competition with me and that drives me crazy!! The only good thing is that any time that he thinks he is so called winning, the instructors take my side and my views!! Despite that it is difficult to be around someone who is trying to take information from you to present it as his!!

One big observation that I have made is that although I would like to think that I have been exposed to different walks of life, I must say that there are still people who I can't quite understand for the way they are. The only thing that I am thankful at this point is having my supervisor be supportive as always and having my team who I can relate to.

New Era


http://buttersugarflour.com/

The first week of the program started with Human Resources. Damian and I learnt alot about the glory details of HR polices, recruiting, interviewing and corrective action, PMP, coaching and training. It was interesting to learn how management sees above topics than how I used to see them as an employee. We also both got a career characteristic evaluation to identify our leadership potentials by a psychologist. I must confess that over 90% of the result was true about my personality and it was nice to talk to psychologist about it! I must say that being a supervisor is not just delegating the tasks and being responsible for your staff. Being a supervisor is equivalent of being a psychologist! I am not sure if I can handle it or not but there is one thing that I am sure of and that is that I am good at making connection with people and allowing them to trust me. The hardest part would be correcting someone!

Next department was finance! We learned about accounting, costing, planning and budgeting and reporting financial statements, balance sheets, income statements and etc. Once we learned different pieces of finance department on the last day, I could see the full cycle. From applying for capital expenditure and how you go about it to account payable, account receivable group. Planning and evaluating the targets via ABC costing model and calculating the overhead, expenses and finally creating a profit and loss statement. We reviewed SOX requirements and understood how in future if I want to go about writing a proposal for a six-sigma project how I can financially prove that the project is worth while!
Tomorrow we will start with supply planning group and I can't wait to meet people in that department and see how they do what they do!

We have started looking for a new place to live! We are going to buy an apartment soon and to that end we are flat hunting now! Oh, we sold our old car and I hope that the our old car bring the new owner as much happiness as it brought to Pishi and I. It was emotional saying good bye to it!

We finally finished putting our wedding album together!!!!To that end I baked ourselves an orange cake with lots of coconut shreds and pecans!

Books and movies

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new era for me. A set of experiences that I have been working toward to obtain. The leadership program is starting tomorrow with Human Resources department. I will write about each department once I start working in them.

Friday was my official last day with my group and although I was sad for not to be working with my team mates any more but in a way I was ready to move on! They gave a me a nice card with all their best wishes and we took pictures. I started wrapping up the stuff I have to hand over and still some is left which I will do next week.

One of the accomplishments of this weekend so far was finally putting together our wedding album!! We still have to buy another album for our reception pictures taken here! But finally it got started thanks to pishi and the miserable weather yesterday!

I finished the two books that I borrowed from library and both were interesting. One of the books I read was the story of "Tahmineh" and the women who fell in love in Shahnameh. I enjoyed the book, specially that it was a while since I read a Persian book. The way it was written was very similar to the literature books that we used to study in school! The interesting revelation for me was that before reading this book, I always thought Rostam was a good guy and that he accidentally killed his son! At least that was my understanding of reading the poetry and by reading that book I realized that how amazing it is to read a book from two different observers in the story!
The other book I read, "I am single, lady", contained a few short stories that were okay but only one of them stuck by me.
At this time in my life, I am interested in the books that are written by Persian authors not the translated ones, as when I read a translated one, my mind keep translating it back to English!! Plus, I believe that the language a story is written with is suited for that language. When its translated, some of the feelings that wanted to be portrayed are missed.

http://en.wikipedia.org

Yesterday we watched two movies, first one was a 1995 movie called "A walking in the clouds". This is a remake of a romance movie that was made in 1942. A very nice movie to watch. The sceneries were breath taking and Keanu Reeves was great as always!


http://en.wikipedia.org

The second movie we watched was The terminal, a 2004, Steven Spielberg directed movie. Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones were great in this movie. A well done movie that is worth watching.

Stardust and more!


http://en.wikipedia.org

If you are interested in fantasy, fairy tale movies, stardust is definitely one of the new movies that has been out there recently. This 2007 movie, was interesting to watch for not only its special effects but also its unexpected comedy scenes at times!
It was a fun movie to watch and definitely nice one if you want to have the family together when watching it.

Last Thursday we got our new car and since then, we have been very excited! Pishi already has given some CDs to listen and I am no longer afraid of getting stuck in the highway!! We just have to find a way to say good bye to our previous car which we have so many memories!

Saturday, we went to Marija's house for their house warming gathering as well as meeting Marco for the first time. He is another good baby I must say. No crying and most of the time he was content when someone held him. Jullia, Muna's baby girl, has grown so much and she is so adorable! Marija and Joe did a great job on renovation and decoration. Specially with the antique furniture!We played an interesting game that I don't remember the name now but it used a lot of imagination and convincing skills!!

Movie time!

On the long weekend, we got the chance to watch two movies, The pursuit of happiness and Leon, that I had heard a lot from but never got the chance to see them. I must say that the time I spent watching them was truly worthwhile and highly recommend watching them.


http://en.wikipedia.org

The pursuit of happiness is a story of perseverance. This movie is life story of a man whose life went through a series of difficult episodes but never gave up. Watching this movie was an inspiration. It reminded me of my hard times, but thankfully like him, I am finally getting what I was working so hard for. One of the best Will Smith Movies so far.


http://en.wikipedia.org

Although I am not a fan of violent movies but Leon, a 1994 French directed, independent film, was one of the best action/violent movies I have ever seen. Natalie Portman and Jean Reno acted brilliantly.

Event full long weekend!

The last two days have been filled with lots of events!! Friday night, we went to one of our family friend's daughter's wedding. This wedding reception was the first reception we went since ours and it was lots of fun! Pishi and I danced alot! It wasn't a big wedding but it was lots of fun at our table, giggling!
Yesterday, My parents, my brother along us went to Mercedes Benz dealer as my mom wanted to get herself a car. Pishi and I went with our old car to meet them there. The funniest part of all was when we wanted to leave the dealer, our car decided to not to start!! Now imagine getting stuck in a Benz dealer with an old non Benz car!!! So we decided to leave it there for a while in the hopes that it gets revived after a few hours. We decided that this a sign that we need to buy a new car for ourself. We were lucky that our car decided to die there and not on the highway. We were debating whether we should get a used car or a new car for the past two weeks and when we went through the pros and cons we decided that a new car best suits us now. I am very excited to get our new car as this is my first new car and a 2009 model too :) Anyways, we came back to see if our old car starts or not. Unfortunately it wasn't turning on so we ended up calling CAA. Their mechanic looked at it and said that it needs to be towed. So we waited for the towing truck to come. Once the tow truck arrived. The tow truck driver tried to turn our car on and surprisingly, the car started working!!!So we drove home safe and sound! My hypothesis is that our old car was so depressed being around all those nice and new cars that it decided to temporarily commit suicide!!!
In any case, I am hoping it works until the end of this week when we get our new car. We have decided that if our old car is still running by that time that we donate it!

Love is in the air!

Since the beginning of August, at least 4 of my friend's have got engaged or married! Specially friends that them getting engaged or married was far fetched! I wish them all the best and can't wait for my friend's wedding reception next week and the one in October! This weekend is car hunting time!

Training!

Last night my friends and I went for dinner to Amore restuarant. It was a nice Italian restuarant on Yonge street close to Eglinton and afterwards to a nearby cafe for something to drink for my friend's birthday party.

It was about two month since the last time we had a time to chat and it was great being with each other. Specially I wanted to know how my other friend's wedding went as I missed it while I was on vacation! When I listen to other people speak about weddings I think about my wedding and the things we did and it always bring smile to my face.

Today was my first day of coaching and skill developing training at hotel in Toronto. Several supervisors and I went through some interesting concepts and had to do some role plays and listen to the observers for feed back on how we treated the situation.

I enjoyed the class but what I didn't appreciate were the supervisors on my table. All of them had been in their role for less than a year. However, they acted as little school children in the classroom. I found them disrespectful, know it all and arrogant people. I am writing these so when I finish with my training and I look back at my diaries and remember who I was before going into it and make sure that I don't become like them. I am writing this so I remember how I disturbed I was by their behaviour and that I should never act like this.

Anniversary

Yesterday was our second wedding anniversary! It was completely unlike what I was hoping it would be! It was far better than what I could have imagined.
I am so blessed to have Pishi in my life. His existence in my life, gives me the energy and courage to break all the walls of doubt that I have around me about my life. I honestly can't imagine my life without him. Actually the week that he was away in Vagas was the first week that we have been away from each other since we have been married and I must confess that it was pretty hard not to have him around me. Specially that we are still not over the honeymoon stage yet!!Each hour that we are together we only are efficient for a few minutes as the rest of it is spent for kissing and hugging and teasing each other!
I know I am lucky to have found a partner in life that is caring, loving and is as ambitious about future as I am!

There are less than 2 weeks left to my leadership position to start and I am slowly wrapping everything up. I am proud that the new associate that I have trained has picked up so quickly. I know that I can pass the torch to him with ease of mind!

Last week I got to see my friends, Muna and Lina. We were suppose to go for dinner but Muna's babysitter bailed on her. So we ended up going to her place for dinner! We had Sushi and Swiss Chalet and that was one of the best dinners I have ever had with my friends. As I sipped on the cranberry juice we talked about how we are doing and listened and laughed at each others stories.

I should say that our trip to France, was fun. We explored other tourist attractions that we missed last year. My view of Paris has changed since last year. I definately like to visit again and explore more of this old and interesting city.

I found Turkey to be a very interesting country. When I was there, I really didn't feel out of place as a lot of people's characteristics were like Iran's. The Grand Bazaar with its bright shop keepers was one of the highlights!
What made me think in Turkey was that, how come a country that the majority of the people are Muslim, can have such tolerance with regards to booze, tourists and clubs??
Beautiful Istanbul had Magnificent Aya Sofia, Topkapi and Sultan Ahmed as some of its top architectural structures.
Marmaris and Datca were hot but their European style urban structures on the coast of Mediterranean sea were breath taking. On the road to Datca, which lasted 2 hours, as we were driving on the mountains there were spots that we were surrounded by Sea on both sides!

It was a great vacation. Being with my in-laws made it twice as nice. I love my mother in law! We were like close friends with each other! I felt that in this trip, we became even closer.

Back to TO.!

We arrived to Toronto, Monday afternoon. It was good to be back. Back to our bed! Pishi had to go to Las Vegas for a conference on Tuesday and I will have the place all to myself for a week! Ha Ha Ha..
Coming back to work has been pleasant and despite our fun time both in Turkey and France, which I will write in detail in another post, I am glad that we are back to our routine!
Since I have been back I have been presented with 2 job offers. One is a 1 year assignment in my company as a Compliance auditor and the other is a leadership program that is for around 8 month. It's a strange feeling to reject a job offer that you are curious to experience, but after going through grilling exam and interviews for the leadership program, I am going with the leadership program! This is the first time I am rejecting an offer in writing!
I have received the verbal offer for the leadership program but the written one will be presented on Monday. To that end I will be rotating throughout the company and will stay a period of time within each department to learn about how they do things. The goal of this program is training successful individuals for managerial roles that can lead any department.

In the mean while, our car decided to lock its rear wheel! So I had to take it for fixing but once pishi is back we are going to get another car as for my new position I will be travelling back and forth to different sites and I need a reliable car! Surprisingly, I was hoping that my current car survive to 2009 and now that it mostly has, within the next 2 month, it's hunting time for a good car!

Trip

Now that I am writing this post, I finished my course and all the interviews that I had to go through last week. We are heading to airport in a few hours and we are more or less finished with our packing. I just need to do some last minute cleaning and shopping!
After all the hard work, pishi and I both deserve a vacataion!
He has promised to show differet outlook of Paris.
As I am writing this post, I am listening to Mansour's songs as I have become a bigger fan of his music style!

From the last post I wrote, time has gone by very fast. I submitted my project and presented it and next week is the final exam. Last night as I was thinking about the past 2.5 month and I couldn't stop smiling about my choices both at work and life.
Although this course was demanding, but I am glad that I stuck by it and finished it. I learned a lot from it which I know it will be very useful in my career. This week is that last round of studying for the exam!
Work wise I have got great feed back for my goals and I hope that when I come back from my vacation, I start a new 8 month or 1 year assignment either in compliance or engineering.
Summer has been very productive for both pishi and myself. Thankfully despite our busy life, we managed to attend parties and gatherings.
Next Sunday, we are flying to Paris, France. We are staying there for 2 days to to visit the places we missed last time. Afterwards we are flying to Turkey to join my in laws, who are coming there. I have never been to Turkey so I am very excited to see this country. There, we are going to arrive at Istanbul. later head to Marmaris and Izmir.

Canada Day!


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Finally the extra long weekend of the summer is here. Although Canada Day will be on Tuesday our company thankfully let us be off today!So we have a 4 day vacation! So far it has been very relaxing. Although I am not following what I was planning! Like finishing off my project and studying for the Quiz next weeked! It's only 3 weeks to the final exam and it is a bit scary! These quality engineering courses are really interesting and despite their workload I can't wait to take rest of the courses:).

Saturday Pishi and I went to one our friend's b-day party where I tried to re-cover my youthful years by trying to dance as much I can!! The weather was so hot and humid that we all had to take mini breaks after each song!!It was great seeing friends after a while.

Yesterday we watched the last half of Spain Vs. Germany Eurocup. It is always refreshing to see the underdogs win! It was a while since the last time I got to watch a soccor game. I think the last time we watched a game was during world cup!To continue with the moto of do as you wish today! We went swimming after a long time and we started watching the series, "Desperate Housewives". I have heard a lot from this series but I never watched it before.

Last week I was interviewed for the second phase of Front line Leadership program and one of my co-workers who were among the people who was interviewrd me gave me two thumbs up the day after the interview! I also had some sort of break through with our HR and the process of acquiring P. Eng.!

ICC and more!

Thankfully Midterm exam went well and I got my mark last Saturday. Still one more quiz, assignment and project are left before the final exam. I am trying to get as much done this week so I can enjoy the long weekend!
Last weekend started off with pishi's coworker's party. The demographic of the invitees were above 35 and only it was 9 of us who were still in our 20's, but what was inspiring was the energy of these 40ish men and women who danced the night off. The only one of us who was as energetic as them was a 21 year old!
It reminded of the days that I used to dance non stop for 5 hours without being picky about the music. Now, I find myself more selective to the music I dance with and not as much energetic! I think I need to re-think my life style choices! Either I am not as active as before and need to join Gym or I am getting old!!!
I like believe that I need more exercise to get back in the game! To that end I am planning to add dancing to my daily routine!
Yesterday afternoon, one of the historic event of Iranian community in Canada took place. The first executive board of Iranian Canadian Congress was formed. I am positive that with the strong foundation that it has started, many great things can be accomplished.

Party time!

Last weekend was very busy, after my midterm and Quiz on Saturday, I rushed home with grocery shoppings that I did to prepare and arrange for dinner for one of my husband's friends who came here to Toronto from other cities of Canada to visit. It was bitter sweet!
Although both pishi and I were tired of working non stop to make our place presentable!!, it was great to meet them and talk to them and listen to their nostalgic stories.
Sunday, was one of my friend's graduation party, were we danced off the night! I am very proud of her.
Monday while shopping we accidentally met two of my friends and we end up having dinner with them and last night we went to my parents home for dinner and had a great time with them. Now that I am writing, I feel so exhausted! It's amazing that I used to be out partying and spending time with friends, few years back and wouldn't feel a thing! and now I feel totally exhausted and can't wait for our vacation.

I heard that there were some troubles in University of Zanjan due to a staff misconduct. Apparently one of the employees offered inappropriate proposal to one of the female student. I just have one thing to say and that, the girl in question as some may call her victim, or anything else, is a hero. She exposed the person who was going to assault/rape her and for that she is a bold girl. I hope people don't judge her and her family as a victim as to me she isn't.

Ferdos Garden at 5 in the afternoon


http://covers.persianbase.com

Last week, we watched, "Bagh e ferodos, 5 baad az zohr" along with my parents. I must say, this movie was one of the strongest Iranian movies I have ever watched. This movie shows the life a woman in current Iranian culture; Her challenges with the men in her life and in society.
I really enjoyed this movie and recommend watching it.

Last week, I enjoyed a fun time with one of my girlfriends at a make up fair!! We both looked like small girls in candy land!

I have been chosen to move forward with one of the internship programs in our company and have to write a test next week! Speaking of tests, I have a midterm this Saturday and have been trying to study!
The weather has been great today and I can't wait for the parties to come starting this weekend! At the same time, I am looking forward to our vacation and hope our vacation plan for Europe works out!

Indiana Jone and the Temple of Doom


http://en.wikipedia.org

Temple of Doom is one of the Indiana Jones series. This is the movie I mentioned in my last post that I watched when I was a kid and hated! Interestingly, I am still disgusted at some parts of the movie but now I can finish watching the movie. I am sure for the time this movie was made, 1984, it was hit for its visual effects!

I am suppose to study for my midterm, but I have difficulty keeping myself glued to the book! My joy of the week is my green nail polish!!

Indiana Jones and the last crusade


http://en.wikipedia.org

Last week I was busy studying for my Quiz today and this week will be busy with my assignment! I have an interview on Monday and lot is going on next week!

When I was a kid, I remember watching one of the Indiana Jones movies, where they were in a jungle and eating out of monkey's head and all! That movie really turned me off and I never watched any other Indiana Jones movie. Since a new Movie of the Indiana Jones series are going to be come on screen soon, Pishi insisted us watching one of the movies he had on these series. To my surprise, I enjoyed the movie, "Indiana Jones and the last crusade", and planning to watch the one that I watched when I was a kid to see how I feel about it now!
Harrison Ford and Shawn Connery are fantastic together! What is interesting about this movie is that the emphasis of the movie wasn't on killing and violence, unlike the action movies nowadays. This movie was made in 1989 and was a very pleasant movie to watch!

Iran Vs. Israel



These days, due to 60th celebration of establishment of the state of Israel, I had the opportunity to watch a documentary about the birth of Israel which made me curious to read more about Arab-Israel conflict and talk about it with a few people. I strongly recommend watching this documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEFPxRDhT_U

Despite the fact that during my childhood when growing up in Iran, we were taught to use slogans at school about Israel and USA, I never understood why we are reciting these slogans in elementary school. When studying history, I understood why USA and Britain are being belittled in Iran.

However, although we collected food and necessities for Palestinian children when we were in elementary school and every year one lesson in literature course was about a letter from a Palestinian kid, I truly didn't understand why apart from the fact that we are doing a humanitarian deed for those kids, would Iran be interested in helping Palestinians? Schools and media were successful in making us dislike what Israel was doing to Palestinians. But we were never taught what is our role in this dilemma? We were taught that Israelis forcefully took over Palestinians lands. Later on I learned that some of those lands were actually bought by Israelis. Still I couldn't connect to the idea of why Iran is helping Palestine?

The quest to answer this question as well as finding the root cause of Iran's president's strong despise of Israel made me question why Iran is sending money to Hezbollah and not using that money for Iranian people? People who the majority of them are living in difficulty trying to make ends meet. Why help Palestinians and not the people of your own country? Why is some other country's concern more important that Iran's own concerns? At the same time, Palestinians are Arabs, why aren't any of the Arabic countries help their fellow brothers?

Watching the movie about Birth of Israel, was an eye opener, I learned a bit more about the history of Arab-Israel conflict. Not surprisingly, one of the root causes of this mess is Britain! Why am I not surprised? But that is beside the point, still doesn't make sense why is Iran helping oppositions like Hezbollah fighting against Israel?

As I was discussing enthusiastically what I learned about this conflict to a few people, a wiseman told me that his hypothesis is that the core of this conflict is economics! Aha! This can make sense a bit.
Israel with the help of USA, has become a super power by itself in many aspects, such as military and health. With their growing population they can dominate middle east market for their goods and services.
Iran's growing population along with rich natural resources wants a share of middle east market and by destabilizing Israel by this conflict, it delays Israel's success.

If this hypothesis is correct, I am ashamed to say that I was fooled to think that we were acting as humanitarian in the region.

Sicko Vs. Iron Man



http://www.imdb.com/

I finally got the opportunity to watch Sicko a documentary made in 2007 by Michael Moore. I must admit that I admire Michael Moore for his boldness to target issues that many suffer but don't speak up. I like watching movies/documentaries that make me think and I can learn something new from it. This film touched on two important things. First is formation of health insurance companies and second the idea of universal health care in the united state of America.
In this film, England, Canada and France health care system are compared with US health care system. The failure of this film was its lack of investigation of the reason for free universal care for the countries he examined. He failed to explain the amount of tax people of those countries are paying for this service. The sad part of the film was the story of the lives of the people who are working in health insurance industry including doctors. I won't spoil the movie if you are intending to watch, which I recommend it greatly!

Last Friday Pishi and I were invited from his company to watch Iron man on big screen. Now, as I mentioned above, I am into films that teach me something so you can see how I was shocked that I wasted 2 hours of my life, watching this movie!! Well, I think this movie is good for teenagers or people who are into animation or are bored of their lives and are looking for some loud noise! This movie could have had a great storyline because it started very well but the ended in a disaster!It could have had some eye opener concepts but ended with a strange conclusion that made me very disappointed! In any case, this movie is for pure entertainment.

Productivity!

This weekend, was very productive. I think I am getting the hang of my classes on Saturdays! Although I have to study 5 chapters already but now I know how to plan for my Saturdays!:)
Last night my parents and us went to visit my friend who gave birth a month ago. The baby was so tiny but quite. Apparently this baby girl wanted to give her mommy a mothers day gift. Gift you may ask? Yes, she decided to be quite and not cry as always and give mommy a break!
I am getting used to my braces but can't wait for it to be over!!
I am still on the fence about the idea that was proposed to me for having a 30 minutes show on a TV station! I don't know what to answer really! I am still thinking about it.
Now that I am caught up with "Lost" the series, and not watching continuously every day, pishi and I have got so much time on our hands! which at least is good because it gives me time to study but I think from the next week and I am going to plans for some activities!
Last night during the conversations, something interesting was mentioned. My dad was talking about Arash Naraghi's lecture in Toronto and about "praying". Some one mentioned that when you pray, you will get what you prayed for but it might not be straight. This sentence really striked me. I think there is some truth in it because when I think about my life, I have examples of how some of my prayers were answered eventually!

Last night Pishi and I went to Mohandes Election to support this organization and practice our membership rights! It was an interesting meeting. I personally liked the presentation.
What I have noticed is the difference in view of a challenge by different generations.

It seems that younger generation, observe the challenge and try to systematically and logically solve it. Most importantly the challenge is acknowledged. It is viewed like a cause and effect diagram, focusing on the problems and their causes and not looking at the historical data.

Older generation, their way of approach toward a challenge is very positive. Meaning that they reflect back a lot. They seek answers in the past and how a challenges were historically solved.
I think both ways are looking into a problem are correct, but what is important is understanding and appreciating the challenge for its nature.
Sometimes tough love is needed to solve a problem despite the fact that we want to be positive all the time.

Braces


I can't believe it myself! I got braces on friday! I can't believe that I am going to put myself through my teenage suffering again! May god help me be sane when they are removed!

Today we had a group of pharmacy students visiting our facility. I was involved in the touring process. Their reactions, questions were interesting to me. You could see which ones are actually listening to the experts in each department and which ones are out of it!

When touring the warehouse area, the tour guide for that area mentioned to the students that sometimes a pharmacist work in the cages for narcotics! Once she said it, a white girl instantly raised her hand and said: " I don't think any pharmacist would like to work there!!"

What she said reminded me of my last year of school, when we toured several plants. I remember in one of the tours, the environment of the plant was so noisy and harsh that I told my classmate, "what did the workers do in their life to deserve to work in such a horrible place."

I was young and naive. Life put me through situations that I learnt that I should be careful of what I say. Despite our attempt to move toward what we want, most of the times, life throws curve balls at us. I learnt to keep my dreams alive while staying focus in the process. Most importantly keep being humble. It took me a while to learn this lessen but I am glad I had the opportunity to see world differently meet people of different financial and cultural background and appreciate every situation in life instead of whining about it.

Santoori


http://santoori.blogspot.com

We finally got the chance to watch the popular Iranian movie, Santoori, last night. This movie was not allowed to be screened in Iran in the cinemas in 2007.

In my opinion, this movie was made brilliantly. It shows the story of a music talent that his life was ruined due to his addiction to drugs. He lost his job opportunities, due to music restriction in Iran after Islamic Revolution and consequently his marriage ended in divorce due to his drug abuse and his incapability to provide for his wife.

I think this may be the story of many music talents of Iran, whose life were put force fully on hold for a few years. Some fled the country to continue with their career after the revolution and the ones who stayed behind faced many financial and emotional problems.

The music played in the movie was extraordinary. I enjoyed it a lot. But what made this movie great was the leading actor and actress. They played their role incredibly bold.
Their interesting marital relationship was unconventional. They were happy and flirtatious something that I have seldom seem in Iranian movies.

Unfortunately stories like this, drug abuse, are many in Iran and mostly is due to lack of motivation in youth. I truly believe that we strive in our lives for goals that we set for ourselves. Once ones life is empty of challenges and hope, depression creeps in.

Thoughts


http://www.lostcrazy.net

Last week went by pretty fast! I managed to waste all my afternoons watching "Lost" series! I am officially addicted to that show!
For the first time in my life, while watching "Lost" I started putting myself in their situation! I remember back when I was in high school, my religion teacher used to ask us how would we react if we were in certain historical/religious situation. At that time, I never thought about it deeply. But watching this show, sometimes scare me. I as a viewer am a step faster than the characters in the show, and can predict/trust and make decisions better, however I honestly don't know how I would have really reacted if I weren't ahead in the frames.
In this show, destiny and fate is mentioned alot and believing in them. When I was younger I used to believe in that but now I don't. I believe that we make our own destiny and our own luck. Have you ever heard the following sentence? "The harder I work, the luckier I get"
Anyways this show has taught me alot and has made me think a lot. I think that is why I am attracted to this show. It had been a while since the last time, that I watched a movie or a show that actually made me think!

Yesterday, all my colleagues from our different groups of our department gathered at one of the plants for a very informative plant tour. I enjoyed learning exactly how things are done, although I got a terrible headache afterwards. On behalf of our group, I delivered a presentation about who we are and what we do and what are our challenges. I think I could have added a few key sentences to the presentation to make it better despite the fact that my group members and supervisor told me that it was excellent.

I don't know why I have become restless in my skin recently. I have one major application to finish and I am waiting for results of effort.

Anyways, this morning is the last Saturday for the next 2.5 month that I can wake up late, as my classes will start from next week! Pishi and I are excited for our summer get a way plan in July!

Relaxation

I am finally done with my quality concept course. The final exam went very well! I think if you are interested in something, you really will do well in it! This course was really interesting for me because I could relate to it with my work and how the operation in my company is managed. My next course will start in May and till then, I am going to enjoy my time! This weekend will be busy with filling our income tax documents!
I have to start doing my P. Eng application and check out a study program and see how I can get my company pay for it!
Weather has been great for the past 2 days and although I am eager to watch more lost, but I can't stay at home any more! I am planning to go for a walk when we are waiting for our car oil change!
In two weeks I will get braces again!! I can't believe it myself, but I am going to have braces for the second time! This is the result of not completing a job first time. It will come back and hunt you!!

Spring!


http://www.celin-web.com/

The past 2 weeks have been my lazy times! I was suppose to study for my Final for this Tuesday and I haven't started yet!! I am going to study crazy this weekend! Hopefully I can stop myself from getting distracted.
I already registered for another course for the period of May to July. I am excited to start that course because I have heard and read about the concept of six sigma but hopefully this course will give me practical experience!
Unfortunately "Samin Baghcheban" my favorite childhood song writer passed away on the last day of 1386. I used to spend hours listening to the tape that my mom bought for me when I was a child! I was so in to it that I wanted to become a singer for children songs one day!! May he rest in peace.
Last weekend, a group of our friends and us went for a hike on a trial in Edwards Garden! Most of the snow was melted away but some were still persistent! It was great to inhale air after our long winter this year! Since it was a while after being out, hiking for a few hours, we passed out once we got home!!
I have started watching "Lost" the series. Originally I was to scared to watch it as I am a scary cat! but when my in laws told me that they have been watching it, I decided that it can't be that scary because they are watching it! I like mystery stories. The way the scenes are filmed are amazing. I guess it goes back to the fact that I love puzzles and every time you get a clue for pieces of puzzle. The only thing is that now I have become addicted to watching it even though I have to study!

www.makeupandbeautyblog.com

Last week week I finally finished an investigation at work that lasted 9 month! My suggestion for corrective action was to improve better communication between departments. To that end a group of 5 of the supervisors and managers are gathering next week to discuss how to tackle this issue! I enjoy my job and people whom I work with and my PMP with my supervisor indicated that if I stay another year in my position I will become a leader in a group!
Last week, I had an interesting encounter with the representative of our legal affairs. What triked me the most of his nationalistic views of communities and labelling people of different race and color! In the past 11 years that I have lived in Canada I never heard anyone to label people like that! Since I like to look at things logically and not emotionally, I know where are the roots of his actions. This was my first time talking to a person who had lived in Israel for 18 years. I think Jews, due to their historical diaspora, their way of thinking are shaped toward ways of their community existence. To that end the concepts of Kosher strongly illustrates this point. When I spoke with this man, I realised how living in Canada and being in a multicultural country had made most of us respective toward each other, no matter our race, color and religion and how people are binding to each other because of their humanity.
Anyways, enough about excitements at work! The job fair I went couple of weeks ago, ended to a phone interview last week. I think when we are relaxed about something, things come to us and when we really want something, we have to really fight for it!! Despite the fact that I did not put that much effort for this interview, they still called me back the next day to fly me to their company for another interview and a tour!!
I finally submitted one of my applications that I was working on and to that end I got myself a violet eye shadow!! Anyways, I have a quiz this week and I haven't started studying yet!!

Happy Norouz!

I wish everyone a year full of success, health and peace. May we all become wiser than last year!

Our Haftsin this year has a special place in our apartment this year, along with our goldfish who stayed alive since last Norouz!We woke up for sal tahvil, but what I would have liked is to have a TV show or Radio or Internet connection to the websites that had some sort of program at that time. We said sal tahvil prayer and kissed and hugged and went back to bed:)Well we did call Pishi's parents but I was afraid that I might wake my brothers up so I said my tabriks later on Thursday to my parents and brothers!;)

By the way, to my surprise, my Mid term mark was very good and actually the answer to the question I raised in the last post was indeed was false!!
Going to school and working gives me motivation in life, I don't know why, but I am pretty sure if I only do one at the time, I get nostalgic and restless! I think this way, I feel that I am living my time better!

Recently I have been very judgemental about media! I have decided to watch as less TV as possible and avoid watching movies that do not help me be grow as a person! To be honest, I always like watching TV in Iran, because there always was a balance of entertainment and learning. Despite having few channels like discovery, etc. most of the TV stations now are loaded with shows that are a total waste of time to watch.

My mom's new year party last night was great but completely exhausting! Pishi thinks I need a vacation and I totally agree! My toleration for things not being perfect has gone down! I think it even shows at work sometime that I can't tolerate things that I see! (i.e the mistakes or refusal of help from some department!). I can't wait to see improvement and every day that passes it becomes more and more obvious that my passion for 6 sigma is growing and that I may be in the direction!

Only 4 more days are left to Norouz and 3 to Charshanbe soori! I can't believe that this charshanbe soori I will be in class! But more importantly I can't beilive one year has gone by so fast. I still remember what Pishi and I were doing last charshanbe soori!! Trying to find a painting frame and rushing to celebrate charshanbe soori! This year our Sabze has grown so much I am so proud of our efforts despite our disagreements on how to make it fuller!!

I am glad that weekend is here! I am done with the documentary last weekend and I must say that after that I have a great deal of respect for actors and actresses! They have to memorize so many lines! I can cross that profession from the list of what I may want to do before I die now! Ha Ha!!

I am done with my midterm. I am sure I could have done better but some of the questions were tricky. For example:

"Re-engineering is usually addition of one or few steps to the process for improvement. T/F"

I personally answered false, because there are times that you decrease a step in a process, i.e. cycle time, to increase productivity and cost. But the answer is true! I think I should argue that if the word "sometimes" was used then it would have been true but "usually" is more than somtime and I don't think it is true! What do you think?

Anyways, Pishi and I went to ASQ session on Wednesday. It was their job fair seminar. I must say I am impressed by this organization and I would like to be a member! I think taking this course and learning more about Quality has opened doors for me. I already got a phone interview and another possible job offer from a recruiter!
To be honest this was a mini break I wanted after a while trying to learn and find what I want to do in my career.

This weekend I am going to finish my applications, go shopping, do some cooking, study for my course and get ready for Norouz! We are visiting one of our family friends for lunch tomorrow. I can't wait to see their family. I know them since they were single and saw them how they grow as a family and they are a great family and I hope that Pishi and I can have a family like theirs.

Last days of winter

Snow..and snow..and more snow..!!It's surprising, only 2 weeks to spring and we are swamped with snow..Never the less, the view is beautiful. I have started growing our "sabzeh" for Norouz. This year we are going with lentils. Last year my wheat sabzeh was disastrous!!It was okay but not to full! I am Hoping this year it looks fuller.
Today my plan is to study crazy and tomorrow I am going for the takes in a company!
I watched a 5 mini series of documentary about history of Iran, focused on Cyrus the Great, as a counter movie of "300" on youtube! It was really interesting. I personally learned some things that I never knew.
I can't wait for this week to be over. I think next weekend I will have more peace! I am going to ASQ, Toronto chapter session next week for the first time. I am curious to see how that organization works. So much work to do and so little time. Next weekend I have 2 major application that I need to fill.
I finally found out why one of our directors got fired! and it was nothing to do with technical knowledge. It was because of her aggressive and disrespectful attitude toward her colleagues and associates. It was an eye opener for me. Nothing is what it seems.

Leaper year!

I started the week with a headache! Pishi and I went to my parent's house to watch Oscar together, and this time it dragged till 11:40 at night. Actually I never watched Oscar completely before, because I always thought watching it is a waste of time. Truth be hold that after watching it on Sunday night, I started my Monday with a headache and the rest of the week my energy level was off. I will never watch this program again! I always used to listen to the results from the media the day after and may be watch the movie that was considered best.
The TS manager sent me the book that would be helpful to me to read. And he actually said that I can keep it! I truly felt that he is doing this out of the goodness of his heart. It wasn't politics or bunch of empty promises. That is what my lesson I guess will be from this manager, to be serious with my promises and act accordingly.
This week my pishi was working in the evenings and we only got to talk on the phone mostly with each other! It reminded me of our engagement time!
This year was the first year that I started contributing to my RRSP! And this year because it is a leaper year,(i.e. February is 29 days) the deadline was yesterday and due to my ignorance to financial stuff, it kind of stressed me out!! I honestly would like to take a course in book keeping and accounting and tax calculation and financial stuff to be self sufficient. Not knowing about these things to the fullest sometimes drive me crazy!!!
Tonight we are invited to 2 of our friend's surprise birth day parties! it doesn't rain but when it does, it ...!!
For some reason, I am craving for spring! I can't believe it is here in less than 3 weeks! The weather doesn't show any signs of spring weather or milder weather yet! It snowed crazy yesterday. I think this winter has been the best winter of my life so far. I didn't hate it!!!It is amazing how my taste in things are changing. I like walking on the snow and driving outside while snowing and not get annoyed from the traffic. I don't know if it is the result of pishi's love for snow that I am becoming more interested or I am growing up! I am enjoying things that I would never care before.
I think this year was the first year that I felt very content with my status que. It scars me but at the same time that is the goal in life, right? To live in peace and feel comfortable in you shell! But I am sure there is always more room for being better and improvement in myself. I am beginning to notice things and beauties in nature and people that I think I never saw or realized!

Surprising Week

Last week was full of surprises! Although it was a short week due to the family day holiday but it seemed to be long. I think a lot of it was due to the fact that I had to study for that quiz! The quiz went well but our instructor assigned us another assignment!!I was working on it this weekend. Friday was our group meeting, where all QA members in our site were attending. To my surprise, they awarded me with a thank you certificate and a gift card for my work with our team in front of everyone! I was completely surprised. Come to think of it, there were many ways, I could have responded to my supervisor's thank you speech! I guess I was to astonished to respond properly!!
Also, to my further surprise, I am nominated to participate in a documentary on behalf of a professional organization! I couldn't believe it at first but when I spoke with the representative, it was clear that it wasn't a joke! I went to the studio and we talked about the format and we are suppose to start the shooting in 2 weeks! I hope I don't mess up. But at the same time I don't know what I can do ahead of time!
My third surprise and the last one of the week was bumping into one my dear classmates in our apartment elevator! Can you believe it? She lives in California but she was in Toronto on business trip and was going to meet one of her friends. Seeing her truly took me back to the times we used to hang out. She is the most energetic girl you can imagine. Very athletic and beautiful. Her life story is long, but I can just say one thing about her and that she is an inspiration.

Family Day long weekend!

This is the first year that Ontario has got a long weekend in February. Once Dalton Maginty got re-elected last year, he announced this new holiday! Since it's our first holiday, we really didn't plan anything for it. The only thing we have done this weekend, other than being lazy and just being in each others arms and watching movies, was going to one of our family friend's house. She basically Pagoushad us! I really liked their house. It was perfect for their family size and it was beautifully decorated. After dinner the poker game started! To be honest, I like poker but I really don't like betting with money.
My meeting on Friday with the TS manager went well. To my surprise, he was pretty helpful. I should try to not let other's perception of someone cloud my thinking and try to give people benefit of a doubt. I was so sure that he will be a racist person in my mind, that speaking with him actually was shocking. He gave me some good advice that I am hoping to help me in my career. The most interesting part was that I met a guy mean while I was waiting for this manager, that I think may help me get one step closer to what I want!
Sometimes, you just need to impress one person, a key person, to be able to prove yourself of what you deserve.
Anyways, I am going to start reviewing again for the quiz I couldn't write last week due to snow storm, if I can sit down and stop dancing for no good reason!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pishi and I had the most emotional Valentine’s Day since we have met each other! A beautiful rose, a heartwarming card and thousand kisses made the night extra romantic. I am blessed to have pishi in my life.
Oh yesterday it was our PMP evaluation! It went pretty well, since I have provided all the evidence necessary for good raise!! Anyways, one thing that my supervisor told me that made me laugh was that she said: "You have a certain quality that will take you far in your life". This sentence reminded me of when everyone in "Friends" told Chandler, you have a quality and that is why girls may think you are gay!!
Today I have an important interview with the manager of one of the departments that I am interested. For that I have to go to another plant and since I haven't been there, I am bit worried. I hope I impress him and reach a mutual agreement!

Bold thoughts!

Past weekend was a strange one. Saturday I went to one of my friend's baby shower and on Sunday to one our family friend’s funeral! For both events I had to go alone because pishi wasn't feeling good. It was hard not being with him.

The baby shower was good since I got to chat with some of the friends that I haven't got the chance to see in the past 5 years! And the wake was interesting too, no crying or sadness!!
One thing about the baby shower that made me think was the fact that since my friend is having a baby girl; she had managed to register for all pink stuff and decorations!!
Even when I went to the registered baby store, either the stuff was blue or pink!! I couldn't believe it.
I personally am against identifying girls with pink and boys with blue. I know when I have my baby; I will never go with that stereotype. I will go with all colors and probably would avoid having one color. Nothing against pink, I actually like pink and have a lot of clothes that are pink but to me starting a child's life with a cliché may not conclude in a strong child. I would make my child expose to all gender roles. If I ever have a daughter I would let her try motorcycles, carpentry and all sort of stuff that are perceived as male oriented. If I have a son I will expose him to dance, cooking and sewing...I believe a child whose road is open without boundaries can lead a brighter life than a child that is brought up by cliché boundaries.

I was studying since the weekend for my quiz today and was cramming even harder the last hours and to my surprise once I arrived to the school, it was closed due to snow storm!! You can imagine my disappointment for not writing the quiz!

See You Again - Miley Cyrus


http://emileyosmentlovers.wetpaint.com

The last two weeks have been crazy. Specially last weekend. It was my birthday! the night before my birthday, Pishi and I threw a birthday party! It was lots of fun to see all my friends and share a great time with them, dancing, talking and eating and back to dancing!!
To my surprise another group of my friends surprise me on my birthday with another cake!!This year I got the best birthday parties ever!! I am so lucky and blessed to have such great friends.

Despite all that partying, I managed to finish my assignment and stay awake during work!!This week was exteremly exhusting. Tomorrow I am going to one of my friend's baby shower. I can't wait to see her belly! At the same time I have to study this weekend for the quiz on tuesday!

I heard the new Miley Cyrus song on the radio and it got to me! I don't really watch Hannah Mantana where she stars in but this song is addictive!! Enjoy the lyrics.

I've got my sights set on you
And I'm ready to aim
I have a heart that will never be tame
I knew you were somethin' special
When you spoke my name
Now I can't wait to see you again
I've got a way of knowin'
When somethin' is right
I feel like I must of known you in another life
Cause I felt this deep connection
When you looked in my eyes
Now I can't wait to see you again

The last time I freaked out
I just kept lookin' down
I st-st-stuttered when you asked me what
I'm thinkin' bout
Felt like I couldn't breathe
You asked whats wrong with me
My best friend Leslie said "Oh she's just being Miley

"The next time we hang out
I will redeem myself
My heart, it can't rest till then
Oh whoa whoa
I, I can't wait to see you again
I got this crazy feelin' deep inside
When you called and ask to see me tomorrow night
I'm not a mind reader
But I'm readin' the signs
That you can't wait to see me again
www.metrolyrics.com

Tonight Pishi and I went to Ramin Jahanbegloo's talk at U of T. It was great to see him back. His speech had a lot of food for thought. What moved me was his sense of peace. Despite his solitary confinement, his soul was still noble. One of his sentences that moved me was: I am not working for present Iran, I am working toward future Iran.
It was nice to see friends that I haven't seen for a long time. Seeing them took me back to 6-7 years ago when we would sit together in his philosophy classes and listen to him. At times it was boring to me, but nevertheless, I learned valuable lessons in those gatherings and classes that if not, I may never have gotten exposed to. Lessons that helped build my character. And for that I will always be grateful to him.
I got my first follow up with the email I sent to that position selection process. I can't wait to hear what the rest have to say.
It's funny that my supervisor thinks that I will be leaving her group soon!! It's funny because I don't really think it's going to happen specially not till June!! Anyways for now I am enjoying my time with my current position as I keep on learning more.

Fallin' for you - Eva Avila


www.evaavila.com/en/music.html

So the position I was having my eye on slided away! But I am not going to let it slide by that easily! I actually surprised myself!! I wrote an email to the people who are involved in selection process and can't wait for their reply. I think my current job has taught me a lot in terms of professional writing. I feel I can express myself and challenge people with appropriate wording!!
I actually like what I am doing right now and may be not getting the other position was a blessing in disguise since I am busy this winter with my course.
I started my course in quality concept. To my surprise it is from department of business! This course will give me a better understanding if I would like to pursue MBA or not and for that I am glad. Two of my colleagues gave me their notes and lend me their book. The course textbook costs $200!!
The past couple of weeks I heard the following song by Eva Avila that captured my interest. I like the beats of this song. I am beginning to learn more about her more. She has a strong voice. Enjoy the lyrics.

I'm falling for you
I'm falling for you
I'm falling for you
I have got a sweet obsession
You have captured my attention
How am I gon' get me through the day?
Tried to get you out my mind But damn, you creep in every time
Oh boy, I never thought I'd feel this way

Cuz you got my head a-spinning just like a carousel
Thinking of you every minute,
I know it's crazy but true
I'm fa-la-la-la-falling for you
Kind of like a constant craving,
I'm underneath your spell
Baby there ain't no escaping;

I know it's crazy but true Fa-la-la-la-falling for you
Why'd you have to touch me like you do?
You know there's no resisting you
I feel a shiver every time
I'm saying whoa! Baby, what you doing to me?
Out of control!
And it's taking over me
Gotta let you know!
I ain't gonna give up till you're mine

I don't know what I'm gon' do
You got me crawling;
I'm falling falling falling for you
You got me falling for you baby
And I don't know what I'm gon' do
You got me crawling
I'm falling falling falling for you
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Don Juan DeMarco


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Pishi and I watched Don Juan deMarco, a movie that was screened in 1995. I only have one statement to describe it: Loved it!! I totally recommend watching it. It was a combination of comedy and philosophy.
The quotes are memorable and make you think about life. It had been a while since the last time that I watched a movie that actually moved me and made me think! The quote that stuck on my mind is this one:

"There are only four questions of value in life, Don Octavio.
What is sacred?
Of what is the spirit made?
What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for?

The answer to each is the same: only love. "
Don Juan deMarco (1995)

Lecture


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Yey..The weekend is here! After a week that dragged big time, we slept in today. I can't believe I slept that long.
Our new manager is funny. Although he gets stressed out easily, but he is funny and tries to appreciates his team! He brought in a plate of Toblerone chocolates to celebrate Friday!! I think we all had a rough week.
To end the week sweet, last night we went Mr. Ganji's talk. It was interesting, specially the audience's reaction! I agree with the major point of his talk which was the formation of different cultural or social groups are steps to changes in Iran. At the end a couple of our friends and us went for dinner at Marche. Love the deserts there!
Pishi is activating our new cellphones now..can't wait to use the new ones..they look so sophisticated!

Excitement

Monday I will know if I am going forward to the next step of the position I applied before Christmas or not. I truly hope I go to the next phase, if not then I will challenge their decision;)
For the period of time I have been in my current position I have had 3 different managers! It is amazing to see the differences in their managing styles. Observing all of them, made me see what made them excel! I learned their calmness, focus and being detail oriented are the traits that made them successful.

It seems this year is officially the year of babies! 3 of my friends are pregnant! I think the best time to give birth is during spring and summer! the great weather makes it easier for the mom and the baby! saying that I wonder how my mom survived with me, being a winter baby!

Analysis

My 6 month eye exam went well and the next one would be in another 6 month. I hope no change occurs to them and that they stay the same!

Last night at my parent's house gathering, an interesting discussion roused from our family friends. The discussion started with the following questions:

1. What is the biggest challenge Iran is facing now?
2. What may the solutions be?

The answers to these questions varied in detail however it mostly came to the fact that Iran has big cultural, economical and social challenges. To me the mother of all of those challenges is the economical one. Once a country does not have economical stability either because of lack of economical expertise, budgeting and etc or because developed countries don't want it to have stability, due to their selfish reasons, poverty which is a big social issue rises. Now poverty can cause the society to move to a direction that concludes to a cultural disaster.

To me culture disaster is when a society accepts and praises anti- values rather than values. When people build their lives based on lies and deceive. That cutting ways and trying to smooth ride through life by being an opportunist without taking any regards to their fellow men/women becomes a role model.

To be honest, there is no easy ways out for Iran's current problem. May be the most immediate one be the change in economical model that Iran has. If it has one!

How do we do that? We need economic experts running our country. We need the money for oil and our natural resources to be allocated for our infrastructures and social and cultural developments not for government expenses. We need to reinforce tax strictly for government functions.

It seems that right now, there is a gap between government and people. People are not active in issues of the government. People have no interest in their citizenship responsibilities. To reinforce the concept of tax, people may become more involved and question about how the money is spend. Because they have a share in the function of the government.

But wait in order to question, you need freedom of speech. So how do we reinforce human rights? Government may claim that they are following charter of human rights but how can we make sure? The answer to that are the NGO watchdogs and external government auditors.

I know its not as linear as it is in reality but I wonder if it works if it really follows this model?

Once economical stability is achieved social awareness starts. It's then when people can stop being worried about their basic needs and think. Evaluate. In this day and age that Internet and many means of technology, transfer information with a click of a button, a young generation can see how their peers live in other side of the world. It will take a few generation to gain the courage to fight back for a change.

You may want to force a change but it will never work if the people in that system, don't feel that need for change. Once the flow of information starts and once people understand that they have the power to change, a cultural revelation out of anger and frustration needs to happen to throw away the current cultural stigmas.

If you notice these 3 challenges are hand in hand. Cultural and social awareness can make the government to go toward what people want. i.e. to start making a stable economically stable country.

That's all for now..I am not a political expert and above was from the mind of an engineer, who likes to make things systematic!

Anniversary


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Today is our reception anniversary! Last year this time, we were getting dressed to go to our reception. I still remember how worried I was that we get to our banquet hall late!
We had a blast! Today to celebrate I am going to buy a cake and we are going to my parents house. I can't thank god more for our wonderful life together.

Yesterday I played "Sam & Max" computer game. After 3.5 hrs finally we solved the mystery! I love this game. Hilarius but requires you to think and be creative of the ways to approach a mystery!

Back to school!


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This week at work dragged big time! It is always like that. It takes a while for normal schedule to kick in!
I finally got my approval from my company to pay for the courses I am going to take and registered yesterday. My classes will start in two weeks. I am excited to see how the course is.

Pishi and I had my parents and brothers over last night for dinner. It was fun to watch our wedding cd again, but better than that was playing billiard! The funny part is that we all sucked at it.
To that end to become better in playing the pool, pishi and I practiced for about 2 hours today. I feel as I play more I get better, however still a lot of improvement is needed!

I don't watch our wedding cds much but it seems to me the more time passes by from the first time I watched them, the less critical I become of the stuff that used to bother me then!

I am glad that this year I ended all the speculations I had toward what to do with my life! I know what I want now and I hoping to achieve most of them by next year this time.

Happy New Year


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2008 is here! This week was full of gatherings and parties. It was fantastic to see our friends. Lots of dancing, Pantomime, jokes and catching up friends.
I met my classmates as well. Marjia is pregnant! I knew it as soon as I saw her approaching our table. Words can't describe how happy I am for her. I wish her an easy pregnancy. Muna's baby girl, has grown so much. She is one tall baby!
The more I see my friends fall into family roles, the more I get scared and want to avoid it. I don't know why I feel, that having kids is equal to destruction of all my dreams!! So I hope I can accomplish as much I want before I have kids. The more I think about it, the more I feel we will be pin down to one place. The conservative side of me likes it but the ambitious side wants more..I want to travel..study somewhere else. Learn to do floral arrangements, Learn to DJ, Learn how fix a car engine and dance moves. Read books and more books. So much to do and so little time. At the same time I feel guilty of being so happy and relaxed in my life right now. I feel I am not doing my best and that I will regret not doing things that I should do now. I don't know why I feel that if I let these years to slip by, I may regret them big time. To be honest I can't see myself grow old. May be I die before that!

Anyways, my resolution for this year is to exercise more and don't be scared of challenging the what ifs!

I love Hot, the new song by Avril Lavigne. It completely shows how I feel now in my life!

I wanna lock you up in my closet,
when no one's around
I wanna put your hand in my pocket,
because you're allowed
I wanna drive you into the corner,
and kiss you without a sound
I wanna stay this way forever,
I'll say it aloud

Now you're in and you can't get out
You make me so hot
Make me wanna drop
You're so ridiculous
I can barely stop
I can hardly breathe
You make me wanna scream
You're so fabulous
You're so good to me Baby Baby

I can make you feel all better, just take it in
And I can show you all the places, you've never been
And I can make you say everything, that you never said
And I will let you do anything, again and again
Now you're in and you can't get out

Kiss me gently
Always I know
Hold me love me
Don't ever go

You make me so hot
Make me wanna drop
You're so ridiculous
I can barely stop
I can hardly breathe
You make me wanna scream
You're so fabulous
You're so good to me Baby Baby

www.completealbumlyrics.com