2012 - Not a bad year...

Since I've all but ignored this blog since starting it last January, I think it's time to call it quits. It was a rather outstanding year for me, as I got engaged, moved into a new house with my fiance, changed provinces, and went to my first nationals for ultimate frisbee. I also accomplished a lot of little goals, like cutting out cookies for lunch, spending less than $100 on clothes (excluding ultimate gear), and earned the title of "productivity king" at work. Oh, and I recently won a super-important mustache growing competition!

The plan is start a financial blog for 2013 (and beyond???). Stay tuned loyal followers, I'll try not to disappoint.

- James

Standing and Being Counted

When my employer changed buildings back in October, one of the perks of moving was getting an adjustable desk. At first, I passed on the opportunity to stand while working, choosing to sit comfortably instead in my new snazzy chair. After reading an article about how sitting all day at work is awful for your back in the Globe and Mail, I decided to test out the standing option by doing an hour a day in January. Not only did my posture improve, my back started to feel a lot better immediately. After standing for at least an hour a day from January to March, I decided to up it to two hours a day in Q2 (April - June). So far, I've managed to keep pace with the two hours a day, and even do more on some days. Although I'm not as confident to start three hours a day in July, it will give me something to shoot for.

No longer the cookie monster

Ever since my mom packed my lunch in grade 1, I've had three cookies at noon five days a week. It took my girlfriend (well...actually, that would be finace now...popped the question last weekend) to make fun of me for my three cookie habit, before I questioned why I needed my treats when I was in the office. Seeing as how I've eliminated chips (except for nachos) and cheese strings from my diet already this year, I thought I'd try to change my three cookie for lunch habit. For about a month now, I've been going cold turkey, and have the transition relatively easy. I've snacked on granola bars or almonds instead of my beloved biscuits.

Since it's been a while since my last post, I've read a bunch of books...but nothing that really stood out. My most memorable was probably La Fille de Papier (par Musso) because it was my second full length French novel ever. It takes me longer to read French books, but I'm starting to enjoy them more, and find them less challenging.

My only other piece of news since my last post is that after going through a round of competitive tryouts, I've decided to play BigFish (Ottawa's mixed co-ed 'B' team) this summer. Since this is my last year of touring, and because I started out with BigFish, I figure this will let me close the loop. It's odd going from the worst player on the team in my first year, to one of the more experienced veterans. I only hope I can help some of the younger players as much as the veterans helped me when I was relatively new to the competitive scene. Looking back, I've realized how lucky I was to have experienced players take me under their wings, share their knowledge, and make me a better player (and person). Not sure where I'd be without frisbee...and it scares me to think about it.

I'm down to three more weeks of living in Ontario, before I cross the bridge and head to the dark side ;-) Having visited my future home this week, I'm really looking forward to soaking in the hot tub after hard practices, having a huge office, and getting the downstairs set up just so.

It turns out that 5 months in, 2012 has really turned out to be a great year. Here's hoping the best is yet to come.

Passing on cheese strings

With one of my goal's this year to eat healthier, I recently cheese strings out of my diet. Cheese tends to block up my system, and snacking on it just doesn't seem healthy. Plus, I think cheese strings must be overprocessed...since they're so damn delicious :P

As usual, I've read a bunch of books since my last entry. These include Anne of Green Gables (exceeded my very low expectations), The Worried Boomer (probably would have been more suitable if I was 25+ years older), Bossy Pants (Tina Fey is hilarious), and Nine Dragons (Michael Connelly is quickly becoming one of my favourite novelists).

Lastly, I completed my last batch of taxes before moving to la belle provence. With refunds in 19 of 20 years, I think it's safe to say that CRA is officially my bitch ;-)

Spinning & A Great Book

After doing a private spin class at work last week with my group, a couple of my co-workers encouraged me to join an actual class today in the gym. Although it was only a 40 minute class, I can honestly say that I've never sweat that much in my life. It was an incredible workout, and I'm definitely planning on going to more spin classes in the future.

I stumbled up on The Reversal, by Michael Connelly at the local branch of my library, and read it within 3 days. It was one of my favourite reads of the year. I've already reserved another novel in the same series.

Lastly, I think I managed to pick up another volunteer ulty job for next winter. More on that in the future.

Books & Stock Analysis

With my condo conditionally sold, I'm under a little less stress to keep my place in a perfect state of cleanliness. Once the conditions are waived, and the sale is final, I think a celebration of some type is in order. Stay tuned for details.

I'm proud to say that after owning It (Stephen King novel) for 15+ years, I finally finished the 1,100 page marathon! :P Not going to lie, I tried to find the movie about half way through, since it does drag in parts. As I've been doing lately, once I completed the book, I gave it to the Ottawa library. Then, I finished Cheating Death, Stealing Life, the biography of Eddie Guerrero, in a couple days. It was a light read, that was well (ghost-) written, but with a tad too much emphasis on his Christian beliefs (at least for my liking).

One of my colleagues at work invited me to join the "Most Excellent Stock Pickers Club". During the first meeting I'll attend tomorrow, I'll present my analysis of Rogers Communications. It's the first time I've actually written a research report on a stock...and I must say, it's taught me a lot about my own process. I'm looking forward to learning from the other members of the club, and hearing what kind of investments they're looking at currently.

Hunger Games & Stocks

After seeing the preview for the movie during the SuperBowl, I started reading the Hunger Games trilogy after borrowing them from a friend. I loved the series, even if the third book was a bit odd...and a tad disappointing.

On other news, I bought some more Rogers during a recent dip. Rogers is quickly becoming one of my largest holdings. Given the growing dividend, rising earnings, and respectable free-cash-flow, it's been a good investment so far.

Moving to Aylmer

In terms of big weeks, the past one would rank right up there. The main reason being that our offer was accepted, and I'll be moving to Aylmer with Josianne June 1st. We got a beautiful house, and I'm really looking forward to moving to Quebec.

Additionally, I read one great book last week, the Steve Jobs biography. I didn't know much about Steve Jobs before reading the biography, but was pleasantly surprised to read such a balanced account of his interesting life. I also read the much less interesting, bland, waste of paper, novel The Choice, by Nicholas Sparks.

On the flip side, I didn't meet my goal of 3 workouts a week (missed it by that much). Ah well, for what it's worth, I'm on track for 4 workouts this week.

Additionally, I decided to add a new goal for the rest of the indoor, Monday night season. No raising my voice at team-mates. Playing rec is tough...but I have to learn to chill out.

Later peeps!

Books, Stocks, House Offers, Orthotics and a Reward!

As can probably be inferred by the lack of updates, the last couple weeks have been super busy. I keep on looking forward to a time when I won't constantly on the go...but I don't see any breaks coming up. For this reason, I've decided to take a day during February to sit at home and watch movies. I've been renting movies from Zip Kiosks, and there are a bunch of films out now I'd love to see...and just haven't had the time.

One hobby I constantly find time for is reading. I average a little over a book a week. My recent reads consist of West by West (amazing insight into the warped mind of one of my heroes) and the Strategic Dividend Investor (lots of theory, not a lot of practical examples).

Speaking of stocks, in the last couple weeks, I sold my shares of CAE since they weren't paying a meaningful dividend, and used the proceeds to top up my TFSA for 2012. I also bought some Telus as their dividend and earnings guidance for the next two years made them extremely attractive to me as a dividend growth investor.

After touring 13 houses, my girlfriend and I made an offer this past week on one we really like. It's a bit of a complicated situation, but we'll know by Thursday if the house is ours. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, but it would be nice to put two-thirds of this stressful situation behind us. Currently, I'm in the process of cleaning up my condo to get it ready for sale in three weeks time.

I'm happy to report that my orthotics seem to be doing the trick for my various lower body injuries. Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to start some speed, agility, and quickness training if the orthotics continue to do the trick.

Decided to end with the high-light of last week. After I picked up my orthotics, I stopped at a Tim Horton's on Baseline on my way home to treat myself to a honey cruller. While on the way in, I noticed a Visa card on the ground, so I brought it in with me to give it to the cashier. The cashier comped my order and called me a good samaritan. Doing the right thing pays off every time :)

The chips are gone!

I managed to get rid of my "stash of chips" (2 cans of Pringles, 1 bag of cheddar Sun Chips, and a bag of Lay's all-dressed) by bringing them to a football watching party. Not sure they got eaten, but at least they're out of my condo, and can't tempt me.

Also this week, I put myself out of my comfort zone, by attending one event where I knew I wouldn't know many people. Ended up being a fun afternoon, so that's great.

As exhausting as it may sound, we toured 7 houses yesterday. It gave the girlfriend and I a much better idea of what we'd like/need in a place of our own.

Lastly, got done reading/listening to Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. Great book by a fantastic author. Highly recommend it.

What I've been up to...

This was a busy week. In terms of self-improvements, I undertook three initiatives:

1. Worked out 3 times

2. Got my feet checked out

3. Stopped eating chips

The working out is my attempt to get back into a healthy routine. Along with the three workouts, I also played nine games of ultimate. I'm starting to feel that holiday weight melt away.

I've had a prescription for orthotics since last July. Despite having a relapse of plantar faciitis, it took my girlfriend pointing out that I should make an appointment NOW to see the specialist. The doctor turned out to be very helpful and I should have my new orthotics in two weeks.

Chips are a favorite comfort food that helps satisfy my salt cravings. Instead of eating chips, I've been snacking on salted shelled peanuts, nuts and bolts, and more fruit. This is also part of my "healthier habits" kick.

Additionally, I read a great book this past week; Ready Player One. It was an action-filled novel that combined my loves of geeky 80's stuff, video games, and fantasy.

Lastly, the girlfriend and I looked at our first house this past week. Although it definitely wasn't "the one", it did help motivate me to get my place ready to sell, and figure out further what I wanted in a house.

Hopefully next week won't be quite as action-packed.

First Post of 2012

As last year's charity-based blog didn't go so well (life got busy), I decided this year's blog will be more general in nature. Having said that, I intend to pick a different charity each month to give to, and will write about it here. The plan is to write about ways I'm improving myself as well. Also, I'll likely review some books, talk about some stocks, and include a few rants about je-ne-sais-quoi.

With less structure, I'm hoping to post more than I did in 2011. Here goes nothing!