BACK!

Sorry for the year long absence. Last year I moved 2000 km from my original hometown to start a new life in Western Canada. I went from a small Northern town of trees and rocks to a small Southern Prairie town of fields and crops. Go fiqure.

It has been a whirlwind year with lots of ups and downs. I just started an excellent  new job a few weeks back and I'm loving it. I also got married in July. The last few months have been crazy busy.

I'm still into the mail and all that jazz. My email is departmentofrab@hotmail.com. Drop me an email if you want my address. I'm always looking for new pen-pals.

My life is going in a positive new direction so I leave you with this picture to illustrate it:

I'm also on Twitter. My handle is departmentofrab. Look me up!

-Rob

End of July!

I have been off for a month as I'm in between jobs and moving.  There has been a lot of changes in my life. The mail helps to keep me grounded. I finally found some time to work on the mail and update this blog.

I received this card from Russia :

Thank you Ksenia. I appreciate the card. It is missing the ID number though. Would you be able to provide it for me? You can send me an email or drop me a message on postcrossing.

Canada Post and Cheerios cereal are providing a free postcard to send to Canadian Athletes. Here is what it looks like :

I cut it out and then you have :

Hmmmm. What should I write? The free postcard comes with a ton of restrictions so I can't advertise my blog or even write my own name. Classic.


-Rob

Do not do try this at home!*

Hey everyone!

So I have been super busy and always on the grind. I will skip the usual apologies and just get back to blogging.  I have tons of stories and lots to talk about. I run my mouth so much that my favorite gal says she cannot even get a word in. Classic.

So here is quick recap (in no particular order) of everything:

Postcrossing

It is still going strong. My pen pals are still great. I receive a couple of pieces of mail a week. It is more manageable now and it is actually the relaxing hobby it should be. I usually work on the mail and watch netflix when I have the time. Here is a card I got from Lucy from Taiwan :

Dexter

Dexter is highly addictive. I know people may find the theme (serial killer) off putting but the writing and dialogue is the best. I have never watched a show where I cared about every single character. The characters are well-written and believable. The plot and storyline also keeps me hooked. I'm currently on season 3. I'm halfway caught up.


Video Games

My Xbox 360 died the red ring of death six months ago. I never got around to replacing it. I have been busy with postcrossing, martial arts and everything else in life that video games kind of went on the back burner. I kept a savings jar at home to save for a new one. Last weekend I went to a garage sale and found this :

For 100 dollars I got a 250G Xbox 360 with two controllers and tons of brand new games. I got all of the Call of Duty games and Skyrim. Also I got Mario Kart for the Wii. What a deal. Garage sales are the best!
My favorite gal still doesn't believe I even play video games. She will now!**


Other

* I'm fighting in a martial arts tournament in Ottawa this weekend. The website is http://www.ontariobjjchampionship.com/ottawa_open. Apparently Mario Lopez will be a special guest for unknown reasons.
I entered my weight class as 194.5 (GI) and 188 (No GI). I was 203 when I made that decision. Two weeks ago I kicked it into high gear to make that weight. So for two weeks I exercised 2-4 hours a day and walked on my lunch hour. I also watched what I ate and practiced portion control. I'm basically down to 191 pounds. I lost 12 pounds in two weeks. It worked and I only felt a little sore every so often.

** I know, I know. Everything in moderation. I promise Babe!


-Rob

Fire!

I'm way behind in updating this blog and I had a ton of things I wanted to say on here but I will leave you with this :

There is a state of emergency for where (for the past few days) I live due to forest fires. The fire in the photo was put out and there are a few fires on the outskirts of town. Everything is okay as of late because it rained today and the wind has died down.


-Rob

Guest host : My Dad!

My Dad is an amateur photographer and he is slowly but surely learning the fine workings of a digital camera so I'm proud to present some of his latest pics. He suggested I turn them into postcards but I also informed him I would post them on here. So here goes :

These are some of the birds on our deck. It can become a feeding frenzy!

Here is the cherry tree that the birds eat from also.

Here is a disassembled fish tank.

Here is a random building. (I will have to get my Dad to explain this one)

This is a petite lapin!


So thank you Dad for filling in for this edition.


-Rob

7 weeks!

I only have 7 weeks left till I see my favorite gal again. To tide the time I sent her this in the mail :

It was a cool vintage card that I found in Toronto. My gal is the "butterfly" of my life so it was only fitting she receive this.

I went nuts with postcrossing today and sent out a whole bunch of postcards :

After working on the mail I didn't want to waste such a beautiful day (20 Celsius and sunny)  that I spent the afternoon with my Uncle. Have a good week everyone!

-Rob

 

Hacked~Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to the best guy ever!!!!!

Just wanted to take over your blog and wish you a happy anniversary.  I wish I could be there to share the day with you but we will have many others for that.  Skype will have to do this year!!!!

This year has been amazing with all the great things that we have done.  Vegas was the best ! This place was absolutely amazing and there are so many other places for us to visit.

I hope you know I will love you forever and always

Kate xo