the weekend

i just realized that my weekends are becoming very repetitive so this may be the last time i post about what i've done over the weekend. ah well, you still read it.

friday night we went and met up with j's mazda 3 friends and headed over to grace o'malleys. some of our other friends showed up so i wasn't bored to tears (don't get me wrong. they are nice guys, but i just can't not be bored when 80% of the conversation revolves around car-stuff. what can i say, i'm just a girl) and had a pretty good time.

saturday my parents were supposed to come over but didn't so we went out and looked at lots of stuff. i managed to spend -$4. i got the money back for our missing black box (the city pays if you lose yours or it gets damaged, but we paid upfront and then got the credit) and i bought a nice blue tray with a white fish on it. nothing like a jesus fish though. if that were the case, i would draw legs on it and put the word "darwin" where the jesus sometimes goes.

speaking of darwin, i received my package of free books from chapters. for those of you not keeping up with my life - i got a gift certificate for chapters for my birthday. so i paid for the books, but not with my money so they were essentially free. one of the books was the 3rd edition of the darwin awards. hilarious! i also got the lonely planet guides for australia and for canada, a short history of nearly everything by bill bryson, and a cookbook. i am very pleased with my new books.

speaking of australia... i'm going there!!!! mid- to late- september i will take off on a little adventure. i have two friends who are there currently, and will be for the next 11 months, for teacher's college. i will be taking at least three but maybe four weeks to travel and explore and hopefully see a kangaroo or two. i already have $20 australian dollars (= australios) towards my cause (thanks m & r!) and now i need things like a plane ticket and a plan. at least i have the general timeframe and the means. it's a good start.

getting back on track, i scrapbooked with julie saturday night. i am so close to being done my 2005 album i can taste it!

yesterday was a lot like saturday, except i spent money. i had a shirt to exchange at the mall so i did that and got a really cute black zip-up shirt with two bright pink bands across the chest. doesn't sound much like something i would wear but i like it.

not much else to report. i have stuff to do tonight and will have to watch 24 later, but that's life. i'm surprised i haven't missed it yet. last season we had to watch the first 4 episodes weeks after they aired. i can't remember why now.

watch out for the pink elephant

a guy in my group at work (i will no longer be calling my group my team) just had knee surgery. i emailed him to say i hoped the surgery had gone well and he responded saying he felt GREAT (all caps like that) and that there was a pink elephant following him around. drugs, perhaps? i think so.

it's friday. how sweet is that? and we're going out tonight. out on the town.

i've designated this weekend as a me weekend. wasn't last weekend a me weekend too? possibly. i'm going to get the house the way i want it and i'm going to sleep in until i can't sleep anymore and i'm going to do the things i want to do. plus, i have lots more cake to finish off.

wanna hear something funny? we went to best buy and bought an av stand that matches our tv stand. it's put together and is standing right beside our tv. the funny part is that we don't have anything to put on it yet. we have plans to get all sorts of things, but for now it's empty. grrrreat!

rolling on dubs

i was lucky and caught the biggest loser last night. how i love that show.

last night was really a home-night. while j napped, i did dishes and laundry and cleaned up. we had really been neglecting the house so it felt nice to have some of the chaos put at bay.

tuesday night was a potluck dinner at a&s' place. no one really knew what was going on and we were left with a lot of veggies and salad and dip, but no real food. and then m&r got there and we had tons of food. thank you everyone for making my birthday special. i got some lovely things and had a great time.

we got home late after the potluck and didn't go to bed right away so yesterday at work was a little rough, but them's the breaks. tonight we will get back into the swing of things by getting groceries and going to the gym and eating a meal at home. i can't wait.

batman live update

~ this just in - batman poised to quit crappy job ~

that's right folks, batman is fed up of being treated like crap for lousy pay. she is blowing this popstand. estimated last day of work: march 9th.

she will be pursuing other opportunities and following other paths. paths that don't include a team as disfunctional as this team.

please support her in the time of change.

and remember, you heard it here first.

time is short

when i say time is short, i don't in any way mean i'm dying. i mean that i have so much stuff to do that i feel a little like my life is full and crazy right now.

weekend update (not with tina fey and amy pauller): saturday night was fun. we went to andi's house and then to heart & crown. i managed to drink lots of beer and a bunch of shots. i was pleasantly drunk, but never pukey or even stumbly. i might have been a little more talkative, just ask the random guy wearing the sunglasses on the dancefloor. oops! i got home around 3am and promptly passed out on my bed. hooray for me i remembered to brush my teeth and put on my pyjamas first.

i woke up sunday feeling rested but not quite good. i drank a gallon of water and finally ate. then i had to shovel again. this damn snow! then it was out to kanata for birthday lunch with my parents. it was a very nice day. and when i got home, j was there. we had a good night. he showed me all 300 or so of his pictures from the car show and told me all the stories from his adventure.

now it's back to usual, except things are changing. i will tell all later.

justin to kelly, oh my

while i'm waiting for my ride to show up i innocently have the tv on much music. that's usually okay, but tonight, for some reason, they've decided to show from justin to kelly. what a crappy crappy movie. i just can't believe it.

i think the cats miss j more than i do. last night they were waiting up for him. at least i knew he wasn't coming home. then this morning they drove me crazy. i kinda left them alone most of today so this might be a little my fault. i slept in and that felt great, then i shoveled for an hour. no shit. there was lots of snow and it was heavy. i have lots of blisters now and i didn't make it to the gym. so i went shopping instead. completely a me day.

and tonight i'm going out with the girls. and i'm not driving so i just might drink a little. i'll report back later.

i found my box of letters that used to make me smile. now they make me lonely.

get this: i had a team building day today. a whole day of group exercises and planning for the future and learning. EXCEPT I WAS UNINVITED!!! over a month ago invitations went out for this team building extravaganza and then earlier this week my director's admin told me the director didn't want me there. nice. thanks, prick. and thanks for telling me yourself cause you were definitely in the office right across the hall.

so, i'm just guessing what they did all day. me, i slept in a little, got into work later than usual and spent an extra long time on lunch talking about all the things i want to do. i left early. screw you, work! hope the team building went well, fuckers!

okay, so i'm not really as mad as i'm coming across as being. i'm okay with this. i didn't want to go anyways, i just think it's funny. maybe they should have had some foresight and not invited me in the first place. maybe they should take a look into their team and then they would see how truly screwed up they are. i have never worked with such a back-stabbing, catty, and truly obnoxious bunch of people. they are pleasant to your face, which is nice, but then go behind your back (or not even in some cases - see below) and tell everyone how much you suck at this and are terrible at that.

we had a staff meeting earlier this week and my boss slammed me in front of everybody. that's just not cool. honestly. if you are that upset with my work (which i might say wasn't entirely my fault. maybe i took advice from someone not in a position to give advice, unbeknownst to me) just ask me to leave. tell me things aren't working out. i know from previous experience that i can handle having my contract cut short. i remember clearly the morning i was called into my previous boss's office. i remember the look on his face when he told me that things weren't working out. i'm a big girl and i can handle it.

quick solution - i quit. and i tell them just what i think of their little team and their crappy pay and how they've been mistreating me for the past 4 months. and i don't look back. but i can't do that. i won't do that. i need the money. even the shitty-pay money. i still need it. i need it so i can eat and clothe myself. i need it so that someday i can go on my honeymoon. i need it so i can indulge in some of the small pleasures in life. i need it.

hear that, crappy job? i need you because i need your money. but that doesn't mean i like you and that doesn't mean you don't make me miserable and that doesn't mean i won't leave you like k-fed left whatshername as soon as something better comes along. don't think i won't dump your ass. i'm better than you!

>end rant<

running around the world

last night i randomly went to the gym. random because i wasn't planning on it really. i ate and watched jeopardy (my guilty pleasure) and then just got up and went. i ran 5K in 35 minutes and stretched real good. i'm a little sore today, but not too bad.

i'm trying to decide what to do tonight and i don't know. i have to make some phone calls when i get home today. i also have to call kelsey's back. my ball team had a sponsorship deal with them in the summer. we were supposed to get our cheque in august and still haven't received it. so i wrote a pretty nasty letter and finally heard from them yesterday, but the guy had left by the time i got home. serves me right that the guy who i set up the deal with is no longer with the company. oh well. we'll get our money at some point.

what do i want for my birthday? i really don't know. doesn't it feel like christmas was a week or two ago? i'm looking at a calendar and see that it was long, but it doesn't feel that way and so i don't know what i want. ideas?

birds of prey

why is it that this month is flying by? does january usually race around and leave us in its dust? i don't remember.

you know what's wrong with today? today feels like wednesday. what day is it today? why, it's tuesday. yuck! and you know what else? susan (remember her?) is in today and isn't usually and is driving me up the wall. plus, my boss slammed me in a staff meeting this morning in front of everyone. why? because that's the way (s)he is. i am getting so tired of this bullshit.

24 was awesome last night (quick gear shift). there wasn't as much killing, well maybe in numbers, but not in importance. i think this is going to be another great season.

i got paid for the wedding shows and for some other work i was doing for that company. yes money! i put the cheque in the bank not a minute too soon. we were about to bounce a rent cheque. someone is a nazi when it comes to putting money in savings.

i'm all by myself this weekend. anyone want to do something?

i can tell you rock. i can tell by your charm.

weekend recap:

friday i went to local heroes with some ball girls, because brenda is leaving for australia on thursday. she's going for teacher's college for a year. will i visit her? perhaps. wouldn't that be awesome! after locals i was supposed to go out to the bar but i went to julie's instead and scrapbooked. we talked so much that i didn't get much done, but i'm still happy with my progress.

saturday i slept in like it was my job. i went to the wedding show with a guy from work's fiance. we had a good time. i was perky from all the sleep and had a much better time than last week. france got lots and lots of information and ideas and i didn't have to lie about anything. then i met j and his grandparents at swiss chalet. they have this new salad and it's so good. but i always feel a little weird afterwards and i think it's because there are nuts in it. saturday night i stayed in a watched tv and hung out with my kitties and my boy.

sunday was sunny! i woke up to blue skies and sunlight on my face. it was wonderful. i took the opportunity of not having anything planned to do some cleaning. then we went to the gym. i haven't been for so long. i went once over the christmas break, but not since, and i can't remember when i had been before so it had been way too long. i'm all sore today, but it's the good sore. tonight i think i'm going to do a body combat class, which is like cardio kickboxing sorta. tonight is also another 2 hours of 24. last night was the first two hours of the season and holy crap! it was great. all sorts of deaths and shooting and complications. awesome start to the season.

friday! where have you been all my life?

it's finally friday. this week has been super long, but today started out well. i woke up when j got up and promptly fell back to sleep. it was a wonderful sleep. usually it's a chopped up crappy why-did-i-even-try sleep, but not this morning. i woke up feeling rested and relaxed and happy.

then i missed my bus.

then i had about a gallon of hot chocolate. day saved.

found out j isn't going anywhere this weekend. he'll go next weekend. i guess i shouldn't be expecting any birthday surprises until at least my actual birthday now. not that i'm really expecting surprises. honestly. i would be happy with some cake - even multiple cakes - and some time with my friends. i just don't feel like planning it. do you blame me?

is it friday yet?

it feels like friday. is it friday yet? why can't it be friday. that would be nicerific.

last night was good. i finished my book (the debt collector) right after work. i had a hard time putting it down and losing sleep staying up to read. now i'm reading a book i've already read, so hopefully i can get some sleep.

j and i went to costco. it was much less busy than we thought it would be. and we went down every single aisle. i don't think we've ever done that before. we got lots of good stuff, and the regular stuff too. then we went to barrhaven so i could get some scrapbooking stuff i couldn't find in zellers, which is much closer and unfortunate that they didn't have it. we were like little kids. there was a huge area of valentine's day stuff. stuffed animals and cards and chocolates. we made some of the stuffed animals hump each other. don't look down on me. you would do it too, or you would at least laugh seeing the two monkeys i think they were, humping.

to top off a good night, the biggest loser was on. it's a two-part series with two engaged couples. one of the girls was just under 300 pounds! i'm glad she's on the show and can't wait to see how well she does on the program. good for them.

tonight is S&B. i haven't been in ages so i'm excited. plus, i found someone to come with me to the wedding show. it won't feel as much like work and i won't have to sign up for everything. she can. perfect!

call-out to all bridezillas

are you a bride-to-be? do you know someone who is? have i ever got a deal for you! i am offereing an all-expenses paid trip to the ottawa bridal fair this weekend, on the date of your choosing, saturday or sunday.

i will buy your ticket. i will be your friend and walk around with you. i will hold your hand during the fashion show if you so desire. i will pick you up and drop you off.

who will the lucky girl be?

birthday what?

my birthday is a mere two weeks away. what shall we do?

yes, i said "we". you're coming. unless you're some creepy weirdo who doesn't even know me. you don't know me! (that's what all the celebrities say. did you see that interview with gwen stefani when she was all swearing and saying 'you don't know me'! yeah, well i know that i used to like you and your band, before you got all big and hot on yourself and went all solo and now go everywhere with four japanese girls who aren't allowed to speak! like, what the hell? "don't talk to the girls. just don't talk to the girls." vj: "so it's like they aren't even there? i don't see the girls" gwen: "right." does anyone else have a problem with this???)

four fridays would make for a good week, unless it's the bad way

friday fours is a meme and i've been tagged. i don't usually do these things and i'm not sure my answers will be amusing, but here goes.

four jobs you've had in your life: pizza girl, garbage girl, government girl, and paper girl.

four movies you could watch over and over: bad boys 1 & 2, the new disney movies, but honestly, i don't really watch that much tv so i don't have favourites the same way other people do.

four places you've lived: now, this is boring as shit. ottawa and kingston. i've had three different homes in ottawa, and three different homes plus a 6x8 room in residence in kingston. oh, did i mention that the little gem in res was for two of us? yeah. kingston did provide some pretty funny times though: stinky matt, basement bugs, jub jub, cakestina, the pole of forgiveness, ban righ, sci 04!, ritual, biosci....

four tv shows you love to watch: 24, prison break, the biggest loser, and.. the fourth is a toss-up. there are shows that i like now and shows that i've liked in the past. i don't think i could choose.

four places you've been on vacation: victoria, BC, california, florida, all over ontario, new york, pennsylvania, western quebec and one trip to ohio for baseball.

four websites you visit daily: see the links on the right. i have time on my hands and visit all of those every single day. wow.

four of your favourite foods: i love chicken. i eat it about 5 or 6 times a week since i gave up red meat. hmm, i really like pasta and pc has whole wheat pasta now and that makes me happy. ooh, and they have a new chicken lasagna which combines chicken and pasta - what could be better?? i also really like strawberries and carrots. i'm weird.

four places you'd rather be right now: this is a tricky one since i'm home, in my joggers, with my little family and we have heat. there really isn't much else i want. let's change this question to 'four places you'd like to go'. okay, to answer your question, self, i would have to say i would love to see the east coast of canada. i would love to do one of those inclusive week-long hot places type vacation, though i think i would get bored. i would love to go to australia and see the big reef there, just thinking of that gets my biology juices flowing (that's not supposed to be dirty...). africa. and let's add on south america just for fun.

and that's the end of today's fun. today i went to work and then i went home early cause i wasn't feeling well. i napped for a while (three hours or something) and got up and made food and cleaned a bit. we shoveled the 5 feet of snow that fell today. and now i'm here. yay!

back to normal

saturday night we finally got our heat back. we didn't turn it down that night and loved the warm.

this weekend flew by, but most seem to these days. friday night we stayed in and cleaned and watched wedding crashers. i am so proud of myself for staying up until after 2am without napping. i made up for it by sleeping in saturday till late.

saturday i had to be a "mystery shopper" of sorts and pretend to be a bride-to-be and go to a wedding show. those two hours completely wore me out and made me so glad i've already gone through all of that. i spent some time at home, after treating me and j to mcdonalds, before going over to julie's for my scrapbooking date. i left j and the guys to play xbox all night. i didn't find out till much later that the xbox crapped out again and so they just sat around all night. scrapbooking was a lot of fun. we hadn't gotten together for about 6 months so we had lots to talk about. and i got lots done so it was good.

today i slept in again. i went out by myself and got two new bras and then got some pictures i had ordered and some groceries. then j and i went to the model house that we really like and took pictures and thought about where we would put everything. we were even able to go through a unit that was being built. it was neat and reminded me of my childhood. they were developing an area near where i lived and we used to break into the houses and run around (not legal or safe i will admit).

i'm not looking forward to work tomorrow, but work's work. it's gotta happen.

i miss my friends and having a furnace

this is a complaining post. well, it might start off that way, but you never know where it'll go... and neither do i. i stayed home last night and missed my s&b. that makes me sad, but it's also a good thing. the furnace guys were over yesterday and they will be over again today (remember, j gets two days off work for this). yesterday, they had a problem with one of the gas lines or oil lines or something and ended up spilling gas or oil in the basement. our house REEKS like stink and headaches pop up after minutes of entering the house.

so yesterday, i get home from work and i'm starving. i walk in the door and get bowled over by the smell. but i'm hungry so i turn on the oven. nachos are a life-saver. but the headaches all night! good thing it wasn't very cold out because we had a bunch of windows open and the front door open to get the air circulating.

it's a bit weird to me, but i haven't been feeling one hundred percent in the past week or so. i thought i was still receovering from the holidays and the stress of that and then having my french test, which stressed me more than i thought it would, but last night we figured it out. we've been breathing stale air all week. that MUST have something to do with why we both feel off. so we are very much looking forward to having this new furnace, both for the temperature issue (space heaters are grand and all, but nothing beats having heat all through the house) and the air being circulated and filtered and all that good stuff.

and now for some good news! i knew about this when i started writing so i misled you a little about the complaining bit. my contract is being extended (again) so i'm here for a month longer, which makes the end of my contract somewhere in march, most likely at the beginning.

flashy / clashy pants

i saw the most amazing pants this morning on the bus. a woman got on and was standing a little in front of where i was sitting. now, i'm not sure if i can do these pants justice but i will try. imagine this: pieces of material sewn together. got that so far? good. now imagine there are four different patterns - red paisley, blue paisley, bluish flowery, and... leopard print! together at last! they were shocking and nasty and clashy and i don't know what else to say.

we get a new furnace today. good thing too because i blew a fuse upstairs this morning trying to blow dry my hair with the space heaters running. in my own defense, i did think that the bathroom and bedroom were on different fuses. i'm not that stupid... just ignorant. and i don't know how to change the fuses cause they're the round kind. i'm used to having to flick it all the way off and back on again. so i left j, who gets to stay home today and tomorrow (so i'm not feeling too bad about this), without power or a heater upstairs. at least i warned him.

changes

i decided that i finally needed a change. one can only deal with orange-on-white for so long. now it's purple on black! how fun is this?? it took me a while - hey, i finished all my reports so i took some me time at work - but i got it done and i think i'm happy with it, though i make no promises that there won't be more changes to come.

we ran out of oil again yesterday, but just found out that the new furnace is being installed this thursday and friday. so we will not be without heat for long, and besides, we borrowed some space heaters from j's grandparents. those two, along with the one we have, keep the house, well the rooms we're in, at a comfortable temperature. plus, i put a comforter on the floor in the hall upstairs for the kitties. they like to sleep in it. i think they'll be fine.

so, j's taking thursday and friday off, and his newly repaired and functioning xbox will be arriving tomorrow or the next day so he'll be home all day, playing xbox. you'd think that three short weeks in a row is good enough, but no, not for that boy!

wonderful beginnings

today was such a nice day because it's monday and usually monday = work, but thanks to new year's being on a weekend, the government tells us to stay home one extra day. sweet! so we slept in and spent the day shopping and spending free money (in the form of chapters gift cards) and exchanging christmas clothing (i swear i am larger than people think!). we also braved ikea. it was a zoo but we learned that if we park far enough away from the store and the other cars, we're okay and not stressed. now, i have my wedding picture in a really nice black frame, ready to be hung on some unsuspecting wall, my super nice workout clothes fit and are currently being washed, and i have a cool decorating book for first-time home buyers. i still have more money on my gift card and have to decide what to buy. i'm thinking maybe a dvd, but i have to think about it some more.

tonight and last night, j and i played his new csi board game. i'm proud to say that i won both times, but i really wish they had included a trial story or something. there is so much going on and we're still not sure about a couple things. it would be much much better with two more players.. any takers? there are only 8 stories included. you can buy a pack with more stories, but then what? it's weird how, unlike clue, you can only play so many times and then you're done.

i've been scrapbooking lots lately and am on my way to being done 2005 (i'm going in chronological order instead of having theme albums). i can't wait to have an album complete. that will be an accomplishment.

new year's

we went to a house party for new year's. someone got really drunk and it wasn't me!