Tuesday, January 30

pictures, as requested

i got the call at work about 1:15pm. i rushed home, grabbed j and we headed to the lawyer's office. they gave us the keys and we were on our way. i took about a million pictures (91 to be exact, j took 18) and ran around the whole house. we turned on the gas fireplace and set off the smoke detector three times. we stopped by home but quickly left again for the mall where we picked up a big cheque and j's passport. we dropped some stuff off at the new place, got pho at the new pho place in barrhaven and went to walmart and bought some bathroom fixtures. now j has something to do tomorrow while waiting for the appliances to be delivered.

now we're home and i'm dead tired. enjoy the pictures below and check out my flickr page for more, way more.

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ahhhhhhhh! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

we get the house today!!!

Monday, January 29

good news

good news #1: we signed all the lawyer-y papers and so tomorrow have only to pick up the keys and we're all set for the new house! holy crap!

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good news #2: our car works again! turns out the spark plugs were all black (they should be silver in colour) and that's why the car wasn't starting. we thought the turbo was tuned to higher temperatures, and it is, but that wasn't the reason for the car never starting on the first try... or at all last week. so 4 spark plugs and $20 later, we have a fully functional car that even starts on the first pull. this is big! so goodbye little fire engine. you served us well.

good news #3: i used my weekend well. friday night we caught up on all the tv we had missed last week. i went out every night last week so didn't get a chance to watch anything. 24, prison break, others... it was nice. i maybe even rewarded my tv watching with some ice cream.

saturday we bought the spark plugs (see #2 above) and went to bayshore to spend the gift certificate i had. it took a while, about a million stores, lunch with matt and julie who we randomly ran into, and then we finally went into benix and co., a house store and went wild!

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we went over to matt and julie's place and played games. again, cranium pop5 was a hit. j and julie kicked our butts.

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sunday was like an extra weekend day. we were so pleased to have the car working again that we took it out around town. i got some underwear (too much information?) and some flashlights for our trip. i also found some black shoes for work (thank you, zellers) but didn't manage to find a purse. i'm not a purse girl, but i'm trying to be. any tips?

the cats were being so cute and i couldn't help but take their picture over and over and over.

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and to top it all off, i had a baseball meeting. i froze through the whole thing, but it was fun. and now i know what i'm doing this summer.

countdown:
house - tomorrow!
moving - saturday!
costa rica - 18 days!

Friday, January 26

cake!

isn't it beautiful??

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sylvia is an awesome cake decorator. and in case you have any doubts, here is the cake she decorated last year:

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amazing.

let's back up a little bit. i didn't mention that our car won't start. we woke up yesterday morning and j was sick and stayed in bed. i got all ready like usual and went to start the car and got nothing. nothing. nothing. and finally a burning smell so i stopped. i figured i would give it a couple of hours and try again. so i did and i did and nothing. nothing. nothing. i called into work and told them about my car and sat back down. and then i realized that i had tons of work to do and that i could cab to work. fifteen dollars later i was at work and had no idea how i was getting home.

early afternoon, j went out and found out that the battery was dead from all the times i tried to start the car and that it just won't go when it's this cold (hello minus twenty, the poor car does not like you!) the problem is that with the house closing on tuesday (eeeeeep!) we have lots of stuff to do before then. lots of stuff that needs wheels. yes, there are busses. yes, we could ask people. but really, just the thought of depending on either public transit or friends was overwhelming so i rented a car. i set it all up at work, found myself a ride home (from a lovely coworker), got myself a ride to the rental place, and got myself the brightest-red-ever car. it's a little accent which is much different from the 3 but it starts.

so then i scooted my fire engine red car and myself to a&s's house for dinner and cake and fun. they made pho and it was awesome. we all ate with chopsticks and flung food everywhere. then cake and tea and presents and finally board games. my parents gave me cranium pop 5, which is cranium but pop-culture-themed. it was hilarious! alan and i lost but we had tons of fun. a game of scattergories topped the night off.

i zoomed myself home, grabbed some orange juice for sickie on the way, and fell into bed just after midnight. this morning was rough, i'm still battling the sick, but the car started and i'm at work. today we have to go to the bank and get the certified cheque and then go give said certified cheque to our lawyer. the house is so close i can almost taste it! a funny coworker was saying that you have to lick anything you want to keep (remember when you were little and your younger brother would grab one of your cookies and lick it so you wouldn't want it anymore? i do) so she was joking that i would be running around the house licking all the walls. gross... but i just might have to. eeeee new house!

best. birthday. ever.

Thursday, January 25

best birthday EVER!

yesterday was officially my best birthday ever. for real. i did what i wanted to do i saw the people i wanted to see. first, my wonderful coworkers made my feel special. i amassed about a million cards and felt good. there was a definite theme to my cards:

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then we went out for lunch. it was good. i got to leave work on time, which was nice, and then my parents came over to give me my present. we hung out for a while and went to east sides with a bunch of people and again had a good time. it was weird though, you know how they make you stand on a chair and they sing to you? well they did that, but they faced me away from my friends and towards the rest of the restaurant. odd. and i like how you spin the little prize wheel thingy and then they ask you what you want anyways. why have the wheel at all? i won/chose a free dessert.

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now i would like to stress that i have not had enough cake this birthday season. i had one piece last sunday night and it was good cake, don't get me wrong, but one piece?! it's my birthday - i need more cake! i'm keeping my fingers crossed for some tonight.

Wednesday, January 24

happy birthday to me!

i am officially 26! i don't feel any older, which is nice. i feel happy so this year is starting off well.

j gave me my present last night. i got into bed and it was all warm. sometimes he will lie on my side before i get into bed to warm it up for me. he's nice that way. so when my side was all toasty i thanked him for warming it up. he said happy birthday and i laughed. great present, j, you warmed up my side of the bed. but it stayed warm. he got me an electric blanket! we were toasty and warm until we fell asleep. it was bliss!

and i got into work today and have already received three cards and a balloon. everyone is saying happy birthday... it's much nicer (i will admit) to my stealth birthday at work last year.

so today i have a section meeting and then lunch at local heroes with my current group and my old group (switching definitely has its perks!) my parents are coming over after work and then i'm going out for dinner with friends (let me know if you want to come and i'll give you the details!) but my big present to myself is to go to bed early. especially after such a full day.

happy birthday to me! happy birthday to me!

Tuesday, January 23

conclusions

on this, my last day as a twenty-five year-old, i wanted to reflect on my year. it was a strange year in so many ways. i didn't play hockey like usual, i was knitting and scrapbooking once a week with friends, we bought a house, i got to finally quit a job (not just have my contract end) and start a really good job, i got to play in hope, i got to get on a really good volleyball team, and i got to book a huge vacation.

it's incredible that i just tried to sum up a whole year of my life in one short little paragraph. i did tons of stuff and am generally happy with everything i've done and accomplished and have planned to do. sure there are things i didn't do (like go to australia) but i'm happy. i'm happy!

it could be because i'm finally feeling a little better. i'm conquering the sick and i have so many things happening this week it makes my head spin.

oh, and did i mention that it's only one week until we get our house? holy crap!

and in conclusion i give you rockduck:

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rockduck was a present from j's parents. it was a christmas present but for the new house.

Monday, January 22

updates in my world

okay, i'm going to give you a robust post. a post with some meat to it. enough of this being sick business and more of this enjoying the birthday season that is upon us. and no, i'm not feeling much better, but really, it's been a week now. enough is enough!

friday night we went to dinner with a bunch of guys for vik and chris' birthdays. they had to wear the silly moose hats:
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i bowed out of the celebrations even though chris and i share the same birthday. it just wasn't my night. after montana's we went to vik's place though didn't stay late because j had to go into work at midnight. the little trooper spent over three hours at work.

saturday day was mostly a write off, but you kinda expect that when you sleep in until mid-afternoon. we did go and buy a light fixture for the dining room though. it's nice, but it's on order. hopefully it won't be too long.. i don't know how long i can live with the ugmo one the house comes with.

we met some of j's work friends at the outback for dinner. man is that place ever expensive! we spent twice what we paid the night before. crazy stuff. after dinner we went over to l&s's little house, but again didn't stay long because j got called into work. this time he was there for almost twelve hours. that's right, he got home around the same time we usually are about to leave for work and collapsed into bed.

all would have been fine with a long sleep in and a lazy sunday until we heard rolo puking. this isn't out of the ordinary but still doesn't happen every day. we were both almost back to sleep when a waft of poo smell hits us. rolo, the poor guy, has some tummy trouble and always seems to bring it to our bed. that said, j got up and cleaned the puke while i took rolo and had a shower. then i hunkered down on the couch with my book, read until i fell back to sleep, and slept for hours and hours with the cats.

we went over to j's grandparent's place for his grandmother's birthday, but i was completely surprised when i was given presents too. surprise birthday attack! i got a book and some gift certificates. oh, i finally took a picture of my pack. it's a 50L asolo:
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i really like it and am looking forward to the trip. i made the list that i was talking about of what we need to bring and haven't had a nightmare since.

now that you're all caught up on the goings on in my life, i will leave you with these two pictures:

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Friday, January 19

birthday season starts with the sick

i'm still dealing with the sick. it's not fun. except that i hardly had to work at all this week. this is my first job with paid leave so i would have normally gone in feeling the way i did, but i said screw it and stayed home. all that to say that i'm am NOT interesting or fun these days.

and i haven't yet taken a picture of my pack to show you but i did have two dreams related to my new pack. the first was that we got to the airport but had forgotten our packs at home. i can't remember the second. either way, i'm listening to my brain and making a list of things to pack for costa rica. i'm going to do what my friend, m, did and lay everything out on the floor and cut down on the things i won't need.

and that's about it. maybe i'll go out tonight and maybe i'll be more exciting tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 17

happy birthday baby

isn't this a great picture?

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maybe if i ever did ski (i avoided using the past tense because i don't know how to write it) i would know what "fartage" means, but i don't and so i think it's ridiculously funny, even if that makes me immature. fartage!

man, i feel like i haven't posted anything in forever, but really, i'm being too hard on myself. some people hardly post ever... i miss a day and feel strange. hmph.

i promised you pictures so this post will be full of them. this is my life:

1) it finally snowed and is now super cold and frosty outside. here is j shoveling (i was inside making dinner.. divide and conquer):
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2) winning that tournament this past weekend got us this, a giant trophy:
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winning the intramural league got us a cheque for one hundred dollars. i did not feel the need to take a picture of the cheque, though i will be heading out after my game next tuesday for eats and possibly drinks to partake in my share of the money.

3) we booked our flights to costa rica. here is a picture of us both clicking to confirm the purchase:
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4) i am out of pictures. my other stories are that we won our volleyball game monday night quite easily and i am proud to say that i'm hitting much better than the start of the season and even ended the game on a nice hit from the back row while being yelled at by our biggest and possibly best player. she's a little scary.. in a good way (when you're on her team).

4.5) after the game we went out to broadways which was fun and nice and cheap (splitting nachos 4 ways has it's advantages) but when i was showered and ready for bed, the sick hit me. everyone is sick and at this point, i think we should maybe give some credit to whatever bug is out there making us all miserable and call it "the sick". so anyways, the sick got me and i had to down some advil in order to fall asleep. i woke up yesterday thinking my throat had closed and whimpering enough so that j let me stay home. i was in bed most of the day and only got dressed to go to hockey. i'm classy.

5) we had our pre-delivery inspection this morning. it was two hours of going around the house, pointing out everything that needs to be fixed. the guy was very nice and helpful. we are pleasantly... pleased with our decision to buy urbandale, with our design choices and scaredly scared that we close in two weeks and will no longer have any money.

5.5) j gets a raise, two actually, very soon so that kinda counteracts the lack of money due to house buying.

6) we will have a house. house = money. house = spend more money on house-y stuff. toss-up.

7) after the inspection we got sweet sweet mcdonalds. egg, ham and cheese are such a great combination. did i mention the greese they put on there too? that's also good.

8) i'm at work. i'm holding up but dreaming of being at home.

9) because all good lists should go to ten, i will end at nine (i ran out of things to tell you). here is an updated countdown:

one week left till my birthday
two weeks left till house
one month left till costa rica

ps. my birthday season is officially here! i stole this idea from my friend, a, who reasons that with all the things you get and places you go and parties you have, a birthday is really a birthday season that lasts a couple weeks before and a couple weeks after your actual birthday. since i got my first birthday present this past sunday (a super nice pack for costa rica - thanks j&m!) birthday season has begun!

Monday, January 15

amazing

i'm still here. it was a long weekend and now i'm at work but wishing i was still in bed. the hockey tournament i had wore me out completely. we played friday night, saturday morning and afternoon and sunday afternoon. i thought i would be okay but i didn't factor in that i would want to do things besides hockey.

we did some pretty major things this weekend. we paid for our appliances after work friday, we bought our plane tickets to costa rica saturday afternoon, we saw the movie children of men saturday night, we went shopping for packs sunday afternoon and then we had family dinner sunday night. oh, and of course we watched two hours of 24, which is finally on again.

now it's snowing and winter is finally looking canadian. i would love to be curled up in my bed, with a cat or two and a good book. apparently my hermetic tendencies are showing themselves. i will have lots of pictures to show you soon.

Friday, January 12

tgif

i'm so glad it's friday even though it feels like a tuesday. mid-week training really threw me off, but wow, what a long week. hockey tournament this weekend with my new team. it's in town so it's really just a game tonight and two tomorrow. i can handle that.

Thursday, January 11

i championed my way through

i made it through my two days of training. it was tough at times and okay at others. i met some nice people and am really glad that my table was fun. and can you believe that i had my first tour of parliament? how does somebody grow up in the public school system and not see parliament? impressive.

i'm also impressed with myself for taking this picture:

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last night i treated myself to a night in. in other words, i had nothing planned. i put on my comfy clothes, ate old pizza and watched tv. i was in bed before midnight and was pleasantly surprised when i woke up during the night and it was only 12:37. normally i'll wake up and it'll be after 6 and the alarm has already been going off for a while and it's time to get up. i had more than five hours of sleep left and i was happy.

other things that make me happy: countdowns.

13 days left till my birthday
19 days left till house
36 days left till trip

but now it's work time.

Tuesday, January 9

please excuse me, mister

i have a two-day training course downtown. it's the mandatory-for-all-new-government-employees welcome-to-the-public-service orientation. wow. let's just say that it was a mega long day today and i'm really looking forward to my bed.

here's a picture though of the building where the training is taking place:

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it's a really nice building downtown. i made it there on time this morning (i'm usually late so this was a little strange for me) after going into work for a bit. and then sat through a lot of (pretty boring) government talk. at least they fed us well and had a never-ending supply of caffeine. i don't normally drink tea but i had two cups.

the food is remarkably good and the people at my table are proving to be a little rebellious which is fun. we were learning about the 30-second elevator speech, basically, the sum up of you that you can throw at a person, in an elevator say, that will make them want more. we were joking that it was our pick up line instead. "hi, my name is batman. i like long walks on the beach..."

other than that, my big excitement is that we won our volleyball game last night. we started at 7pm and i was home before 8pm. it was quick and i played pretty well. i might just concede to the fact that i hit more often with my right hand and go with it. but maybe i would be sad for my left hand. and then tonight, my hockey team won 6-0, finishing the season in first place. eventhough the other team was terrible and we dominated them so badly, it was a fun game. we only had eight skaters so i'm thinking that was the reason.

turns out i have a tournament this weekend with my other hockey team so i have a game friday night and a couple saturday. i might need to upgrade some of my equipment though. about a month ago, one of my skate laces started fraying. me, being the girl i am, taped it up and it's been okay. i know it's going to break any time now, likely in the middle of a game. no problem, i found more laces in my hockey bag, oddly enough. but then there's the piece of equipment that holds up my socks (a garter, but i don't like the word), one of the little clip thingys broke. i tapped it and it too held up for the game. i'm hoping that this bandaid fix will be good enough but i have no back up, other than more tape, if it isn't. i've had the thing since i started playing back in 93. i was twelve. it has seen better days.

and that is everything you ever wanted to know about my hockey equipment, unless of course, you are that random guy from the bar last friday night (remember "which way do you shoot. cool." and so on.) my bed is calling.

Monday, January 8

what's best

both saturday night and sunday during the day you would have found us packing. rolo was helping:

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we packed until we ran out of boxes saturday night and then went out and bought rubbermaid storage bins. sunday we had a quick but nice visit from my parents and were given about ten more boxes. and then we had to have a photocopy of j's id signed for his passport application so we went over to p&a's and were given another bunch of boxes. i haven't been doing the majority of the packing (i'm more the planning and organizing type who will pack when the move is tomorrow) but i'm guessing we won't need too many more.

sunday we also had a visit from j's dad. i was "given" my birthday present: he's going to take me to get a pack! i'm so excited! i've read all about them and know i need to have it fitted properly. i have a general idea of what to look for but have never looked at anything other than school bags before. and i think that having the pack will help me visualize how much stuff i can (and can't) bring on our trip.

trip!trip!trip! weeeeeee!
newhouse!newhouse!newhouse! weeeeeeeee!
birthday!birthday!birthday! weeeeeeeeeee!

is it so hard to believe that i can't concentrate at work?

and on that note i bring you this, a birthday wishlist of sorts. i've decided to make shopping for me for my birthday much easier on you and just list the things that i want. i'll make a link on the side bar for easy access. you can just take a peak right before you head out. easy peasy. i'll even put the items in categories for you. i'm so nice.

food
i really like chocolate
i drink hot chocolate and tea
i like pho

fun
i will have a brand new house
i am going to costa rica
i would love to go hot air ballooning
my slippers are getting worn out
boring gift certificates are always welcome

general ideas to help you think up something on your own
i like to read books and magazines
i like to watch movies at home and in theatre (imax too!)
i knit
i scrapbook
i make stuff using freezer paper stencils
i like to take pictures
i like cats
i play baseball, hockey and volleyball
i drive a mazda3
i like music

i guess it's not so much a list of things but rather a list of categories. that's good enough though. talk to j, he can help you.

and in conclusion, just laugh at me because you know i'm kidding. but when i ask all of you to come out for my birthday, come. please come. i want 26 to be a good one!

*this really is just a joke. i don't expect things from anyone. i like things and would welcome things but i don't expect them. unless you live with me. then i expect something. anything really. just get me something. and make me a cake. did i mention that i like cake? you don't even have to make it if you don't want. i like those deep and delicious cakes too.

Saturday, January 6

driving through the haze

i had a hockey game last night with my new team. this is a city team that is somewhat competitive and definitely much better than my tuesday night team. after a nap and quick dinner, i drove myself out to russell. it was kinda foggy which was neat.

the game went well. i had three assists and generally played well. then there was the drive home. the fog was craaazy.. i've never driven in anything like it. it took us over an hour to get back into town (almost twice as long as it took to get out there). we went to a little bar in the east end and i was able to meet some of the girls. there was also this super annoying guy that one of the girls (when i say girls i really mean women) knows. he sat beside me and kept asking me hockey-related questions (in a dumb voice: so which way do you shoot? oh cool. what kind of helmet do you have? i have a reebok one. my skates are $900. ... and so on - brutal!) finally, my goalie switched spots with him and rescued me from his annoyingness.

anyways, i finally got home and wanted to take a picture of the fog. this is one of the good shots:

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i'm pleased that my little point-and-shoot was able to take a decent shot in the dark in the fog.

my last post i talked about sleeping in and believe me, that's exactly what i did today. i was out of bed a little before 1pm. it was so gray out that i didn't feel like i was missing out on my day. i finally dragged myself up, went to two wedding shows downtown with jess while j shopped for pants and shoes, and came back home. tonight is a packing/organizing night. not very exciting for a saturday night, but sometimes it's what's best.

Friday, January 5

a little freak out

first, i want to apologize for the title of my last post. i didn't realize that you might think i tripped and fell and possibly hurt myself. i really don't spend time thinking of my titles, and their possible meanings, so i'm sorry if i alarmed anyone. the trip was referring to costa rica and the falls, well, there was no reference there. the doctor's office was for the hepA shot.

so we're picking our way slowly through all the details that go along with buying a house. who knew that there were so many things that needed to be done, paid for, squared away, dealt with, booked, organized, whatever. it's incredible, but what's more incredible are the people who do all this in weeks. it's been 8 months since we signed for the house and will be nine by the time we move in. but between now and move in there is so much to do.

and that possibly caused a little freak out last night. so much so that i went ahead and booked a truck for february 3rd - moving day - and made a list of all of our stuff. i emailed around for boxes (if you have boxes we will love you forever!) and thought of the things we need to get (packing tape, rubbermaid containers, possibly clear garbage bags for clothes....) i'm also going to figure out our line of credit and how to access it. it's not with the bank we use daily so it isn't tied into our debit cards. ah details details.

we're drowning in details.

and there are still other things i'm thinking about. i'm playing hockey tonight with my new team. i'm really not sure how it will go. i'm just hoping i'm not too rusty after having 2 weeks off. so there's that and i have to go to two wedding shows tomorrow afternoon. thankfully i found someone to come along so it shouldn't be terrible. (this is work, people! on the weekend!) i guess that's it. i'm feeling the need to make something. i haven't knit or scrapbooked in a long time and miss them both. at least i've been running.

have you heard of google maps pedometer? i've been waiting for this tool for a long time. you can map out your route and it will calculate how far you went. so i've been doing this and taking screenshots and saving them in a folder... kind of like a virtual log of my running. it's very neat and helpful.

so that's my story for today. this weekend i'm looking forward to catching up on some sleep. tgif!

Thursday, January 4

trips and falls

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yesterday i booked off a block of time for our trip to costa rica. and then i got nervous. it's weird, but booking the time off makes it seem so much more real. that, and the pain in my arm from my hepA shot, is a good reminder that we are actually going somewhere. i've read lots and lots about the country and know the things i want to see and do. we have a very general plan but we have to iron it out. we're going the backpacking route so there will be much moving around and not so much lying around the same place. it's totally not us, not what we do, but that makes it so much more exciting.

so half my mind is thinking about costa rica and about getting away and the other half is thinking about getting in the new house and settling down. kinda conflicting thoughts. we went after work yesterday to the bank to pull out our money from j's rrsp. it's one third of our downpayment so we have to have it in time. and then there's the packing. j is a machine and works on something packing-related every day. me - not so much.

and back to traveling: we got our passports in the mail yesterday. well, that's a half truth. i got my passport in my new name (they really just stamped one of the pages saying i changed my name which seems laughably non-official). j got his application back saying he needs a guarantor to sign more papers. whoops! now it's a rush deal i'm sure. apparently they have people on call 24 hours a day for rush situations and one woman was called in christmas eve for someone stuck at the airport. it's interesting when you know someone who works at passport canada and can ask all sorts of crazy questions, like how much calling someone in on christmas eve costs (apparently money can buy you lots of things).

and back to the house: we need more boxes! thankfully we have friends who just moved and saved their boxes for us (hi matt and julie! we want your boxes!)

and last thing, there's a tiny part of my brain dedicated to thoughts of my birthday. i'm going to turn 26 and i'm determined to do it in style.

Wednesday, January 3

expanding

i'm finding that project365 is changing me. i'm taking more pictures but i'm also taking the time to think about the picture before i take it. i think it helps that i'm taking pictures of things, of objects, more now and things don't generally move as much as people do. it's weird though, i thought i would have a hard time remembering to take a picture every day. my problem is deciding which picture to put in the album to represent my day. that's not easy, even for those boring days where the bulk of my time is spent in front of my computer screen at work.

i went for a run last night. it felt great and so the picture i took of my glowing running shoes was the picture i chose for the project. but while i was outside i saw that it was a full moon and was set on getting a great shot of the moon for my set. i did get some nice shots of the moon, my favourite being through the branches of the lilac bush,but i didn't chose it:

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so i've set up an album in flickr of pictures that didn't make the cut for the project365 album but that don't really go with the other pictures in my account. pictures of things are interesting in a different way than pictures of people. pictures of people remind me of a good night out or of family get togethers. pictures of things are often pretty to look at, but i find myself wanting the story behind the image. i want to know why someone decided to take a picture of a bowl of soup or a sunset.

if you're considering doing a project365 or something similar, i would urge you to check out flickr. i use flickr because i like the interface and the usability of it. but also, flickr has groups for everything, including multiple groups for this project. it's really interesting to follow other people along the way and see what they chose to showcase for their project. have i convinced you?

all this without caffeine.

some updates on my life: we went to the walk-in clinic yesterday after work and were able to get j his first shot for hepA. we'll go back this afternoon and get mine. you only need one shot to protect you for 6-12 months, which will cover us for costa rica so we're feeling good about that. now we start seriously looking into when is best for us to go and talk to the bosses about getting time off. i get to use up my vacation days i've been saving (this is the first job i've had with paid time off so i'm pretty excited).

and we've both booked off january 30th for house stuff. that's closing day and that's really soon! 4 weeks yesterday. we have some serious packing to do.

Tuesday, January 2

time to start packing

it's time to start packing away all those christmas decorations, storing or recycling those cards and generally moving on with our lives. christmas time is such a chaotic time full of bright and colourful lights, cheery music, cramped stores and general stress about finding the right gift and seeing everyone you have to see. well that's all done now and we can get our lives back to normal.

unless you have a gym membership. thanks to the need, with the coming of the new year, that people have to resolve to be better and healthier and funner and smarter, the gyms will be packed. thankfully i hopped off that train a couple of months ago. i'm not saying that i don't miss the gym. i'm saying that i don't miss the gym in january when people, full of resolve, pack themselves into brand new lululemon gear, all matching of course, and stumble around not really knowing what they're doing, but getting in your way and taking lots of time on every machine that they don't know how to work. harsh? perhaps. reality? yes. it generally takes all of january for those people to forget their resolve and eventually forget to come to the gym, but this month is generally not fun.

but then there's me. i dropped my gym membership after weeks of going back and forth in my head. i rationalized that i play hockey and volleyball and am paying for both sports so could afford not to go to the the gym. and honestly, i haven't noticed that big a difference in my body. i'm a little softer around the edges (and maybe in the midsection as well) but overall my weight hasn't fluctuated and i feel only slightly less strong. and the guilt is gone. i no longer feel like a turd when i haven't worked out in a couple of days. i no longer feel like i'm wasting my money on something i hardly use. and that's a nice feeling.

so instead of resolutions i make goals for myself for the new year. last night i found the book where i had written down these goals a year ago and laughed at the fact that i accomplished only one of my goals for 2006. but that didn't stop my from making new goals. i cheated a little and made the goals for things i knew were going to happen like, "move into new house". but i read somewhere that making a list and crossing things off gives you a sense of accomplishment and is good for your mental health. so here's my list for today:

- get out of bed (check!)
- go to work (check!)
- eat lunch (check!)
- go home
- get at least one thing done tonight
- go to sleep

wow, i'm already half done. look at me go! i was reading some of the posts in my new flickr group, project365!, about how if people were being completely honest about their lives (ie. posting pictures that truly represented what they did every day) all the pictures would be of them at work or eating or doing dishes and that made me think. yes, our lives can be very repetitive and boring but the joy, and this project is only one way of bringing out that joy, is to look for the things that aren't so repetitive or looking at the different angles of things. and besides, for someone who doesn't live my life, boring and repetitive may be interesting and fresh to them. it's all about perspective and i hope that i can keep a good one!

Monday, January 1

first post of 2007

happy new year!

i was very intrigued by innerdorothy's year in review so i've decided to do one of my own. so here is the first line of the first post of every month of 2006:

january
we went to a house party for new year's.

february
when i was younger i was a huge fan of horoscopes and read mine every day.

march
j's sister is in town so we've been very busy.

april
i like this picture of me.

may
i took my last bus ride this morning.

june
again with the baseball last night.

july
i had to bus downtown after work last night to pick something up. (i obviously lied in may.)

august
like the title says, i can post from work.

september
this week has been a long one.

october
j and i worked 9-5 friday and i spent all day miserable from pho nam and right near the end of the day, after everyone had left, i found some pretty huge problems with two submissions of mine. (longest sentence ever!)

november
i actually remember when i was younger learning about how to make words mean their opposites using little words stuck on the beginning.

december
welcome back, my valued readers.

turns out i'm not very exciting and even contradicted myself once. wow. remind me next year this probably isn't the best way of showcasing myself.

anyways, last night we opted for two of the three parties and had fun at landon and sheri's and then at vik's.

160_6078 (Medium)

the pictures are up on my flickr site.