i did it!

i finally signed up for my french class. it starts tomorrow night. just like last session i go every tuesday and thursday nights for 2 hours for the next 7 weeks or so. the nice lady on the phone was telling me that i can come in anytime before my class to pick up my book. she's like: "i guess that would be today since your class starts tomorrow". guess so. is that a problem? didn't think so.

pilates starts tonight. i'm glad. i'm terrible at doing anything on my own so i need the classes to get off my ass. plus 24 is tonight. tonight = good night.

pilate on!

don't be mean

my little scrapbook party just ended. i have to say that i had a great time. it was me and julie and marianne and shauna, the lady from creative memories. we each made a 12" by 12" page. i think mine turned out well. i really want to start doing this seriously, but it all starts with me printing my pictures, something i'm not very good at. but that's going to change. i've already bought the pre-paid package of 100 prints from loblaws. i just need to send in my pictures. that's my goal for this coming week.

another goal: register for french classes.. since they start tuesday night.

i bought a new winter coat today. it was on mega sale at sport chek at the mall. it's red. i've never had a red coat before. i'm happy. i'm happy i branched away from blue.

we went and hung out with my dad today for a bit. my mom's out of town for the weekend doing job stuff (at another golf show). we thought he might be lonely. plus it gave us an excuse to drive around. the new car is still great as can be. it's getting redder and redder by the day. right, the picture of the interior. soon, my pretty.

we saw be cool last night. it was funny enough. what was really funny was the guys behind us spilling some candy in the middle of the movie and hearing it fall everywhere and fall down to the row we were on. after the movie we noticed empty beer cans and tons and tons of sun flower seeds where they were sitting. so they were laughing so loud cause they were drunk. oh, i get it!

a little incident

there was a little incident tonight with me and a pot full of boiling water. i managed to burn my hand and in my reaction to get my hand away from the ouch splashed boiling water into my face. i have a couple red marks but no blisters. thankfully.

the neons in our car are finally working and one day i'll take a picture of the interior and post it here for all to see. it's all very red.

scrapbooking this saturday is a confirmed go. this could be fun or it could be not so much fun. but i'm guessing the former.

now now there there

wow snow. i thought we were done with that shit already. apparently not.

i like how i get emails from my "friends" (people i used to know who still think we're close) and they're asking how school is going. well it's going well except I'M NOT IN SCHOOL! retards. it's weird how you can't think of other people. you think that everyone does what you do. it's hard i know, but try and realize that not everyone is like you. please.

i'm going to take another french course. i just have to call them and register. and i'm going to do it all in french. that's the plan at least. i won't cry if it doesn't happen though. other decisions made by me lately: i'm going to play ball this summer with nepean. it's cheap and the girls seem nice. we'll see how i feel mid-july.

update

my life hasn't changed all that much since we picked up our new car. meaning i still spend most of my days at home. i think i'm happier though. does that make me materialistic?

i'm collecting t4s these days. i have a nice pile. i know i said i didn't know what one was but i was lying. i have t4s coming out ... well, they're everywhere.

i think i'm going to take up computer games to pass the time. i know we have a million on this computer i just have to learn how to get into them and then how to play and then.. who am i kidding? i'll just stick with my spider solitaire. no! i can't since someone deleted it. at least there's still yahoo games.

car car!

so this is the only picture of the new car without the license plate in it so it's the only one i can show you on here cause you might be some weirdo freak who's stalking me and boy, you have to work for it. i'm not going to give away too much.

we finally did groceries tonight. feels nice knowing that there's actually some food around here. guess what the first thing i ate was... cookies! mmmm fresh-from-the-store cookies.

so this year i'm going to do my own taxes. i'm a little apprehensive but i think i can handle it. i just won't claim anything. a T4? what's that? i'm telling you - i could be blonde. blonde. that reminds me. the book i'm reading now is about a guy who kills blonde porn stars with huge fake tits. it's a good book though not as scary as the last one, or maybe it was the one before that. i love them when i'm afraid to go pee by myself and have to take jon.. er.. i mean a cat with me. that's right, i take a poor little cat who i've woken up with me into the bathroom. and i love it!

smokin new car

the past couple of days have been mostly uneventful. we did however get insurance and are picking up our new car tomorrow. i'm excited, but blah from earlier tonight so i'll be more excited tomorrow.

i had my last french class tonight. i still don't know if i'll sign up for the next one. i want to, but i feel bad because i'm not making any money and the ei lady said that it takes 6 weeks to get a cheque so i have to wait for a while to know how much/for how long i will be getting/i will be getting it. (that's a dumb sentence.)

i'll go now.

my favourite mistake

i already wrote this post before i managed to fuck it up and lose everything i wrote. here's hoping i can come up with something just as good the second time around.

car insurance. own a car - you need insurance. have a ticket - hard to get someone to insure you and your car. i was looking around at different places today in preparation for the arrival of our new car. you can get quotes online these days and so i was busy going to websites and filling in the appropriate information. you know, some places won't give you a quote online or by phone if you have even one little ticket on your record, which i have. well those places, i don't want my insurance from you anyway.

i was at the td/canada trust website and i filled out all the information and clicked the "Give me my quote" button and was dismayed to see almost $5,000/year for 2 drivers and 2 cars. then i re-did the whole process as a queen's alumni and guess what they quoted me then? just guess. no, really. guess. okay fine. they quoted me under $3,000 with all the same information. do you think the savings could possibly be that much? i don't know what i think. but even with the savings they aren't the cheapest place so screw them!

in other news, we didn't lost our hockey game sunday afternoon: we tied. we have one game left (tomorrow night) and then we're into playoffs. that is all on that subject.

last night was my dad's birthday dinner. i was pleased to see my brother's car in the driveway when we got there. he came all the way from peterborough. we had a good dinner. and i convinced my brother to come by today and drive me around because i had to go prove my identity to complete my ei claim. retards. no wait, that was my fault. we went back out there tonight after my french class cause my brother's leaving tonight. so we still haven't seen monday's episode of 24 so no one say anything or i might have to kill you.

and in conclusion, we are no longer poor but i am still an unemployed housewife. someone shoot me now.

strange times

i'm watching the movie pay it forward. it's weird.

what else is weird is how i was feeling after my hockey game today. it was weird playing in the afternoon and on such a small ice surface. it was weird that we didn't lose (we tied).

it's weird how someone deleted spider solitaire from this computer - what am i supposed to do now? how am i going to spend my days.

i do actually have stuff to do tomorrow. i'm going to look into car insurance. try and find the cheapest place. and then i have to get something for my dad. and tomorrow night will be busy with pilates and then dinner with my parents. i'm sure we're going to miss 24 so we'll have to get it and watch it later on, maybe tuesday night.

enough? okay.

no picture today i'm afraid

so last week i dyed parts of my hair bright orange and today i dyed the rest of my head to cover up the orange, but it didn't work. i'm just waiting for my hair to dry to see the final product but i'm not optimistic.

we went in today and bought our car (again) after calling and hearing that we had to wait for another 3-4 weeks (what the hell happened to mid-january???). so we said fuck that and bought one with air. at least we still get the nice colour though - dark dark gray. so we get our car by the end of the week. booyah! now, i can leave the house during the day and stop being so damn stuck until someone gets home and drives me around to my various night events (i sell myself... during the nights and am unemployed during the day).

in all my awesomeness i already know what i'm getting for jon for his birthday, though i'm not positive what to get my dad. let's review: jon's birthday in 7 months, dad's birthday in 2 days. my my. tomorrow's project.

tgif! (7569)

friday! finally! you're here! every day feels like a friday when you're unemployed. except that i know tonight my boyfriend might be able to stay up later than 10pm (with the help of a nap only).



today is the day i find the fugitive! away!

salmons (7448)

below is a picture of an obviously dead salmon. when we were in bc in december we missed the salmon run by a week or so and all that was left was an awful smell and tons and tons of salmon carcasses. hmm, i took another one with my foot so you can see just how big these suckers are.. you'll just have to believe me when i say they're huge!



on the same trip we went to butchart gardens which is a botanical garden. it was really nice.. all lit up for christmas. the size of the trees there, and in bc in general, are enormous. here's one:

cleaning house (7447)

today feels like wednesday... it started. this unemployed-ness really gets to you and throws off everything. even though i have things every night of the week i still can't keep track of what day it is. shoot me now.

i finished my book last night. it was really good, if you like that kind of book, which i obviously do since that's all i read.

yesterday i applied for more jobs and registered with some more agencies. it's weord though, usually by now i would have had someone i know call me and say they had a job for me. that's how it's worked the past couple of times. am i spoiled? quite perhaps.

seems like everyone's getting cell phones. good for you. it's about time you hopped on the technology wagon lest all your friends laugh at you. i'm very happy with my cell phone, ruby, except how long it takes her to turn on. damn girls! i mean, damn telus!

i was looking online the other night at houses for sale in our area. we're going to be in the market for a house/new place to live in about 2 years. good thing i'm working and making money to help save up for the down payment on a house. fuck!

no, i'm just kidding. we can afford to not have me working for a little while though saving up is obviously easier when there are two incomes. and that said, i don't think i'll be continuing on with french class next session. i would love for my employer to pay for me to (re-)learn the language. i did learn some good phrases though:

english: What knockers!
french: Quels nichons!

i will leave you on that note.

orange

i kinda streaked my hair orange. fluorescent orange. i don't know if i like it yet or not. we'll see.

we watched saved! last night. i really liked the movie. i would like to know how many takes they had to do for a lot of the scenes. i'm guessing if i was an actress i would have been laughing at so many of the lines they had to say. so much of it was ridiculous, but the overall movie was really good. in my opinion.

today didn't feel like sunday. i slept in - which did feel like sunday - but then we did a bunch of running around. plus, i didn't go to hockey last night. so i'm all screwed up. probably doesn't help that i haven't gone to work in a week now. oh being unemployed....

old things, new things, and weird things

last night my queen's clipboard broke. you know when you're in first year and you want all the things that everyone seems to have. well that was me and my clipboard. though i will say that as a leftie, the clipboard sure does make taking notes a lot easier. stupid binders (and most everything else) being made for right-handed people!



the new thing that i'm referring to in the title of this post is my new school bag to replace my very broken old one. i actually went to MEC and bought a good one so it better not break. meet bear:



lastly, our boy cat rolo is very weird in that he has nine (9) nipples! count that! 9! so i took a picture. it's kinda hard to see, but it's a little like where's waldo... so spot the ninth nipple!



in other news, i am still unemployed, but i had a great week off and next week i'm going to seriously start looking for a job.

my brother and me

this is me and my brother from my recent trip to peterborough with the fam. ladies, he's single....

this is my effort to post more pictures, and now that i'm home full time i should be able to do that. i made another blog where i thought i would post pictures, but the client that helps me post them doesn't like me having two blogger websites and i don't know how to figure it out.

today, i slept in. i told myself i was going to take today off and not do anything. so when i woke up i decided that on my day off i would try and find the hot 89.9 fugitive. i listened to the clue at 12noon, but it didn't make a lick of sense so that plan was shot to hell. at least there's another clue in 20 minutes. could you imagine $50,000? i wouldn't have anymore debt and my new car would be paid for. ahhhhh... i'll just keep dreaming.

but some good news, since one of our friends also wants a mazda 3 we're going to get $400 off our car for bringing him in. sweet deal.

in other news, we're trying to convince jon's sister to come and live in ottawa. we're even looking for a job for her. should i be looking for a job for me?

knitting

i took a long break from knitting that started the night my lumi died. i was on my way to our weekly S&B (stitch & bitch)and really couldn't concentrate and haven't knit since. it's a strange thing, but i find that i miss it. so last wednesday night i tried, but again didn't do much. i'm actually trying to learn how to crochet, but it isn't going well.

so my next project is to knit a cozy for my iPod mini (named Kevin, thanks to richard). i started and finished my first attempt at a cozy, and it works and stuff, but it's not great. so i'm looking for a pattern to attempt to follow.

i also have to finish the blanket i started 4 years ago. it was one of my first projects.

have i bored you all to death yet?

goodbye job hello unemployment

i say unemployment but i might be working my garbage job so who knows. i might not, depending on how much money EI will give me.

i have some money now. thanks to the bank for giving me free money (aka a line of credit). so i think i'm going to talk to a financial planner about rrsp's and other investments.

i just today found out about frank's website. i figured he was lost to the non-blogging community, but alas, he's back. and his special friend sure does get a lot of time.

who doesn't like ice cream? i like ice cream. why am i not allowed to get ice cream?

i didn't go to hockey last night and i'm glad i didn't. it was my last day of work and i didn't feel like living up to any obligations. so i didn't go. but my team won 7-1 without a goalie for the first half of the game. good for us. and tonight, we were supposed to play the exact same team, but they forfeit because their goalie can't come. so i guess we win that one too. and that means i get to skate around for an hour. and then i'll get home and my man-friend (frank - does that work for you?) won't be there because he'll be off being a nerd. he does that from time to time. so i'll be at home, and maybe i won't shower after hockey. i'll hang out with my nacho cats.

me and barbie

there are many different reasons why i don't get along with barbie girls and i can't explain them. am i high maintenance? do i make unreasonable requests?

i have two and a half days of work left. i am looking for another job, but it just so happens that this week is a super busy one. so between making a gazillion changes to my report and meeting about these changes, i look at job postings and work on my resume. do you have a job for me?

weekends

apparently weekends are for sleeping. i must have slept more yesterday than all of last week. it was marvelous.

this is my last week of work. i was talking to my agency on friday. they have two positions at health canada, but said that i was "overqualified". i think that's the worst thing they could have told me. at least when i'm not qualified, i can just say that i'm a quick learner and to sign me up. but over qualified means that the employer will look at my resume and wonder what the hell i want the job for. chances are they wouldn't hire me at all.

this whole job situation was going to be a problem for when the car came, but not anymore. i waltzed into a bank on saturday and was given a line of credit and now, between me and jon, we can pay for the car. no matter where we're working (or not working... ) or how much we're making. how sweet is that?

i watched a whole episode of the ashlee simpson show last night. that girl .. how old is she anyway? she can't be the sharpest knife in the drawer. what a ditz! i think if i could be any popstar i would be hilary duff. she seems the nicest. but maybe that's because i don't know much about her. who knows. that's my opinion so take it or leave it.

soup and salad

airline attendant: "would you like a newspaper?"
me: "no thanks, i can't read."
airline attendant: "so what are doing with that magazine?"
me: "reading."

can you believe that the words "i can't read" actually came out of my mouth? well they did. i am that cool. i think that was on our way to victoria mid-december. we were on a little tiny plane that jon couldn't even stand up straight in the aisle. teeny tiny.

we had a good night last night. we went out and looked for a jacket for my new iPod mini (still nameless - i need YOUR help!), but couldn't find anything. then we went to the mall and i bought a sweater on mega sale that i had seen last week. then we went to dan's for dinner with some people from work. it was great.

then if was off to the carleton fastball pub. some highlights:
1) the skinniest girl who can still support her head was dancing
2) skinny's friend making out with a guy on a couch for a long time
3) said kissy girl then going to the bathroom and puking for a long time
4) us wondering if kissy and boy went to the bathroom together, me checking the girls bathroom and dave checking the boys, dave coming out of the bathroom talking loudly about no one making out in the guys bathroom to_the_makeout_guy.

today is work, my 6th last day, and tonight is french class. i feel like i'm getting sick (along with the rest of the world it seems) so i'm not too thrilled about not being in bed, but i can deal.

i started listening to harry potter and the philosopher's stone on the way to work today. i got through chapters 1 and 2. this is definitely something on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. i haven't posted my list because it isn't done yet, and i'm not sure if i want whoever to see what i want to do. some of the things are pretty personal. we'll see though.

i have to admit that a couple of days ago when i wasn't working (as in i was here but wasn't doing any work) i actually sat here and clicked "next blog" on the top of my page and went from there. i read some pretty interesting things, but nothing spectacular. i wonder how that button works, because sometimes i came across a blog i had already seen. is it completely random? it must be i guess.

c'est mon chapeau!

french class is going well. i'm learning new things every class, but i'm also confirming just how bad i am at the language. when jon picked me up we spoke french to each other. it wasn't as painful as i was expecting, but it was definitely a drain on the gray matter. i didn't feel like rhyming there for some reason.

i always post the book i'm currently reading and the one i just finished over on the right there. if anyone ever wants to talk about either of those books, or ones they've seen previously, by all means let me know. this is my half-assed attempt at starting a book club. i think the problems with book clubs are that you have to read what everyone decides on. what if the book just isn't your thing? and what if you finish way before the allotted time? what then? some months i power through books like it's my job, but other months, i read only one book. i don't think i'm the right material for a book club.

so my final birthday present (unless you have something up your sleeve...) was an iPod mini from my boy. it's silver, to match our new car. and it has my name on it! how cool is that? i'm officially the coolest person you know. it's okay to admit it. so i tried it out on the bus this morning and am still sorting it out, but it's so much lighter and cooler than my discman. now, i need to think of a name for my new music guy. suggestions?

work time.

happy birthday to me!

i just wrote a post for today and went to publish it and blogger crapped out on me. thanks again, blogger, you ass.

so it was my birthday yesterday, and the most depressing day of the year. you have to read the whole article to find out that they did this research in order to determine when people would be most likely to book trips. i have to admit that i went online yesterday to gocuba.ca and decided which resort i would go to. but i have a reason. and it doesn't involve my honeymoon, cause who knows when that's going to happen.

tomorrow night is the carleton pub night. i'm excited because i think a lot of people i know will be going so it should be a good time. a strange mix of people, but a good time.

my work here is almost done. my contract is finished not this friday, but next. i'm looking for a job, but i've been pretty busy (or out of town on the weekends and stuff) so i haven't found anything for after yet. i'm hoping something falls on my lap, to continue the trend of 2004 jobs. i'm all set to apply for EI though so hopefully i won't miss many paycheques.

i finished my book this morning on the bus. turns out i'm getting a lot better at not feeling sick while reading (or doing anything except looking out the window) on the bus. one small victory for me.

back to sleep.. i mean work. lalalalalalalalala.

thanks blogger

i want to take this opportunity to thank blogger for working yesterday. you rock my world.

today is friday. thank goodness for that. this week has gone by quickly, thanks to me being crazy busy. just the usual things though (work, pilates, french, sleep). i'm really really looking forward to this weekend. birthday weekends are always good stuff. it was all supposed to start right after work with skating on the canal with my co-workers, but that's probably cancelled because it's f***ing cold outside.

tonight is dinner at montana's so come if you're in ottawa. tomorrow i'm going to peterborough with my parents and max to see my brother. i don't know what's going on tomorrow night yet, but i'm sure i'll figure something out. sunday is dinner at gramma's and a hockey game at night. monday is my actual birthday and there's pilates class and 24.

i've been thinking about jobs since mine is almost done. i fired off my resume to some people yesterday. surprisingly, i got a response from a director at agriculture and agri-food canada. i'm happy about that. so i'll keep looking. and last night, conveniently enough, i learned the french word for "unemployed". i'm going to need that one....

i'm baaaaaad

hi friends. there is so much to say, and since my manager is in a meeting i'm going to take this time to get you all caught up on my life.

i've been bussing to work for over a week now and i'm proud to report that yesterday i spent less than two hours on the bus for my combined trip to work and back home. i'm definitely getting much better at this game. today i wore my snowpants because it's so damn cold. it's the kind of cold where you leave your house and your nostrils immediately freeze and your eyes start to water. brrrrrr!

hockey went really well this weekend. we were in kingston for a tournament and managed to win the whole thing. i have a nice little trophy and we were given a bigger team trophy, but us being without a league (we're "independant") we have nowhere to put it. we're thinking of a timeshare sorta thing and adding it to our wills, willing it to the next team mate and the last one alive gets to keep it. i say someone else can have it. what the hell am i going to do with my little trophy let alone a bigger one? that's right: nothing! but it did feel nice to win some games. we haven't done that since october. plus, we had a game without penalties. now that's a first. i even managed to score two goals and get two assists. it's not that i was on fire. it's that the goalies were terrible. all in all a good weekend. oh ps. i shot the puck in the other team's end so i could get off, but i hit the ref right in the elbow/ribs. i went and apologized afterwards, but what kind of ref is ALWAYS in my way? thanks mr. pylon.

i found out late last week that my contract here will not be extended like last time. so as of friday, february 4th i will be unemployed again, unless the garbage lady comes through with more garbage audits. turns out the audits for the first three months of the year are during the day. ding!ding!ding! kamerine doesn't have a day job anymore! so i might become a full time garbage girl.

that reminds me. on fear factor last night (it was a continuation of last week's couples episode) they had to do a stunt in raw sewage. do i think it was really raw sewage? nope. i think they might have some legal issues when everybody dies of grossness, or e-coli or something. hell i don't know. but raw sewage is gross. garbage is gross enough.

also, in my greatness, i watched the bachelorette last night. what a dumb show. i couldn't turn it off though. the crowning moment of the episode was when one cassinova told the chick that he was a virgin. and her line? "that shows his beliefs. but maybe his beliefs are too stringent for me"!! way to go, slut! don't tell her i said that.

it's my life

i learned something about myself: i am scared of missing my bus stop. so scared that i will get off the bus early. this made for a long walk to my building this morning. silly me. other than that and a couple little mishaps, i don't mind the bus so much. though it does mean that i have to get up much earlier. this i mind and my body hates me today. early to bed tonight.

i'm all caught up on 24 now. because of a hockey game, i missed sunday night's episode and then couldn't watch monday's episode monday so i watched it last night. i have to admit that i'm not as turned on this season as i was this time last season. i'm having trouble getting into the characters.

i scored a 2-for1 coupon for the imax. maybe i'll go see something cool.

pub night

the team i coached this fall is having a pub night wednesday, january 26 at oliver's. $5 will get you in. come! it's my birthday.

R.I.P. lumi

lumi was a good car. a nice car. a car that ran well.
lumi had a good life. a long life. a life so full.
lumi is no longer in my life, but served me well. he will be missed.


lumi

my perogative

it's my perogative, you hear me?

last night we had a hockey practice. i hate to complain, but we were on the ice from 10:30 - 11:30 and i didn't get home till around midnight. i'm trying to get back into the swing of things (aka work and getting up early and not napping). late practices certainly don't help. on the up side, i think it really helped the team. i guess we'll see at our two games this weekend. so much hockey.

i find myself thinking more and more about the cats. we took them to the vet and they could have very serious problems that would mean us taking them back and taking advantage of the health guarantee from the breeder. you can get very attached to two little cute balls of fur in a week and a half unfortunately. ug. not nice. i'll just distract myself with work, while i'm here you know.

me

i just realized how busy i'm going to be for the next month and a bit. i'm working. we all knew that though. i even managed to get here at 8 this morning. yay leaving before the sun is entirely set!

next week my french classes start as well as my pilates class. french is two nights a week downtown for an hour and 45 minutes each night. that's a lot of french. and pilates is one hour one night a week. plus there's the wednesday night's stitch & bitch and whatever i need to do during the week.

oh! and! 24 starts this sunday! unfortunately i have a hockey game, but i'll figure something out. they're starting it off well with a 2-hour season premier and then the next episode the very next night. i'm SO excited! i also started watching the sopranos because we have it on the computer. i've seen 7 episodes and am hooked. i'm just not very good at watching them, so i'm about 3 seasons behind jon. we don't watch it together, obviously.

back to work. making the money.

changes

today, i made a big change in my life: i ate vegetables with dinner.

i read four issues of reader's digest, given to me by a family member, and i have to say that there is so much wrong with the world and our society. it makes me feel like i'm going to die next week of cancer, vitamin d deficiency, sids, or arthritis. it's amazing how much crap there is to talk about. and now, i'm seriously considering a career in forest fire fighting.

i'm working on a new picture page, but it's slow going. i'm still trying to figure out the program that will make this all possible.

i want to say that i don't miss hockey at all. we have something like 15 channels.. nothing too exciting and when there's hockey, i'm sure at least two or three of them would be taken up with it. what would i watch then?

some pictures

i'm trying to figure this picture-posting program out so bear with me.


rolo and sandy


sandy


kitties eating.


kitties!

back in black

i'm back at work today. can't say i made it here in time, but you know how these things happen.. you sleep in. don't say you've never done it before.

hmm, i meant to have some pictures to put up here today, but i don't. sorry. i will soon.

i want to thank everybody who sent me/us a card/present. you didn't receive anything in return and for that i apologize. my excuse: we were gone until late christmas eve and i'm a procrastinator... the two don't go together well for you getting a card or present. next year might be different.

updates

we got back from bc safe, after long waits everywhere. we weren't cranky at all, unlike most of the people at the airports.

we picked up the kittens today. they're small.

annoyed... by someone

we're still having a good time in beesee. we played games last night. i almost won at scrabble because i scored 90 points on the word cavernous. then i lost by one point after giving someone else their last word and not being able to play my last letters. it was sad.

i can't believe how, here, the woman of the house does all the cooking and cleaning, from what i've seen at least. i hope that it's not that way in my house. everyone knows that i'm not a good cook and that i usually clean when i'm mad.

sarah's plane was cancelled due to the weather. she's stuck in thunderBAY until tomorrow morning. she's pissed. i would be too. i wrote the city that way because when she says it she emphasizes the bay part of the word and we all make fun of her. there was a huge plan to make fun of her when she showed up and said the word for the first time, but that might have to be delayed due to her crabbiness. i'll keep you informed.

we made it!

so we made it. both flights were uneventful. we even scored free breakfast and a movie, that i managed to sleep some.

more later.

beeseeee!

i'm going to beeseee! we're leaving tomorrow morning at 9 and arrive in sunny bc at 12:30 their time. i'm getting excited, but definitely not as excited as last time. last time i was crazy excited.

i had a good week.. got a raise, hardly did any work, christmas partied till i could party no more, are more than i should have and slept like a baby. now, it's time for the holiday season. what could be better than 6 days off work?

so much to do

this is my last week of work before my big trip to victoria. there are so many things going on that when i found out i didn't have to work nights this week i was very happy. instead, i'm going to spend my nights doing other things like getting groceries, pilates and stitch n bitch, and packing. a co-worker of mine asked me yesterday if i had packed yet. i don't think i've ever packed for anything before the day before. so i told her that i didn't have enough clothes to pack and still wear clothes to work. it's partially true. okay, it's all true. but honestly, who packs before the night before? that's what the night before is for.

because of some shit hitting the fan over pay rates and actual pay from agencies, i'm getting a raise. it's a long story that involves another one of my co-workers who was getting the shit end of the stick. i'm just a very very fortunate bystander who's now getting another $5 an hour. that's a shitload more money every pay! yay me! it's funny that i worked my ass off at subway two summers ago (three summers ago?) and when i got a raise it was a meager 15cents an hour. fuck you, subway!

i didn't play hockey last friday night. i wasn't feeling good all week (and i'm still making up the time i took off to get home earlier and go to bed) so i didn't go. i went out to dinner with some friends and then saw oceans 12 instead. it was a good movie. i also saw elf this past weekend. it was much better than i expected. saturday, i was a champion sleeper, puttinig my lazy friends to shame. i was awake for only 9 hours all day. i still can't believe i was able to sleep saturday night.

the end is in sight when it comes to work. we're working on finishing everything up. i have no idea what i will do once this is over, but now that a certain boyfriend has a guaranteed job starting in january, the pressure's off. we can survive on my paycheck alone and he's making more money so we can survive on his paycheck alone for sure. there is a job posted on the jobs.gc.ca website right now for a biology-type job that i'm somewhat qualified for.. i won't bore you with the details, but it involves making crop plants more cold- and pest-tolerant. interesting (to me) stuff. so i'm going to apply for that and maybe contact some of the people there. it would be so much closer to home.. biking distance in the summer. i would love to not have to drive to work and spend 3 hours a day travelling to and from work. blah hull.

that's about enough from me. everyone writing exams: good luck, suckers!

i rolled 370,000km on lumi the other day. still goin strong.. except the doors freezing shut and stuff.

the monday blues

it's monday. ug. back to work. i'm having the worst time getting up in the mornings lately. it's so nice on the weekends being able to sleep in and stay up late, but that makes monday mornings so much harder.

the baseball party last night went well. it was nice to see everyone again. but the same old shit is still there so it's nice that we don't have to jump right back into the same intense time together we spent in august - october. it's not that i don't like ball, it's that 8 weeks of seeing the same people 5 days a week is just too much. i did get a nice plaque though. and the girls who won awards got huge bage of candy. everyone was happy.

hockey wasn't so great saturday night. our team is very prone to penalties. we played the whole third period with no less than four people in the box (5 on 3 in other words). it was awful. i can only hope it gets better. like, what's with one of our players getting a penalty for giving our bench the finger? our own bench! madness.

there are so many things happening these days that i opted out of working garbage this week. it just isn't worth it. though when i have to pay for the car i kick myself for not working as much as i could have. blah to future me.

lots of work to do these days now that our crazy times are over. the canada-us meeting had everyone in a frenzy. i'm happy to report that i didn't fall asleep, though it was close.

i'm starving. i think i need some chocolate. see ya!

kitties!

boxing day is the day we're bringing home our new kittens! we went to the breeders house today and saw our two new guys, a brother and sister duo. they're really soft. we'll have lots of pictures three weeks from tomorrow.

last night we rented the chronicles of riddick. i didn't pay much attention because i was teaching myself how to change colours knitting. my book doesn't explain it very well at all, but trial and error worked just fine. now i just have to learn how to sew pieces together and my blanket will be finito! then i want to learn how to crochet. again, the book i have doesn't help.

i'm trying to decide which nights to take the french course that i'm going to sign up for. i had a free placement test thursday and that wasn't fun at all. the lady, once finding out i knew some french, asked me all about my plans for the holidays and made me respond in full sentences. it was horrible. then she said that i had trouble with my verbs and wanted to place me in one of the beginner classes. well ya? you really think so? i could have told her that! but anyways, my choices are mondays and wednesdays or tuesdays and thursdays. currently i have a pilates class on wednesdays. i don't know if i will come january but it's something i have to keep in mind.

we also went to a wake yesterday. it wasn't as emotional as i thought it would be. i only almost cried twice. i'm glad we went though.

hockey tonight. baseball party tomorrow night. party animal!

it's been a while

i've been busy.. not as busy as last week, but busy enough to not update this site for a while. let's start with last week. it was crazy working as much as i did. i would get in to environment canada at 9 and stay until 6:30 an then head to the garbage job and work that for between 2 and 4 hours a night. blah! i didn't get to lie on the couch and watch tv.. get groceries.. get money out of the bank.. when i was home i was making food for my lunch and dinner the next day and sleeping. not the life for me. but the paycheque in my grubby little hands will be nice.

this week i didn't have to work garbage (i wasn't invited in fact) and it was nice to get home from work on do whatever i wanted. i got to watch jeopardy (though i didn't see ken get kicked off - went to a movie instead) and go shopping and stuff. i'm almost all done my christmas shopping. how sweet is that? this never happens, but usually i'm in school and then exams last until december 23rd.

yesterday mother nature snowed like it was her job. driving was no fun at all, and i actually spent more time in my car getting to and from work than i spent in my office working. but that doesn't include the 4-hour meeting from hell in the afternoon. driving this morning was hell on the streets that didn't get plowed yesterday and are now ice rinks, but fine otherwise.

last night was the first stitch n bitch. i say that proudly so don't make fun of me. eventually we'll be knitting for the red cross. if i was still in high school these would be my community service hours. now they're just my volunteer-make-me-feel-good hours.

some big things coming up soonish: end-of-year baseball party this sunday night (i still have to finish organizing that), christmas parties coming out of the wingwang, hockey party (can't make it because....), trip to bc (!), and then christmas and all that stuff. exciting times.

just some other little things. my hockey team voted me one of the assistant captains. i wasn't even sure people knew my name. apparently they do. so that was very unexpected but nice. i learned how to use the mouse with my left hand because my right hand has been bothering me lately (too much minesweeper and spider solitaire (work, please challenge me more!)).

and i'll leave you with one thing. not upbeat but something on my mind. a quote i heard a long time ago that is really true. the more people you know, the more people you know who die.

sleeeeepy

this garbage girl is pooped.

garbage girl

i am officially a garbage girl. i am happy to report that the whole experience last night wasn't awful, but it was pretty gross and i'm getting flashes of the smell of garbage. yuck. i was there for three and a half hours, the first hour was just us standing around waiting to be let in and the next half hour was us standing around waiting to get started. i'm guessing most nights won't have that much standing around, which is just fine and dandy with me because i would much rather be working and get to go home earlier.

i left home yesterday morning at 8:15am and got home around 9:45pm. it was a long day. when i got home i stripped on the way up the stairs and hopped in the shower then ate some food that jon made and lay on the couch for a little while. i'm so exciting.

there's no way i could keep this up for any amount of time. the smell flashes alone are enough!

wheelchairs and parking

on my floor there are three bathrooms: one female, one male and one handicapped. i can't say anything about the guys bathroom, but the girls bathroom has two stalls one of which is handicapped. and then we have the handicapped bathroom which is a single room. what i don't get is why people use the single handicapped bathroom. and another thing: why do women use the handicapped stall if there's no one in the regular one. man, if i was in a wheelchair i would be pissed if i went into the bathroom and the only stall i could use was taken. now, i can only say that i've ever seen one person in a wheelchair at this building, and never on my floor. so should i care? should it bother me that people are being .. inconsiderate? rude? i don't even like how the wheelie toilets are so much higher. i'll stick with my regular stall in my regular bathroom.

i finally found parking in hull. it's just down the street from my building and now i won't have to go out four-five times a day to move my car. i'm going out in twenty minutes (when my two-hours of street parking is up) and moving to the lot. how exciting is this?

new cell!

i got a new cell phone. it's red. i named her ruby. if you would like my new cell phone number and did not receive an email from me to that end please email me.

work

i found out yesterday that my contract here at environment canada is being extended for another little while (until february 4th). that's not a long time, but it'll give me a chance to finish my work and to start networking around the office. plus i'll have a paycheque over the holidays which is huge. i don't have to revert to eating kraft dinner - which i haven't done in months! - or anything.

the other thing that has come up lately, besides out stitch n bitch that i'm really excited about, is the chance of me getting a new cell phone. that could be exicting. i think i'll go look this weekend. i don't want anything super fancy cause then i'll just lose it.

so i took off the games from my computer at work. i play way too much minesweeper and freecell. and i didn't really take them off, i just deleted them from all the menus. i can still find them... that's what having a computer nerd for a boyfriend will do! super k!

my big pilates plan hasn't come through. i'm taking a class every wednesday night and the plan was to do the exercises at home mondays and fridays. i have yet to do them at home and we're coming up to the end of week 3. i'm bad. that's my goal for today. at least last class i wrote the exercises down so i have something to follow. instead of me just flopping around on the ground "exercising". you know what i'm talking about.

i got a new bank card. mine was pretty old and not working all the time. so i got a new shiny one in the mail.

knitting

did you know that the red cross will give you wool and then you go and knit stuff and they give it to elementary school children? i didn't. but i do now. and i finally found some volunteer activity that i can do. knitting circle here i come!

everything's coming up milhouse

i got a(nother) job. i'm working weeknights for a company called viridis environmental. the jist of it is that we sort through garbage and then weigh it ("auditing"). i start monday. my current job is going and i've heard good things about my contract being extended, though nothing official yet has reached me.

we got word on our new car. eta of mid-to-late january. that's fine by me as long as lumi doesn't kick the can before then. jon's all excited about neons and racing seats and who knows what else. i'm excited about having a car that starts... every time. plus this little car will be way better on gas, and more fun to drive no doubt.

we're looking into getting some kittens. in fact, this past saturday we went to the humane society and almost walked away with two little fuzzy white cats (one would have had to be called "blackie" - one of my conditions). we ultimately decided not to get them and most likely will wait till after we get back from our trip to bc. makes more sense if we get real young kitties. the fuzzier the better. devon rexes is the other route that we might take, due to their lack of fur and therefore better on the boy's allergies. there's a breeder in orleans with three kittens ready to go early january. i'm waiting to hear back from them.

the last thing i want to tell you about is this sweet hit i laid on some girl last night at my hockey game. i was playing terribly and this girl split me and my d partner and went in and shot on our goalie. i was flying down the ice - i like to think that i skate fast enough to call it "flying" - and hit her right after she shot. i haven't had an opportunity like that for years. the absolute best part about the whole thing was that one of her teammates came after me and punched me and SHE got a penalty! sweet deal!

some updates i suppose

last wednesday night was my second pilates class. definitely better than the first. i still don't have it all right, but i'm getting there. and i'm still not on track doing exercises at home, but i'll get on that too. so many goals, so little time.

my hockey team tied last saturday night. we should have won, but i'll blame it on the lack of skaters. we have an off-ice practice tonight and another game this tuesday night.

i finally saw shrek 2. it was pretty funny. we also watched blade runner and i didn't understand what was going on for most of it.

i was knitting. that might have had something to do with it.

i saw carla and marianne saturday. also got to see marianne and small brown's apartment. as well, we saw michelle from carleton baseball at the mall. it was a busy weekend.

now i'm at work and counting the minutes until i get to leave cause i'm feeling like shit. shit shit shit.

new website: http://zuli.net/ !

this week

i thought this week was going by quickly but now it doesn't feel like it. but then i don't have to work tomorrow so i'm hoping that off-sets my mind and makes the week seem really short.

i have my pilates class tonight. do you know how much yoga pants are? i went looking yesterday. they're damn expensive. i can just keep wearing my pyjama pants, cause they're almost the same thing.

i'm so close to being done selling the chocolate bars from baseball. the money was due a month ago. that's how good i am. i've also eaten about 10. that's the reason for the class every wednesday night.

i had an interview at suzy shier. i can't say how it went but funny things did come of it. the dress code at that store is "very strict". you have to wear dress pants and dress shoes and a 'suzy shier fashion top'... as in a shirt-you-buy-at-the-store. i have no idea why they need to call it that. dumb dumb dumb.

finally saw shrek two last night. i now understand what all the commotion was about. it was really good.

ps. green day was awesomly firery bangedly good.

i'm the person i don't like

i'm turning into the kind of person i don't like. i don't like when people don't put up any posts in forever. it's all about to change (fingers crossed).

i officially HATE parking in hull (gatineau). i got another parking ticket today (my third). it makes me so mad. you would think that there would be parking somewhere but no. definitely not. at least this time it was a different bylaw officer. i'm spreading the wealth.

work is going. i'm writing and reviewing and talking. that's my job in a nutshell. i am in the process, however, of looking for another job. and by that i mean a part time job to compliment my nine to fiver. i've applied at both joacob connexion and suzy shier. i have interviews this week (this afternoon and tbd). i'm hoping for suzy shier cause it's closer. they want two references. i haven't had to provide references in so long. i didn't know who to ask. still thinking about it.

and then another job popped up. one of the guys i work with at environment canada is a waste auditor (as in he sorts and weighs garbage). it's week nights and flexible. sounds good to me. i'm waiting to hear back from the lady. i could be a garbage girl... for real! so if that one comes through and the other one i'll have three jobs for a while. and then this one ends and i'll be left with two. i can still afford to eat, but maybe not go out as often.

speaking of going out. friday night we went and saw the incredibles. now, that was a funny movie. what else did i do this weekend? saturday i slept in and then tried to go buy clothes but abandoned that idea when i saw the masses in the mall. everyone was in bayshore. so i went to kanata and hung out with my parents and the dog and cats. i dropped my parents off at a party and stayed for a bit. i ate cheese and dip and drank pepsi. grabbed a sub on my way home and then went to my hockey game. we lost. i didn't get a penalty or hurt myself. then sunday i slept in and did nothing for most of the day. we went over to alan and sylvia's for dinner and then i watched tv and went to bed. the new show, my big fat obnoxious boss is really dumb, but funny enough so that i watched the whole thing. plus a new simpsons was on.

now i'm working (or not working) and i have my interview this afternoon. that's my life.

short week

just to update you on my weekend: i slept in like mad both saturday and sunday and it felt great. i played hockey saturday night. we lost. i played center and made an ass of myself. i'm not so good at center anymore. then i slept through a party saturday night (apparently the sleep-in wasn't good enough). i did some family stuff both saturday and sunday. i was at my parents' place last night giving candy out to the kiddies. i think the highlight of the night was when two little asian boys came to the door. the littler one saw max and said "hey doggy! come and get me!" that was cute. my mom was happy that not too many kids came and she gets to eat the rest of the chocolate. i think jon's happy for the same reason. i left him at home to handle the studying and the kiddies. i don't feel even the littlest bit bad about that.

now today i'm working and lovin' it. just kidding. i'm hardly doing anything though so i can't complain. i looked into some things, like fitness classes and hockey tournaments. not work related obviously.

this week i'm looking forward to thursday night because i'm off to montreal for the green day concert. then i just might sleep in friday morning. we will see how 5:45am feels that day though.

"don't wanna be an american idiot"

halloween

i can't believe the big kafuffle halloween is here at a government building. wow. and i didn't remember to dress up. oops.

i'm so glad it's the weekend. i get to sleep in. i have a hockey game saturday night, but that's it when it comes to commitments.

i'm starving.

real news

okay guys, for real this time. i have news. and i'm not kidding. i've never lied to you before that stunt yesterday. and this time i'm telling the truth. jon and i just bought a car. honestly. we bought a brand new 2005 mazda3 gs in titanium grey, automatic with no air. i'm not shitting you. it even has automatic windshield wipers, as in they come on when it starts raining and they go faster when it rains harder. i shit you not.

psych!

yeah i was just kidding about the being pregnant bit. sorry guys.

bored is my middle name

i'm surprised how work has been going. i wouldn't say that it was ever fun, but at least i used to be busy. now i'm just sitting here waiting for help. i'm stuck. it's pretty no fun. and to top it off, i got a parking ticket yesterday. that just adds to my three warnings. i honestly don't know what to do about parking. i don't like going out and moving my car every 2 hours at all.

i'm down to one organized sport and i'm getting restless (it's only been two full days). i'm impossible! but there is, nonetheless, excitement in my life. i'm pregnant! it's going to be a great nine months and a great time after that too. i'm hoping for a girl.

one chapter done

baseball is over. we played three games saturday and lost all three. it was.. maybe a little disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. the top two teams for all four divisions made it to the playoff weekend. if it had been the top 8 teams in the league we would not have been there at all. we were definitely the ninth team, but as it stands we placed 8 overall. not bad.

so what am i going to do with all my free time you ask? well i'm not sure. i'm looking into buying a car so test drives will be taking up some of my time. i'm working 37.5 hours a week, though i have been for a while now. i'm playing hockey. for my regular team, which is about once a week, and then for an environment canada pick up team. that starts today. we'll see if it's worth the $10/game they're charging me. i'm also actively searching for a job to start in january. i'm going to meet with my boss soon and straight out ask him about my contract being extended. i don't like working contract because you never know. the money's nice, but the job security is lacking.

until next time, hug a tree for me.

busy girl

it's been a long week. and i should have guessed it would happen when i woke up tuesday morning thinking it was wednesday and not wanting to go to practice. yesterday i was making all sorts of plans for the night, but it was thursday and i can't be cool on a thursday night cause i have to get to bed. you might not know what that's like, but if you work at 7 every morning you'd know right quick.

so now that it is really friday, i do have some plans for tonight. i actually have my options for tonight. i think i'm going to settle on a coaches symposium at a hotel downtown (not an elaborate adultery cover-up, promise). i also am going to check out my mom's ski & snowboard show after work, and head over to the wake of a neighbour. she was old. so tonight's full. and this weekend is full because it's the playoffs. huge!

i scored a goal at my hockey game wednesday night. from the blue line. the goalie obviously wasn't great. we won 6-1. now that's convincing. and we only had one major injury (seems to happen once a game). one girl got her clock cleaned and has a minor concussion.

in other news, i'm ready to get a new car. my car keeps threatening to blow up. this isn't good when i have to cross a bridge twice a day. ka-booooom! can you think of anything for me to put on personalized license plates? i was thinking maybe ka zoom (since i'm thinking of a mazda3). i welcome any suggestions.

carleton beats queen's

last saturday was the battle of the year. we were tied with queen's for the last playoff spot in out division. head-to-head we were 1 and 1, with the same number of points. it came down to the 2pm game. we came out on top, despite having a run disallowed and a player ejected from the game. thanks boys for coming out. playoffs are this weekend at the r.a. center (near billing's bridge). i will post game times soon.

i also had a hockey game saturday night. it was crazy with the whole opposing team in the penalty box. it was a rough game. i managed to knock two of my teeth lose falling down in front of my net. it was the second game of the season. i'm still rusty, or slow as jon tells me. thanks boys and girls for coming out.

work is back to normal without the strikers outside. i have one hour left. definitely looking forward to leaving, but that's not any different from any other day. at least i have my chocolate.

strikes and baseball

happy birthday matt and dave.. and usher. yes, it was usher's birthday yesterday. and i would be sincere with my birthday wishes to him if i didn't think he was such an ass.

i want to say how much i don't like strikes. if i can avoid being part of a union my whole working life i will be a happy girl. though i did get a three hour nap out of the deal.

the biggest day of baseball for carleton's first season is tomorrow! i'm really looking forward to it and i don't even get to play. i realized just how much i miss playing when, on wednesday morning, the shackles were removed and i was able to practice at first for one drill. it felt SO good. the only problem is that if i play next year i'm going to get killed at rookie night. maybe i'll stick to coaching, but playing in the summer. i've already had some offers for this summer when i thought i wouldn't play at all. nice stuff!

and after all this baseball is done i'm going to apply for a job at jacob connexion. i have a connection there (it's a joke, do you get jokes?). i'm looking forward to that too.

who let the dogs out

you know what i don't like? i really don't like strikes. i don't like how they make me stand outside for three hours in the cold. and i was one of the lucky, unrepresented, ones who got to cut about 2 hours of the line. at least now i can eat my lunch (yes, lunchtime already).

tonight i'm going to get myself some warm pants. the pants i'm wearing i bought this summer because they're thin and light. that's not what i need now.

this saturday is the biggest day of baseball for the whole season. carleton will take on both ottawa and queens. we have to win both games and both should be really close. if you're in ottawa i would seriously consider coming out. manotick's only 15 minutes from my place.

crazy nights

rookie night was a huge success.. in my mind. everyone seemed like they were having a good time and our house was disgusting. that means it was fun. highlights: goopy, half chewed mouthfulls of marshmallows, lucky vinegar shot, puking/passing out in the bathroom, and more.

i'm really looking forward to this weekend. have i said that before? sorry if i have. it's just that i want to sleep in. i want to wash and vacuum my car. i want to not go away. plus i'm looking forward to eating turkey until my belly hurts and i fall asleep. can you blame me?

i was in bayshore a couple nights ago and was accosted by this girl selling nail stuff. she did something to my thumb nail and for $35 i could do it myself whenever i wanted. i don't want to spend my money on stuff like that but my nail is still all polished and nice looking. this is a hint for christmas.

music

Going on multiple road trips with close to the same people really makes you realize the importance of singable-to songs. So that's what I've been doing: collecting music in order to make cds that just have songs that you can belt out while you're cruising down the 401. Let me know what your favourites are. I'm going through the rock/pop timecapsules on iceberg radio writing down the best ones. Now it's just a matter of finding the songs online, downloading them, and making cds. The problem with this plan is that I'm never at the computer when I'm at home and can actually do any of these things. I'm guessing this is going to be a long process.

I'm really looking forward to some things coming up:
1) Rookie night! Those girls won't know what hit them.
2) Thanksgiving weekend - sleeping in and eating turkey and pumpkin pie.
3) Green Day concert in Montreal. Oh baby! Haven't seen them live since 97 or so.

Let me know if you want a $3 chocolate bar. I have lots.

western

i'm leaving for london any minute now. another ball tournament. i'm excited though because i just talked to my ex-boyfriend who lives in london and he's going to come see me tomorrow. and he's bringing my other buddy from high school too. a little reunion of sorts.

francize

making up new words is fun. webster's sure thinks so.

i bought new running shoes. i need a whole lot of arch support as my arches have completely collapsed. new shoes feel so good. they make me want to go out and run forever. will i? not likely.

i heard an add on the radio for kidsfutures.ca. i went to the site. it seems like a no-lose thing if you're maybe planning on maybe having kids one day. and if you aren't, you can sign up and link your money to me and my maybe future maybe kids. who am i kidding? i can't even take care of plants!

my mom has been working for the last bunch of months on a wedding show in ottawa. i don't think anyone reading this is thinking of getting married but you never know. send along the link to anyone you think might be interested. the more the merrier. apparently there's a ski show coming up in december sometime. don't worry - i'll keep you posted.

it's weird

i think it's weird that some days fly by while others crawl by, mocking you. today is one of those slow days. it hasn't been any different from any other day at work. i also snoozed more than usual today. it would be so nice to be in school again cause even when you have to get up early you usually have opportunities to nap.

speaking of napping, i get to nap thanksgiving weekend. that's right, i have nothing to do that weekend. i wonder how late my body will be able to sleep. i can't wait. thanksgiving is also an anniversary of sorts for me. guess what it is!

busy girl

so i'm actually really busy at work these days. i was told today by the chief that 3 months isn't a long time to write the policy and that i really have to get my butt in gear. blah!

this past weekend was a lot of fun. we were in kingston. the team did much better than the last two weekends and won 2 games. i went up the friday night and didn't tell any of the team that i was in town so i hung out with carla and sarah and richard. friday night was the least amount of sleep i've had in a long time. i've gotten so used to the whole getting up early thing so my body crashes early at night too.

next weekend we're heading to london. i'm not looking forward to the drive since i think i have to drive. it's a long one. i have some friends in london that hopefully i can get in touch with before the weekend and maybe see them.

i heard lindsay lohan's new song and saw the video. it was nothing special. what is special however is the new green day cd. it's smashingly good.

talk my ear off

it's weird. i'm pretty busy these days with work and with ball and with sleep (that takes up time in my day) but i'm feeling like i should be doing something. don't laugh at me. i'm restless. there are so many things that i want to be doing but i'm not because i think that i don't have enough time. so here are my september resolutions. those exist, right?

i want to be nicer to my body. this includes exercising more and eating well, but also things like spending more time by myself when i'm not driving to wherever i have to be. i want to spend more time with my friends. once cheryl and i get organized and start the potluck wednesdays i'll be a happy camper.

i'm working on accomplishing my goals. i went for a "run" yesterday after work. getting home at 4, even after stopping to run an errand, feels so nice. i wrote run like that because i didn't do much running. in truth, i'm finding i'm not running often because it's pretty boring. so i jogged and then did sprints and situps and pushups. no matter what i do i want to be out there sweating. and that i was, especially when i had water spit all over me.

the other thing i'm thinking about doing is taking the comments section off this page. when there aren't comments i wonder why i ever post anything. but this is more for me than it is for you. i'm selfish. it feels good to get everything out there, and i can just pretend that people read this to make myself feel better. there's nothing like the placebo effect.

yay for me!

when i wish upon a star...

i think i found my new favourite author.. of short things. tom spears from the ottawa citizen writes well and covers science-y things so i like him. his style is reminiscent of dave barry, and another_columnist_i_used_to_read_when_i_was_younger_but_can't_remember_his_name_right_now.

i now intimately know that the government loves to meet. they meet all the time and talk and talk and talk. i thought people were exagerating, but they weren't. unbelievable! well believe it.

i tried yoga today. wow, boot camp! i thought i was going to puke for sure. and i didn't even get a chance to change into work out clothes. i actually didn't know where the changeroom was so i found the gym but because i was late they had already started and the instructor whisked me in. i tried some of the poses and realized that she was extremely more flexible and fit than me, and a hell of a lot stronger. that woman could lift herself up when i was falling on the floor. i think i'm going to try once more and this time i'll be on time and in gym clothes and give it another shot. maybe one day i'll be a yoga master. though maybe not.

down under

where can i find cheap round-trip airfare to australia? comments welcome.

try to keep in mind that i will be leaving from canada.

thank you!

don't you love free food?

i love free food. though you couldn't tell by looking at me last night. i was so tired i just sat there. didn't mean i couldn't shovel three pieces of cake into my belly though.

i'm listening to iceberg radio, an internet radio station. i bought myself some headphones from the dollar store yesterday and i plan to get my money's worth, plus i don't like silence. especially not government building silence. apparently the new green day cd is really good. i haven't heard it all yet, but i trust my sources.

this weekend we're heading out to kingston again. i have to find out where the games are exactly. last time they were 20 minutes north of kingston in the middle of nowhere. thanks for giving us a chance that anyone will make it out to the games... ah well.

does anyone know how to use ALT keys? i certainly don't.

i'm learning french, for real this time. no more wasting 11 years in french immersion and not knowing how to speak the damn language afterwards. i bought myself a french-english dictionary that i plan on carrying around with me at work and hopefully by the end of my contract here i can take the french test and get my c-level certification. then they give you more money.

EI and me

I filled out an online application for EI. It was my dream to get this free money (though it's really my money cause I've given it to the government) while I was searching for a job. They make you jump through hoops, with all the forms and the meetings and the ROEs (Records of Employment) which I didn't have. So I ended up not completing my application because I was hired by the government. Then yesterday, I get a letter in the mail saying that I had to attend a meeting. And if I didn't it would be considered fraud and I could get my benefits taken away. I'm not sure which benefits they were talking about considering I haven't received any. So I filled out the page-long form saying that I have a job and can't attend the meeting because I'll be working. I had to provide documentation so I gave them my phone number at work and told them to call me. Do you think that's enough? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

This afternoon, I'm headed to Guelph, Cambridge actually, for Carleton's first real tournament. And when I say tournament I mean league games on a weekend like a tournament. There's a funny "Press Release" on the website about last weekend. It's nice that the website gets updated, but it will be even nicer when we win. There's only so much I can do from the bench though. I tell the girls how many outs there are (I'm the official score-keeper). I'm like the player who never plays. I don't know that any of the players consider me a coach. That's kinda a good thing though since I have no idea how to be one.

Last night I realized the greatness of Sinutab. I bought some drugs, day and night pills, and took one night pill and was giggly for about an hour. Then I crashed. That must be what being high feels like. I was nutso. I was a little upset though because the package boasted $1 off my next purchase or a $3 mail-in rebate. I was all gung-ho about the $3 BUT you have to buy TWO (2) packages! How long do they expect me to be sick for? Hell, one package is good for 6 days. Maybe I have more faith in their product than they do. Either way I slept soundly, breathing through my nose for the first time in a while. And, if you can tell from the length of this post, I'm feeling much better, thanks for asking.

new AND exciting!

i'm going to beeseee!

jon and i are going to bc for a week right before christmas. the flighs were cheap and it works out well.

that is all.

what's new?

i'm trying to think of things to tell you. i can only update you so many times on my work situation. and on my baseball situation. and on my hockey situation. hell, i don't even know who reads this besides the couple of people who comment now and then.

what i can tell you is this: i like to think i'm an organized person but i'm not always and it's annoying.

i have to go move my car without getting yelled at by security.

new work hours

i got myself some pretty sweet workin hours.

monday and wednesday: 8:30 - 4pm
tuesday and thursday: 7 - 3:30pm
friday: 7 - 3pm

oh baby!

oh avril...

avril lavigne is engaged (link). weird news.

in other news, i'm sick. i'm only at work so that i can meet with my managers and talk about my work hours and then i'm out of here. i don't want to make other people sick.

happy birthday!

this girl was made for working

well kids, i'm currently at work. so far i like it. everyone has been nice and friendly and helpful, but i guess that's what you get for being the new guy. i now have a phone and a computer and pens and this red book i have to write everything in. i chose a funny password that i like. i think i have to get my picture taken by the end of the day - not too fond of that, but a necessary evil to get in and out with any efficiency.

the carleton team didn't do so well this weekend but i think everyone had fun and got to know each other a little better. i know i definitely have never had my ass grabbed that many times in one night. those girls are crazy.

happy thought: hockey starts soon and then i will be officially REALLY busy.

i'm in kingston!

i'm writing you from kingston tonight. that's right. i feel like i'm home again. i even saw some people i used to know. they looked right through me like i wasn't even there. sad.

i'm here for the weekend for a ball tournament. i'll get to see exactly how much i like coaching and not playing. and then it's gw pressnite for the first time in a while. nice knowing that i don't have to deliver that rag next wednesday morning. some other sucker gets to do that.

what does next week hold? two family birthdays and the start of my new job. i have a feeling i'm going to be busy.

employed bitch

so my interview last week went well enough that i know have a job. i'm working for environment canada on a policy about air emissions. it's a three month contract, so i'm not out of the thick when it comes to my career and making money for the rest of my life, but it's a start.

baseball has been going well. this weekend is our first tournament, though it isn't league. so i get to boogey on down to kingston and see those people that hang out there. my car isn't making the trip this time due to billowing smoke coming from the steering wheel. ah lumi, will you ever die....

so this is what it's like

it's been over a week. and it's not because i haven't been thinking about posting.. or didn't have time or anything. i just didn't do it. i don't like people like me.

my last post was about looking for a job. i think i applied for about one hundred jobs. and i did get one interview, but it wasn't from anything i applied for. i was talking to someone i know about hockey this winter and she mentioned that her friend needed help on a project. boom! i have an interview. in hull. but an interview all the same. i forgot though, to ask how much money i would be making. so i have to call back and ask, all sheepishly.

this whole not working thing is getting to me though. i'm going batty. but i am reading a lot of books. now for the cleaning part....

the hunt for red october.. i mean a job

well today is the first day of my unemployment. i didn't mean to, but i slept in. it felt nice. i will admit that.

but now i've eaten and stuff so i'm working on my resume and cover letter. there are a ton of companies in the ottawa area that will be receiving both these things very very soon.

man, i'm one boring girl these days.

though i did go to peterborough this weekend. that makes me cool, right? we weren't even there for 24 hours and we didn't do much but we had to go.

that's all.

does it matter anymore?

today is a good day. i slept in and didn't get to work until 9. then i have a doctor's appointment and we have a year-end lunch that we're allowed to leave afterwards. and then i only have tomorrow left. i'm hoping my next job doesn't suck.

yesterday i went to the tennis courts near our place and saw that you can just go and play on them. i thought you'd need a membership. i thought tennis was generally like that - a rich-man's sport. "give us money!" but apparently it's not. and even if the gate is locked i'll just cliimb the fence. i like how they have those half courts with the concrete wall as the opposition. i'm hoping to become the next anna kournakova (of however you spell that) and maybe nike will give me short short skirts to wear. and maybe a huge computer viirus will be named after me. i'll dye my hair blonde for the event.

i'm toying with the idea of getting some sort of exercise videos (dvds likely cause we don't have a vcr) but i'm not sure that i would be motivated enough to work out in the basement. so i don't know if i'm going to follow that pipe dream.

as of tomorrow i have been in the longest relationship of my life. i guess that's a good thing considering my marital status these days. i still don't have my signature down yet. that'll come with time.

movies

most of my spare time lately has been spent watching movies. last night we saw anchorman. it was funny but i think i'm a little jaded when it comes to will farrell. but movies are always fun with vlatko cause he laughs so loud.

with my summer job coming to an end i feel a huge sense of relief. relief because it's done and hopefully i won't even have to see the dumb girls again.

i had more but it's gone so i'm going to go look at everyone else's blogs and waste more of my time.

the countdown is on!

that's right everybody. i have only 2 and a half more days of my crappity-crap-crap-crap job. and i'm happy about that. next week is my looking-for-a-job week. that should be buckets of fun.

i'm an assistant coach this fall for the new girls fastball team at carleton. i'm looking forward to it. i even got my coaches' shirt. it's about three times as wide as i am. but then i realized it's probably a good thing seeing as how the season goes until after thanksgiving and last year in the final tournament we had rain and snow and hail and wind and sun and thunder and lightning. every possible type of weather.. except a hurricane i suppose. or a tsunami.

bells are ringing

yesterday was a weird day. i didn't get yelled at at work, which is strange cause the boss was in the office. i did manage to not work for most of the day as well. i ran into two of my best friends from while i was little. we ended up going to different high schools so we lost touch. sad considering we lived on the same street, but you know how those things go. so that was nice. i also went out and bought clothes for the wedding we're going to tonight. my $5 shirt will make me shine hopefully.

sorry i'm not more entertaining.

picnic what?

the beetle is not for me. too little visibility in the back. so we test-drove a jetta instead. that still comes in a diesel.

but i still need a job.

if wishes were cars....

we might have an idea for a car for me. if you know me you know that i drive lumi - a 12-year-old, off-white, rusting chevy lumina, who doesn't like to start when it's wet .. or cold.. or on any day of the week that ends in y. the car doesn't like the winter. the past three have been spent in kingston where the winters are relatively mild compared to ottawa, and one week dan and i had to deliver gw through the passenger-side door cause the driver's door would not open. how is my lumi going to handle "real" ottawa winters? i don't know.

so we're thinking that if i score a half-decent job then i can afford a new (new-to-me) car. maybe a beetle. we have a plan for that too.

more to come later.

this life

so work is still work, but it's a job with only three weeks left for me. and the countdown's on! it's strange how last week they emailed all the summer students and invited us to this lunch thing to meet everybody... because it's not the end of the summer or anything. alcatel's a little slow on that one.

i've been looking for another job. it's not the easiest thing in the world, but this time i'm in the right city so that should make my hunt a little easier. i'm really hoping for something biology-related, in fact i'm going to hold out for a bio job, at least until the new year. if i haven't found something by then i'll be so poor and do desperate that if subway offered me a job i would take it.

kick in the box

i don't like advertised programs and how alcatel thinks i don't know enough to install them myself and that my computer automatically restarts when the program's done installing cause i don't have a ton of things open on my computer. fockers.

that reminds me. movies. they made a meet the parents sequel called meet the fockers. i thought it didn't look terrible, but the boys i was with disagreed. they also didn't like the look of the new julianne moore movie (disappeared, or something like that). i thought it looked good. i guess that's where being a girl differentiates me from the boys. though i'm not half as bad as a lot of girls. i don't think that little black boook will be a good movie. i don't generally like chick flicks, nor do i generally like the shitty music that's playing on yahoo! launch right now. it's soft rock. there couldn't be worse music. actually that's not true. there are some other genres of music that i like less than soft rock, but not many.

ramblerambleramble.

monday monday

it is in fact tuesday, but we'll let that one slide since it's the first day back after the long weekend.

and long it was! i ended up doing, and trying to do, so much stuff. among the stuff was: driving around looking for someone's house in the pouring rain, getting stuff for free from the bay, dinner and a movie with three boys, sitting out in the sun and burning my chest and stomach (itchy!), and biking downtown and seeing one act of the busker's festival.

i bought a front and back light and a lock for my bike recently. here are my troubles. the lock is too big to fit inside the frame of my bike (read: my bike is too small for the lock to fit inside the frame), but i managed to rig it up so that it's mounted properly and i don't notice it while i'm biking.

we have a forest growing in our living room. tons and tons of baby trees that will grow up to be masterful bonsais. if you move out of your parents' basement, guess what your apartment-warming gift will be!

i've done a lot of research recently on wills and life insurance and rrsp's. i don't think i'm any smarter having done so. i need someone to take me by the hand and tell me what to do about all three things. i'm lost.

new to me

i've learned a few things so far this summer.  [this is where i relate them to you.]

1.  you can't pick your neighbours.  even when your neighbours call bylaw on you and get your car ticketed for being parked in front of your own house you still can't bomb their house.  but you can come up with smaller, less noticeable things to do to that bitch.

2.  you can't pick your coworkers.  no matter what there will always be a couple of people at work that you really don't get along with.  normally you would just avoid them.  not possible?  do what my coworkers do and backstab each other and then pretend like nothing's going on face to face.  it's sick.  really sick. 

3.  driving through a parking lot-full of sea gulls is fantastic fun.  but always remember to honk because those sea gulls can be lazy bastards and some don't really believe that you would hit them.  it's between slamming on your brakes to avoid these stupid ones or honking while flying through the masses.  i recommend honking.   

we never change a thing

i was upset today when i found out that counting crows do not have an album to accompany their new song "accidentally in love", found on the shrek 2 soundtrack, which i still have not seen.  speaking of movies.. bourne supremacy was really good.  the close camera angles on the action scenes made it a little hard to tell who was winning, but other than that i would recommend the movie. 

i've been thinking about baseball a lot today, mostly because i've been sitting around playing minesweeper instead of actually working.  i'm looking forward to coaching this fall, but not really looking foward to not playing.  i think that's going to be the hardest part, the not playing part.  i'm sure i'll get over it. 

i read a whole lot about robert ludlum and his bourne books.  they differ from the movies in one big way, but you'll have to figure that one out for yourself.  i might read them one day.  right now, i have a back-up of books just waiting to be read, so the bourne trilogy will have to be put on the waiting list. 

bourne again

i'm really excited cause i get to see the bourne supremacy tonight.  last night i started rewatching the bourne identity.  i got through about half so i'll watch the second half before we go out tonight. 

in other news, juan and i went on a shopping spree at sportchek care of a gift certificate given as a wedding present.  it was tons of fun running around the store trying to decide what to buy.  we decided on a volleyball, a tennis racket for me (he already has one), a new basketball net (the actual net part), some new waterbottles and stuff that i can't think of.  i would really recommend shopping this way.  it's so much fun.  bottom line: get married so you, too, can reap the rewards of gift certificate shopping.  not-so-bottom line: gift certificates are good presents.  my birthday is (kinda) coming up. 

well work is getting better.  why, you ask.  it's because the boss realizes that the girls aren't getting along so i got moved upstairs where i can enjoy my days without seeing them at all.  i'm much happier up here. 

movies i want to see (badly): shrek 2, the village (not so badly), the whole ten yards, oceans 12 (is that out yet?), mean girls

baseball update

not only lesbians play baseball: bisexuals do too!

for real this time.  baseball is now officially over.  we went - we saw - and we lost.  like so many great kars teams before us we couldn't win to save our lives.  actually, that could just be our problem.  not enough pressure.  it is only a game afterall. 

with my new found free time i am going to do the following:
              - work on resume
              - look for a new job
              - continue reading
              - unmentionable shenanigans

and within this baseball update post i would like to update you of work as well.  in the office - the basement really - we have 6 girls and used to have 1 boy.  did you catch that?  the boy is gone.  these girls, well three of them, are like the popular girls in high school.  i have no doubt in my mind that two of them were.  but together, these three make an incredible force of bitchiness that not only makes my work days suck ass but also gets my friend fired.  i can't believe these girls.  i honestly hope that when i leave here i will never have to see them again.  if i do, i might have to tell them all the things that i only say about them to myself.  though by then i should have some pretty cunning and witty remarks that would floor them lest their stupidity gets in the way and the meaning soars over their pretty little heads. 

and that my friends is the first time i have used the word lest in a sentence. 

tatoo this!

i'm off this weekend to toronto... again.   i'm hoping this weekend will be a little less painful.

i have the biggest urge to go out and spend lots of money and go dancing and drinking and do reckless things.  takers?

my little brother just turned 22.  he's catching up. 

i updated my pictures page with the wedding pictures that i've been sent so far.  we haven't heard from the photographer yet, but maybe we'll have actual pictures soon.  we have to go out and start spending some of the money that we received (thanks everyone). 

dip it low

apparently changing colours is a go.  sweet deal. 
 
baseball didn't go so well this weekend.  we only won one game, but no one got hurt.  this is important since we're going to the provincials this weekend with only 9 players.  
 
for some reason my coach thinks that making us run windsprints and practicing like we're training for the best ball tournament in the world the week before the provincials will help us become better.  really, it just helps me feel light-headed and nauseous after practice.  i'm only half complaining, cause like i said last time, i'm done after this weekend.  and i'm planning on going out in a blaze of glory.  we'll see how that goes.  
 
i really want to go on a trip.  somewhere hot when it's cold here.  what could be better.  or maybe just a road trip to somewhere in canada cause there are plenty of places i haven't been.  suggestions?
 

this boots were made for walking

it feels weird to be back at work.  i still don't like it much but i have to remember that they're paying me.  i am going to start looking for a post-summer job very soon.  and possibly a little job for the rest of the summer.. something in retail cause i've always wanted to do that.  and the extra money would be nice. 
 
i have baseball tournaments this weekend and next.  downside: i never feel settled when i'm running to toronto on the weekend.  upside: baseball is almost over.  and then i will be a free girl, except for work and such.  but on the horizon are bike rides along the river, learning sign language, and possibly some interior decorating.  we get to build a room around all sorts of new stuff.  people should buy me presents more often. 
 
this link won't be good forever, but there is a huge amount of flooding in peterborough.  my parents are kinda worried cause no one's heard from my brother since he left town a couple of days ago .  i'm sure he's okay, but the whole town seems to be under turmoil. 
 
well shit, i just found out that my baseball team has fallen apart.  two girls aren't playing anymore for different reasons and one got a line drive in the face (again) and can't play anything for 6 months.   wow.  that girl has terrible luck.
    

i'm all married and stuff

hopefully this means i will have more time and will update more often. i make no promises though.

this is funny

i think it's funny that i only post when there's a party. tonight's the bachelor/bachelorette party. someone help me.

party tonight!

that's right. you heard me. party tonight!

you show up at turdor hall at 9pm with a twoonie in your hand and we'll have a good time all night long.

need more information? call/email/message either me or jon.