big relief

i had my test this afternoon. it was a three-hour long written test for a biology position with health canada. i smacked down the test in just over an hour. i am very pleased with my performance and can't wait for the next step. the next step is an interview. and i was double pleased to learn that there are only 12 of us writing the exam and that last time they ran a competition for these entry-level jobs, all 12 were hired within 6 months. i just have to dazzle them in the interview. SO.EXCITED!

okay, i was so windy today. i left my building at lunch and you know when it's so windy you can't breathe? well it was that windy. there were points when i was walking and not moving. i mean, i know my building creates weird wind tunnels (m, back me up here!), but it was super windy everywhere. i'm glad it wasn't garbage day. last time we lost our black box.

i'm making good progress on my baby blanket. i'm not quite half done, but it goes by really quickly and i can't put it down and now the guilt about not studying for the test is gone so hopefully i'll whip the blanket up in no time.

really?

so we're half way through march. anyone else find that a little crazy? it was so nice and sunny and warm saturday, but then the rain came.

my brother was in town this weekend, but when we went over to my parents place to see him, everyone was sick. we didn't stay long.

i'm trying to think of what else we did, but it really wasn't much. it was a relaxing weekend.

we did learn that our cats go crazy for cat nip. so crazy that rolo will actually follow you to the cupboard where it's kept. he's a little ocd like that. we have funny video of him trippin out.

and now for some knitting news: i started a baby blanket for our friends landon and sheri, who are very pregnant. it's really neat (link) because it's knit on the diagonal. i had to switch from two straight needles to some circulars to fit it all. it's excited for the blanket. i'm almost half done.

upcoming:

- i have a written test tomorrow afternoon for a job at health canada. this is a 6-12 month term biology position, so i'm really hoping for it, but you never know.

- my s&b group is having a pizza potluck dinner this thursday night. a little spin on our regular night.

- j's sister is moving here at the end of the month. i was going to fly out to thunder bay and drive back with her, but i can't.. because...

- my mom's wedding show (link) is the first weekend in april. like usual, i will be working all weekend and pocketing some mad cash.

and for those of you who didn't know, the government has renewed my contract, but has made me casual instead of agency. what this means for me: i get another $1 an hour, every hour. what this means for them: they get to pay less for my services. my contract now finishes july 19th. will i last that long? stay tuned.

eureka!

i've got it! i finally know what i'm giving up for lent. bear with me - i am not religious, i don't even know when lent started or when it will finish, but i've always wanted to give something up for lent. call me crazy and i'll be right there laughing with you.

all that aside, i've decided what it is i will live without for the duration (when does it end? easter?) drumroll please [pauses] [drumroll?] [who hired these people?? somebody get me a drumroll!] [DRUMROLL!] i am giving up celebrity gossip! no more reading the trashy part of metro every day. no more checking celebrity gossip blogs (they're already off my sidebar). no more channel hopping and stopping on e talk daily or whatever other crap show. i'm done!

i realized this is probably one of the best things i can do for myself and i'll tell you why. celebrities might as well be aliens. they are so unrealistic (reality shows can bite me!) and when i read that crap it doesn't make my life better. it doesn't make me feel better about myself. so i'm done. who's with me [jerry mcguire style]? who's with me [motions vigorously with fish in plastic baggie]?

moderate this!

last night was a nice, full evening, especially for a school night. i got home and almost immediately we left for somerset. we had dinner with some of j's car friends at the cleanest, brightest, nicest chinese restaurant i have ever been to. we bought a whole bunch of different plates and spun them around the centre of the table, grabbing whatever we wanted. we were the only ones in the whole place so the chef made us deepfried banana and ice cream for dessert. it was nice.

i left before everyone else to grab s and head to m's for some knitting madness. it was nice and calm and interesting and hardly madness at all. we talked about so many neat topics. i managed to get some work done on my last charity scarf, but nothing on my wavy scarf. i forgot the pattern at home anyways. so we were gabbing on about anything and everything and i look over at the clock and it's almost 11 (10:58pm to be exact) so we decide to start packing up.

i had parked on the street in the glebe in a huge and very deep puddle. so i climbed in through the passenger side, which was much easier with lumi who didn't have a centre console. i love the mazda, but it is a small car.

i get home and j was asleep. not unusual - it was late and we had a long day. but the funny part is that he didn't wake up even for a second with me stomping around the place (i try to be quiet, i really do!) not even when i had to rescue him from near strangulation from his ear phones.

so i wake up this morning and go into the bathroom. i look at the back of the door and there's a bug. ladies, when you live with a guy, it's the guy's job to deal with bugs. it's not that i can't handle them, it's that i don't want to. so i go downstairs and tell jon there's a bug in the bathroom. i'm glad you can't see my impression, because i stood in the kitchen and showed him what the bug looked like. this produced a lot of laughter from him and maybe some pouting from me. don't make fun of me! go and kill the damn bug!

so, any plans this weekend? i don't have any yet and i would like some. well, actually, my brother is coming to town so i guess i have some sort of plan in that i have to be at my parent's place for part of the weekend. and i have to crank out a scarf for the girl on my ball team who sold the most tickets.

comedy night a huge success!

it's finally over. it was such a good night. everything went pretty smoothly and the actual entertainment was funny.. sometimes crude, but funny. we managed to raise a chunk of cash for our team and had a great time doing it.

thank you to everyone who came out and supported me and my team.

i have to say, i'm surprised there weren't more lesbian softball player jokes....

let me tell you

i want to tell you about the germophobe in my office. let's call her germie. i see germie in the bathroom. there is one female bathroom on my floor so i tend to see a lot of the women in this office day-to-day in the bathroom. this is normal.

germie is so obviously terrified of germs. she goes to the bathroom, but not before she pulls some papertowels down. she leaves the papertowels hanging from the dispenser. then she pees. then she turns on the water. then she grabs the paper towels and wipes the handle she just used. then she washes her hands. then she grabs more papertowels. then she washes her hands again and uses to papertowels to turn off the faucet and get more papertowels. then she uses the final papertowel bunch to open the door and finish drying her hands. and then she's gone.

wow. maybe i should tell her about purrell. then should could just carry around a bottle and douse her hands whenever she got the creeping feeling that a single germ had entered her life. i'm glad i'm not her child. *rubs dirty hands in eyes*

you know it's spring when...

you know it's spring when you can smell the fresh dog shit.

i love how i wake up and the sun is already shining, and it's not because i've slept way in. i love how i've been able to not wear my track pants over my pants home from work twice in the last two weeks. i love seeing the snow melt, just before it uncovers all the brown crap underneath.

but, with the arrival of spring, we can expect to see a glaring lack of new snowmen. including ones like this little gem j and i came across not too long ago.



note the boobs and the contrasting neanderthal eyebrows. lovely really.

busses, yes, city busses

busses. i love them and i hate them. i hate how it takes more than 20 minutes for a bus that comes every ten. i hate how there is usually this drunk 40-ish gross disgusting man who insists on sitting near me. i hate how sometimes i have to stand. i hate how sometimes they break down. i hate waiting out in the cold.

but you know what i love. i love that i don't have to drive in rush-hour traffic. i love the randomness of talking to the strange people, or just observing them. i love that the bus gives me 25 minutes in the morning to just sit. i usually read my book, but sometimes i listen to my music and sometimes i listen to conversations going on around me. sometimes i watch people. sometimes i zone out and stare out the window at nothing and everything passing by.

most of all, i love that the bus takes away the sense of urgency. it takes away to rush in the morning. sure i run to the bus stop every morning, and sometimes i run home at night. i don't mind. i like that i have that time to not think, to just sit. so thank you busses, for every morning you give me 25 minutes of me time.

i'm just a girl in the world. that's all that you'll let me beeeeeeee

friday felt like monday all day, so the weekend was a nice surprise. i didn't feel all worn out from work - that's what happens when you take three days off - so it was nice. i went to julie's friday night and almost finished my 2005 scrapbook. i'm still missing a couple of baseball pictures and need to put a title on the last page i made. i put the spine back in the album. it's huge. in fact, i named it "goliath". goliath the scrapbook. i'm weird.

because i trust you, i will admit that i wasn't looking forward to saturday night. i was invited to a slumber party. i was picturing girls in pj's doing each other's nails and hair and make-up, giggling about boys. instead it was a bunch of fun girls, sitting around eating good food and drinking sangria and wine. it was a good time and i'm glad i went. though if anyone had come at me with nail polish or hair spray, i would have walked right out that door. yuck. but it was fun.

today was so warm out and so nice and sunny. we finally got quicktax and went through it tonight. we couldn't figure out where to put my tuition or where to put the rent we paid, and we're still getting a huge refund. sweet! there's our australia trip paid for.

i just want to say that our little cats are so cute. they're fun and talkative and cuddly. they love attention. picture? okay. this is from about a week ago. i'm going to start putting more pictures up.



here's one of the car. for the car's birthday, we got it tinted:



such a sexy car.

annonnnnnnyyyymosity

i've been told that some people read this blog and i really had no idea. hmm. not sure what i think about that and not sure if it will affect my writing style (do i even have a writing style?) i'm going to say no - to the 'will it affect me' question. i'm not going to change anything. this blog is for me. if i say something a little too personal and it offends you - suck it up or don't come back. fair? good, i'm glad we understand each other.

this week has been a whirlwind complete with job-hunting, candy and chocolate, working and not working, and lots of family dinners. the job hunting was for s who is moving here. four weeks! four weeks! i'm so glad that we get along so well. i remember calling her a night in may two years ago now.. make that almost three years ago now - oops! - to tell her that j and i were engaged. i remember her words: you're shitting me! you've gotta be shitting me! i have to call mom and dad." and off she went. her dad was in bc and her mom was in cornwall. she called them both and called back 6 hours later (around 4 in the morning) to say she finally believed us and that she was happy for us. gee thanks. nice vote of confidence. to her defense, i had only met her once (maybe twice) (back off! lots has happened over the years. i remember the important things) and so she didn't know what we were like together.

so she was j's best man and my brother, s funnily enough, was my maid of honour. we really threw most traditions out the window. there is no one else i would have had in those two positions. there are just some things that are right. and having s & s there was right.

kind of like, but not like at all, how when we were test-driving cars, we would get back in one of our little cars (lumi the off-white beast who would turn off while driving down the street or the saturn who is still trucking amazingly enough) and talk about the car we were just in. what we liked about it and what we didn't like. with the mazda 3 we could only say good things. we were in love. it was right. it was perfect.

i'm glad that we agree on the big things. all the major things that we've gone through so far, getting engaged and married obviously being the biggest and most .. big.. hmph!, we've agreed on. we're very similar when it comes to the big things. big big big!

i think i'm losing it! good thing s left all her chocolate in ottawa and i can go home and prolong the gluttony-fest another day. until j hides it all on me. though i did find his chocolate hiding spot!

wow, check out the amazingly abundant use of adverbs in this post. definitely not my usual writing style.

and finally, from captain pants, my horoscope from crazyauntpurl.com for march:
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18)
The two-step may have been fine for Fred and Ginger, but who wants to be taking two steps forward and two steps back every time they hit the ground? Not me. And not ya'll, I'm just guessing. March is all about breaking out of the box step and break dancing instead ... or maybe a spicy mambo? A tango to work, a rumba to bed? Dare to do something buckwild crazy this spring, and release all the built-up tension of the winter months. Until the new moon at the very end of the month, the only expectations you have to live up to are your own. The most important thing I can tell you right now: Don't spend your life taking instructions on how to live from people that aren't even qualified to give you street directions. Or dance instructions.

hmmm, i have lots of dances. i make them up all the time.

SO.BUSY.

j's sister is in town and so we've been very busy. i will update later.

summertime cookout

friday night, i was a super star and was in bed before midnight. what can i say - it was a long week.

saturday i had a job meeting, but nothing exciting. j drove around for the hour i was in the meeting. remember all the snow and accidents? that was what he was out in. crazy fool. saturday night we went to the fox and feather with some friends. i had a great time. honestly. i was so glad i went.

sunday was a shopping day. we went to bayshore and got j some much-needed jeans. then it was dinner at gramma's (typical sunday fare) and out for groceries.

among all that excitement (i'm not actually very exciting) i was able to knit lots. i'm learning new things. i want to make a cat bed, but i need real wool, none of this acrylic crap that i usually use, and baby booties or something. not for me.

today is my only full day of work this week. tonight we pick up s from the airport and start a 5-day adventure that is her looking for permanent employment in the city and me being chauffeur. nice.

what's on your mind? spit it out

we went to the gym last night. i wore my lululemon pants. they really are the greatest work out pants ever. they make me feel sexy and they make me look good and they keep me dry even though i'm sweating like a pig. i'm very close to being addicted.

news on the australia trip: i'm going! i haven't booked my tickets yet, but i found out the ticket prices for sure and we can afford it. yay!yay!yay! i'll be gone for three weeks, maybe 4. i'm going to start seriously looking into things. i know that i for sure want to see the great barrier reef, which is north, and the girl i'll be staying with is south, still on the east coast, but south. i!am!so!excited!

i should find out soon about my contract. i know that i wasn't going to accept any more extensions, and my whole mindset has changed since i decided that. and it's become more bearable. weird, eh? so, i don't quite know what i'm going to do, but i'm more open-minded about it now. i think it helps that i have a ton of work to do so i'm busier.

oh, and last night i gave in my registration (and cheque) for the 10K race in may! i am officially in. so i have to start officially training. i've never (not once) ran 10K. last year, when training for my 5K, i was running 8K (5 miles = 8 kilometers - won't make that mistake again!) so i know i can do that. my goal though, is to 1) run the whole race. no walking. and 2) run the whole race in an hour or less. i don't know yet if that's do-able, but i'm going to try.

good news (seems like there's lots of good news today): i have most of next week off work. s is coming to town monday night, so i'll work monday. she's leaving friday morning so i'll work after i drop her off at the airport. perfect.

8 days a week isn't enough to show you i care

thanks again to both alan and richard who helped me figure out this damn blog. just when i was starting to think i knew a thing or two....

i've been listening to album launches on iceberg radio. it's a nice break from just music, but it isn't too distracting to not let me concentrate on work.

i had a little chat with the temp working upstairs. he basically thinks i'll all set for getting a permanent job in the government because i'm young. it's nice to hear that, but can't i be pessimistic for a minute?? i'm in a really grrr mood so just watch out.

we bought a team canada sweatshirt for my dad for his birthday. i was really impressed with the quality of the team canada gear. nice and thick sweatshirts. j, maybe this is a hint!

hey, i have most of next week off! how sweet is that?? i emailed my boss about two weeks ago asking to have the week off. she fired off a simple email saying "no". i was pissed. but then she came and talked to me and we agreed that i would work monday and friday afternoon. perfect. j's sister is getting to town monday night and leaving friday morning. it's perfect. damn perfect.

the book i'm reading is really interesting. the main character reconstructs faces from skulls. he gets a skull and reconstructs his own face. then the whirlwind of him finding out he has a twin brother who was an assassin for the cia and was in the middle of a super important field operative in mexico. so, off he goes to mexico and has to be his brother that he never knew and convince scary people that he is his brother, and finally must kill the bad guy. i can't imagine having all that thrown in my face and not losing it just a little. okay, maybe completely losing it and crying like a baby with overwhelming dread. honestly. think about it.

i think we are very desensitized to violence and death from tv and movies and the internet and even the news, but when it actually happens to you it's a whole nother story. this time last year, i was driving home from work where two lanes changed to one. you know when you're in the driving zone and you're just driving. well i was in the lane that kept going and there was a car beside me who apparently thought i should have done something to let him in. me: lalalalala. him: *honk* *shaking fist* *yelling at me* i can't quite remember now, but i think i flashed my brights at him at the next stop light or something. he got out of his car. i locked my doors and turned up the music. i was in the right and there was no way i was opening my window to hear anything he had to say. the light turned green i drove on. he scrambled back to his car and proceeded to hassle me. i finally lost him but i didn't go straight home. i was really worried he was going to find me and follow me home. so, all that to tell you that i was so high on adrenaline that lasted for hours. i was pumped about it all night and for days afterwards. and that situation had nothing to do with death at all. i don't know how i would ACTUALLY react to violence/death/whatever else gory. hmmm.

devious smiles afar

i did a step class last night. i am much less sore than last time, but i did my own stretching afterwards. it's amazing how we develop routines, be it the order in which we stretch or the hand we use to brush our teeth, and these routines help us maintain our bodies or simply get through the day. mixing it up, with regards to the hand you use to do things, helps avoid mental disorders later in life, or so i've read. i can imagine. it takes longer to accomplish simple tasks and more thinking.

being left-handed, i tend to do things with both hands, or at least don't favour a hand over the other. i know most people, aka right-handed people, are at a loss with their left hand. they really just can't do day-to-day things that most lefties can do with both hands. i'm not saying i'm a god when it comes to ambidextrousness (i don't even know if that's a word to tell you the truth), but i'm saying that i think being left-handed certainly has it's advantages. when i broke my left wrist, i was able to do most everything with my right hand, including write.

there are even some things i can't do with my left hand period. i can't use scissors. and believe me, i knew this way before my kindergarden teacher finally gave in and let me use the silver scissors instead of the green-handled ones. what a mess!

but there are some things that irk me. i was taught to eat properly, as in with the fork in my left hand and the knife or spoon in my right hand. i remember sitting in bayshore with my grandma learning about the proper way to eat. it took a while, but i can finally use a fork in my right hand, but i think it looks completely strange when people cut or spoon things with their left hand or use a knife with their left.

heavenly weekend

it's been a good weekend. friday night was date night. j took me out for dinner after i stayed home all day "sick". we had a good dinner at chances r and then went home to watch the exocism of emily rose. it wasn't as scary as we were expecting, but still good. then j went to bed and i watched miss congeniality. that's a funny movie, but so stupid. i still want to see the second one.

yesterday, m and i trucked to montreal to find her a dress for her sister's wedding. we were successful in that she found a dress she really liked. we were unsuccessful in that she didn't buy said dress. i got home and showered and was then taken over to julie's where i scrapbooked the night away. but bed was calling. i slept for hours and hours and then i napped for hours and hours. needless to say, sunday, today, hasn't been very eventful. at least i still have the gym and groceries to keep me busy. i don't think i'll be getting to sleep very early tonight.

valentine's day day

you know how december 24th is christmas eve and then the 25th is christmas day. well boxing day should be christmas day day. so that would make today valentine's day day.

valentine's day was just another day. it's so completely a hallmark holiday. don't tell me which day to *love* someone more. i don't take crap like that. maybe it meant something when i was younger and fresh to relationships and that crap, but not anymore. i'm old and jaded, at least that's what i'm sounding like.

but no matter what you think about the "holiday" guys, don't dump your damn girlfriend on v-day. even i would be slightly offended. the day before - fine. the day after - even better (though explaining the lack of gifts/fancy dinner out/ sexy night in/ whatever it is people do (ass-less fishnet stockings is the best i've heard so far this year) would be hard). just don't do it the day of. girls don't like that. take my advice and help yourself from getting your reputation tarnished. even if you can't stop the asshole/small dick/smelly rumours, you can not be that ass who dumps his girlfriend on valentine's day.

valentine's day is for suckers.

government testing

all day saturday i was downtown writing tests for the government. i applied to an inventory thingy for environmental officers and after i submitted my application it made me choose dates for all sorts of tests. i had no clue what was going on. i chose everything. this was a while ago.

then, last thursday i remembered that all the tests were scheduled for saturday. i was downtown longer than i'm at work. it was a long day. and of course i went to bed late on friday night. but the testing is done and maybe i'll get a job out of it.

i just asked my boss for a week off. she won't let me have it. i only have four weeks left in my contract, but i'm finding myself completely lacking motivation. i figured some time off would help. i've had some pretty crappy luck with jobs recently. let's recap. this time last year i was working away on a huge report for the government. i wasn't thrilled or extremely busy, but i was gainfully employed. then my contract ended. i went on ei for 4 months until i found another job. i was there from june-october and hated every second of it. and obviously my boss didn't think much of me either because he asked me to leave about three months early. i had two weeks off before i started this job and we all know how happy i am here and how well i've been treated. i started here october 15th, which is just shy of 4 months ago. i 've taken one day off, other than stats.

i am SO F*CKING FRUSTRATED!

i hope my boss isn't too surprised when i call in sick every day of that week i asked to have off. i'm on contract.

straight shooter

next time you see me, ask me why i'm a hiphop artist. cause i am, you know. and hiphop artists don't have babies.

whooo hooooo!

i'm quite excited about lots of things.

first, let's talk about knitting. i knit every week with my girls. we call it our s&b - or stitch&bitch - it's a nice break from the regular after-work-dinner-gym-rush of my life. usually i knit scarves. they're easy and usually quick and practical. last week, i finished my charity wool scarf (we got some wool and all made scarves and will give it all to the salvation army) and decided to try a knit-flat mitten pattern. the challenge is that it's not a scarf. i'm out of my element. but i'm having a good time and i'm learning things. eventually, i hope to be able to knit mittens in the round. ooohh, i'm so ambitious!

then, just today, m posts a link for kitty beds (this is a link) and i'm excited to try making one. i wonder if my kitties would like such a thing.. i can't see why not. and i would have to learn how to felt projects. exciting. and if it all works out, this is the perfect christmas present for next year ooooooohh!

now let's talk about finances. well, nothing specific. last night we met with somebody from primerica and right away he's found us a way to get $5000. sweet deal! and we don't even have to pay him. they do a complete financial assessment and work their tails off trying to get you out of debt so that they can make money off of you when you're saving and making money yourself. it sounds too good to be true, but i'm not lying. $5000 in my pocket! now that's enough for a trip to australia.

and finally, let's talk about my health. i'm only partly kidding. i went to the gym on sunday and again last night and i have to admit i'm glad to be back at it. i am sore yes, but i feel great.

my life's coming up milhouse.

(don't forget about Absolute Comedy March 8th. get your tickets early!)

ABSOLUTE COMEDY - MARCH 8th!!!!

remember that fundraiser i was talking about? well, it's here. we are hosting a fundraising night at Absolute Comedy (Preston near Carling)Wednesday, March 8th. i will be bugging you for the next month to buy tickets. they are only $5. show starts at 8:30. please please please let me know if you would like a ticket. i can promise you laughs and girls. what could be better?

my lovely lady lumps - check it out!

another weekend post! who's excited??? i am! i am!

friday night i went to fat tuesdays. i wasn't planning on going out, but since my montreal plans fell through, i had some time on my hands. i managed to drink a lot of beer. we went to honest lawyer next where i ran into dan, a guy i used to work with. he's so nice. then we went across the street to the drink. we managed to score a ride home and i stumbled in at 4am. i was the loudest tip-toeing drunk ever. it's amazing j managed to stay asleep through all of my thunder.

saturday night i was going to stay in. i even rented myself a movie (bewitched - i picked something j didn't want to see) and got cheese for nachos and ice cream. i was sitting on the couch, knitting with my kitties, watching the movie when j and richard came over. we decided to go out because it was a girl on my team's birthday. it was pouring and disgusting, but we made it downtown and went to on tap (since it's mardi gras everywhere was mega busy. everywhere except on tap). we didn't stay long and spent too much money on cover and coat check (thanks matt! i owe you lots of money!) and we didn't even manage to meet up with most of the girls. they were somewhere else.. i don't even know where yet.

no drinking saturday night, thankfully, and then sunday was a relaxing day. we finally made it to the gym. i'm happy to report that my abs are sore from my class and i feel good about myself. it had been much to long. j went out to watch the superbowl, but again, i got myself a movie and decided to stay in. i watched house of wax and have to say that i was pleasantly surprised with how deep it was, compared with what i was expecting. i wouldn't rank it up there with shawsank redemption or anything, but it wasn't the worst movie i've ever seen. i caught the last 8 minutes of the superbowl and was happy to see that it wasn't a blow-out - superbowls are notorious for blow-outs - and that pittsburg won. not that i really care.

oooooooooohhh!

i'm excited. my baseball team is going to be hosting a fundraising night at absolute comedy in just over a month! we haven't decided on ticket prices yet, but definitely between $5 and $10. don't worry - i will be sending you all an email begging you to come and support us.

yay!

you know what i love?

you know what i love? when you first leave the house in the morning when it has snowed lightly the night before and there are tons of little cat prints and rabbit tracks all along your driveway. that makes me happy.

my horoscope

when i was younger i was a huge fan of horoscopes and read mine every day. then i realized how fake they are. sure, you can make generalizations for people based on their sign, but really, what does it all mean? some days my horoscope would be smack on while other days it would be so horribly off.

these days i read my horoscope every day during the week because it's right beside the sudoku puzzle in metro. i don't usually pay it much attention, but today it's right on. i particularly love the last line in it that says "you'll use a suitcase soon". right on!

too bad it didn't say something like "you'll quit your current job and find the job of your dreams that pays a huge fat salary. you'll win the lottery but chose to keep working because you love it so much. with your winnings, you take a luxury cruise - no interior cabin for you! - and your australia trip is paid for. all the leftovers you smartly tuck away into rrsp's and resp's for your future child(ren)'s education(s) and buy the house of your dreams and furnish it, only going to ikea because you want to, not because you must. want that shirt? go buy it! want another car? go get one!"

the weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

watch out for the pink elephant

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

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

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

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

rolling on dubs

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

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

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

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

batman live update

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

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

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

please support her in the time of change.

and remember, you heard it here first.

time is short

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

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

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

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

justin to kelly, oh my

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>end rant<

running around the world

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

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

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

birds of prey

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

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

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

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

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

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

weekend recap:

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

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

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

friday! where have you been all my life?

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

then i missed my bus.

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

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

is it friday yet?

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

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

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

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

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

call-out to all bridezillas

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

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

who will the lucky girl be?

birthday what?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

back to normal

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

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

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

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

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

i miss my friends and having a furnace

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

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

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

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

flashy / clashy pants

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

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

changes

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

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

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

wonderful beginnings

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

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

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

new year's

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

our little kitties

i took this picture last night and i love it!

in other news, j's sister loves me SO much she's moving to town in a little while. yay!

new year's plans anyone?

short bus

i am SO glad this is a short week because i am exhausted. i'm not usually this tired. it's bad. and what's worse is that everyone else is still on holidays and out having fun and stuff. i feel like a sack of shit.

christmas - wrap up

christmas is all over. it was a very busy and hectic time, but no more so than past years. j's parents and sister lived with us for a week and a half, but that part wasn't too stressful since they all lived in the house before (much longer than i've been there) so they generally take care of themselves. we spent much time at j's grandparent's house and that was stressful. i feel like i haven't been home much in the past two weeks. yesterday we were finally able to spend some time at home. i cleaned and did laundry. you should have seen all the dirty clothes next to j's side of the bed.

last night was my baseball team's christmas party. i got a one year subscription to in style magazine and i'm pretty excited about that. andi got the present i brought, a girls night out change jar. she seemed to really like it.

i'm gearing up for my french oral test which is this afternoon. i still have to figure out exactly where i'm going and how to get there. work today has been pretty slow, but that was expected since more than half of the people are still on holidays. thank goodness for that. i need more sleep if i'm going to function properly.

oh right, christmas presents. i scored a bunch of movies (cinderella, march of the penguins, pocahontas (i don't know how to spell that one) and madagascar, which i still haven't seen), some super nice work out clothes from lu lu lemon, $50 gift card for chapters, a nice sweater, two frying pans and so much more. plus we were given some money so we're looking into getting a home theatre receiver. i don't know much about it, but j does so he'll be taking care of it. i'll just play the pretty position (where you stand around, don't do anything but look pretty). i'm good at that.

christmas number one

christmas number one was this past weekend since my brother was in town. he's left and gone to florida for the rest of the holidays. we had a good time. two big family dinners and present opening fun. i got my socks, so my feet are once again warm. i've been waiting a whole year for them.

this week feels really weird. j's family is in town and so we are spending a lot of time at his grandparents' place. i'm not complaining. i love the home cooked (and not cooke by me) meals and the company, but it's making me feel strange. i feel like i haven't spent enough time at home or with the cats and things are slipping.

so, maybe tonight i'll sneak out early and just spend some time at home, by myself (well with the kitties of course) and just relax. i think i need it and so does my lip.

burnt out

i don't quite know what to say. i'm feeling a little burnt out with work and being ripped apart mentally. i went to an interview yesterday morning that was really a resume workshop in disguise. and as much as i appreciate the help (lots of constructive criticisms, and plain re-write-the-whole-portion-s) i was not fully mentally prepared to have my life essentially ripped apart and the pieces picked through. it's one thing to sign up for something like that and know it's coming. it's quite another to show up hoping to talk about how i can make more money and still be happy only to be thrown to the bears.

anyways.

we hit a milestone last night. our savings have hit a big round number (in the green too!) and it feels so great. it's nice to know that you can do it. and it's encouraging for the months to come.

this weekend is going to be a busy one. all of our family is pilling into town tomorrow and sunday and we have family christmas parties to attend and houses to clean.

REAL oil crisis

monday i got home from work and thought it was pretty chilly. it was a pretty cold day. turns out we did finally run out of oil. so j gets home and breaks the news (i'm too stupid to realize this on my own) so we get on the phone and go out to pick up some little heaters and a lasagna (use the oven, heat the kitchen). with the three space heaters we had we were very comfortable. i stayed home tuesday morning until the oil guy came so i got to sleep in and eat an actual breakfast - unheard of on a weekday because i suck. so they put in some oil, enough for two or three weeks and that was that.

so i won something today. at work, there was this thing where you went to one of nrcan's sites and found information and sent it in. i did and they came and gave me a water bottle today. it's green and i love it! i love winning. getting free things is the best.

more later. more on jobs and family and stuff.

the day that flew by

i'm happy to tell you that today, much to my pleasure, has flown by and it's almost time to go home. it's sunny out, a little cold, but not windy like usual, i slept enough and feel rested, and work was good, and yeah. good times.

my body is a little sore from my body flow (=pilates, yoga and taichi) class yesterday. i went to the gym to work out like usual but saw people with their yoga mats. so i went and did the class. i didn't have the right kind of clothes on (you need stretchy clothes, and preferably ones that cover you when you stretch) but i went and apparently, the instructor was some super yoga guy because about 8 people stayed after the class to get his autograph. who knew?

after the class we went to j's grandparent's place for our usual sunday dinner. it was great. and i'm not just saying that because his grandparents read my blog. they don't. i wouldn't like that.

couple of shout-outs (i never use that word): happy birthday to frank. yay, you're 24! i hope you had fun after the sluts on saturday night (they said slOts, i heard slUts...). congratulations to matt and julie who just bought a house! i think i'm just as excited as you are (sorry...).

j and i went looking at model homes both saturday and sunday. we went both days because on saturday we found a place we really liked. and i mean really liked. and there was another builder we didn't get to see. so sunday we went and looked at the other model homes, decided we didn't like any of them, and went back to see the one we did like. i'm getting excited now, but i really should be getting more excited about having my own car cause that will happen first. i'm not joking. j's going to be getting a mazda 3 of his own so that will leave our little gray car to me, in nice weather at least. otherwise it's still our family car. move over volvo-station-wagons-with-wood-paneling! we still have to think of names for our cars. we will have twins (a boy and a girl car if you please) and can't think of good names. i want chad and kim, after the characters on 24, but now that i'm in love with michael scoffield from prison break, maybe i'll call mine "fish" (that's michael's nickname in the show). fish. i like that.

christmas season and the oil crisis in our basement

let me tell you about the oil crisis. we are switching from oil to natural gas and so have not received any oil since last winter. we are using up whatever is left in the tank before they come and take it away. so when j gets home yesterday to find the house a chilly 14 degrees, he promptly turns on the oven and opens the over door. to heat the house, you know. when i get home i promptly put on joggers and close all the blinds and curtains. so j's calling the oil company, who will only come after hours (=emergency) if they can give us 500 litres of oil + delivery charge = ~ $600. so, no, thank you. so that gets j thinking. turns out the batteries in the thermostat were dying and the fuse had blown. how both happen together i do not know. i do know, however, that i really appreciate the little oil we have left and that i was toasty in bed last night.

christmas season is upon us - my office christmas party starts in under an hour. this is both good and bad. good because i like most of the people i work with, bad because i don't like all of the people i work with. i think it will be okay. plus i have s&b to help me bow out early. and they're just down the street! no bussing home for me today, not that i mind the bus so much, except they have been sucking pretty huge in the past couple of weeks.

party time!

commitments

so i left work early today. i was all done my work and was tired of playing minesweeper (though i did get a new high score.. guess! i play expert). it was so nice to be on the mostly empty bus which flew past empty stops and got me home remarkably fast AND THE SUN WAS STILL OUT! it would probably be worth working earlier hours, you know, starting at 7 or 7:30 just so i would see more daylight and the bus ride would be shorter and less crowded. hmm, food for though.

so the title of this post is "commitments" and as i was typing it i realized that some announcements are entitled commitments and it's all the couples who got engaged. well that is not what this is about! i have made some commitments and thought i'd share. first is my french test. i got home from work and checked my gmail and there was a message saying i have my oral french test december 22nd. now i just have to prepare. i think i need level c for the job this is for, so i'm only talking french at work from now on. that's the first commitment.

the second is that i'm going to run the 10K race this may in the ottawa race weekend. i ran the 5K this year (remember?). it was my first race (besides cross country in little kids school) and it was exhilirating. honestly. so next spring i'm upping the ante to 10K. i know i can do it and i have all winter to train for it. i've been pushing myself pretty hard at the gym. not hurting myself or anything stupid, but just pushing my body harder than i normally would. and other than the million and five cookies i've eaten since sunday night i think i'm in pretty good shape.

i guess my only other news is that last sunday i finally got some books to read and i plowed through the first one. it was so nice to be reading again. and then this past sunday i got some more books, some very very good ones and i've already finished one. body double by tess gerritsen was just awesome. i read the sinner and the apprentice by her not too long ago and she keeps the same characters so if you decide to read her books, read them in order. it's worth it. and now i'm reading a dean koontz book. he never disappoints. have you ever thought of making a list of all the books you've ever read? what would you ever do with such a list? how about all the movies you've ever seen.

m, i'm going to pull out my 101 things to do in 1001 days one of these days and she how things are going. my guess - not so well considering my goals were so lofty. like 100 ft ceilings instead of the regular 8.

shut up, susan*

i'm at work and so is susan. susan is one of my office mates. as a temp, i get the wonderful pleasure of working in "the swamp". the swamp is a shared office space with no windows and four work spaces crammed in. the coop is pleasant and the new guy is nice. susan is a train wreck! this woman drives me insane. she works two days a week, and not even the regular eight hours a day. she spends all her time here talking on the phone. personal calls. i don't think she actually works. i think they don't know what to give her since she only works part time, but she also is not reliably here the two days a week she's supposed to be. did i mention she has a very annoying voice? it grates on my nerves. thank god for kevin (he's my iPod mini).

last night was my first annual christmas cookie exchange and i'm happy to say that it was a huge success. we had 16 people and 16+ different types of cookies. we played games and tested all the cookies and voted on our favourites. they were prizes and it seemed like everyone was having a good time. i almost made myself sick with the amount of sugar i consumed.

the rest of the weekend was devoted to cleaning the house, and going to the gym, seeing my parents and j's mom and grandparents and hanging out with friends. typical weekend activities.

this week will be.. well, i don't know what it will be. i thought it was a week later than it is. i don't really have anything until the weekend after next. maybe i'll focus on cleaning out sarah's room so when she's here she can actually sleep in her bed and get to it without having to climb over all my shit. sounds like a plan, superman.

*names have been changed

the sun is shining!

last night i had a very productive night. i cleaned, i wrapped presents, i made dinner (tuna helper) and jell-o (which i didn't eat so i have that to look forward to tonight), i went to the gym and pushed myself super hard, and i read lots of my book.

it's so nice to have a good book to read. i never really understood the people who don't read for pleasure (by choice, not because they have so much reading to do for classes and really don't have time to read for pleasure). you know? my brother was like that growing up. he hated reading and as a result he can't spell very well. i'm convinced the two are related.

speaking of my brother, he will be home for christmas two weekends from now so we're having our family christmas a week early. fine by me. like i said, my christmas shopping is mostly done.

i was looking at christmas albums last night on amazon. i think i might be coming around on christmas. i've always not liked the idea that people all of a sudden get nice around this time of year. the whole thing was very superficial for me for the longest time, but i'm finding that i'm surrounding myself more and more with people i like and who mean a lot to me. i guess i'm growing up and learning that i don't have to be around people i don't like so the holidays are more about being around family and friends, though the whole thing is still very commercial and that's another aspect i don't like but find myself buying all sorts of presents anyways. you can only give a scarf to someone so many times....

biggest loser

oooh, i just lost my whole post. my fingers went too fast and somehow deleted all the text. urgh. i don't know if i can be as cunning the second time around.

the biggest loser finale was last night. two hours of tv goodness. it was a great finale. what sucks though is that prison break ended monday night, in that the season isn't over but the show is going on hiatus until may. this is to fit in 24, but if you think about it, every week prison break was on and the hour before was the previous week's episode. that means 24 could have easily fit. i don't get it. i just hope that 24 is a killer season so that i'll forget all about prison break until may. we'll see.

tv is starting to get to me. i watch too much of it. and i lie there when i could be doing other things. granted, my christmas shopping is mostly done and the house is mostly clean, but i just feel like are other things i should be doing. for example, i would really like to go to the gym 5-6 times a week instead of 3. maybe i'm aiming too high. i'll have to think of some realistic goals for myself. it could be that me going to the gym every second day is as good as it gets. who knows.

i don't know if it's the weather or what but i'm crabby lately. and i'd like to think that i'm usually more cheerful than i feel lately. but there are positives in my life. i have the cookie exchange to look forward to and however many christmas parties get thrown at me. so i'm going to go to the gym and push myself extra hard.

oh the post

this past week at work was a long one, but only because it was my first five-day week in a while. i was spoiled and now i'm back to normal. there is so much shit that goes on. i can't believe an office actually functions that this. i have one month left and then it's sionara.. or they extend me and i crawl sheepishly back. at least it's christmas season and that means office parties with spiked punch, at least that's what the magazines i read lead me to believe. i've never been to an office party like they speak of in magazines. have you?

today is the day that we go and look at open houses. there are five in riverside south all open at the same time today. that makes things easier. and i think i'll go out and get some christmas shopping done before j gets out of bed.

i just found out my brother will be home for a weekend for christmas (we weren't expecting him at all so this is great news). he's going to florida with some friends. i'm going to be happy not to be going anywhere this christmas. last year we spent the first half of the break in bc with j's parents and sister and got back to a madhouse. it made the holidays feel short somehow.

we started our "knit for kids" knitting tuesday at S&B. i bought some wool and we get together and make scarves and mitts and tukes (let's be honest, i will only be making scarves because that's all i can make) to give to the salvation army. ideally i will be refunded the cost of the wool when we give everything back. it's a nice little program and i'm glad we're doing it this year.

snap back to reality, oh there goes gravity
oh there goes rabbit, he choked
he's so mad, but he won't give up that
easy, no

harry potter and the too-short movie

so the harry potter movie was good, but honestly, so much is left out. i completely understand why this must be but it's a shame. so the whole story is that matt and julie and me and jon all went out to dinner and a movie. wow, strange now that i think about it. that was the typical double date. i used to DREAD double dates. well, dates in general. dating is awful awful and maybe that's why i was never "dating" long. i regress.. so we trekked out to kanata and ate at jack astor's. we had awesome bread, also known as garlic bread, but if you've ever had the garlic bread there you will agree that, because of all the grease and buttery goodness, it is a heart attack in a pan. BUT it's good and that's why we called it awesome bread. make sense? good.

so we ate dinner. it was good. then we went to amc and stood in line for not-as-long-as-i-thought, but for a while. we even had to go to a later show. so we finally got in and finally got our free popcorn, which i ate, and saw the movie. we got home late and that wasn't a problem for me, but jon worked overtime both days this weekend and was pretty tired.

so the rest of my weekend was me sleeping in, and then doing laundry and other house-y stuff. friday night we went out to greenfields in barrhaven after trying another pub that happened to be bumping with no places to sit. in barrhaven. who'da thought. anyways, we spent lots of money but j made lots of money so it all works out.

knitting!

i'm getting excited for tonight because i get to knit tonight. knitting with two little cats isn't that doable, so i get away once a week with my s&b girls, usually at m's house. we sit around, knit and drink tea, and inevitably laugh so much my stomach hurts.

i want to knit a bear/bunny(/monkey?) but i'm a little scared to move away from my usual scarves. scarves are safe. i'm working on a black scarf. it will go well with the black tuke i got last night.

j and i went out and spent money like we were money-pants-ses. he needed a new bike because he'll be riding all winter (or as long as possible before his appendages start to fall off) and we found a nice one in the close mall and it was on sale and they took another $50 off just for us. and it's blue! he couldn't be happier. we also got a bunch of our christmas shopping done (sad in a way, good in another way) and got me bus tickets so i can get to work and home again. that reminds me, i have to work out whether i should invest in a bus pass for december. my guess would be yes, not that it matters to you.

yesterday, i got so much work done, so today i'm kinda taking it easy. i deserve it. maybe. i've been looking at knitting websites and reading blogs and other stuff that i don't normally do at work. too bad i can't check my email though. gmail wasn't blocked at my last contract. they're smarter here obviously.

we still have to figure out our plans for the weekend. this week has flown by so the weekend isn't full at all. i'll get to work on that.

trip sum-up

thursday morning we left for beautiful thunder bay. we got there only a little late and were greeted at the the airport by j's sister. the following four days were madness. we did so many things. we went out to the campus bar (it's huge!) and to a basketball game. i met up with an old friend from queen's. we did the family thing - i got to meet all but one of j's mom's side. we saw the things that thunder bay has to offer (mills, and water falls, and great lakes).

it was a really nice vacation. relaxing. now all that's left to do is catch up with the laundry, do some groceries and get back to the gym. i ate enough candy to last me the rest of the year!

i will have pictures up soon on my picture site. i will send you an email (put a note in the comments section if you'd like to be sent the link so i don't forget you!)

contract = work = money = ka-CHING!

i got official word today that my contract is extended until december 30th, 2005. i am officially all set for christmas. money money money!

i'm getting super excited about our trip. i don't know when i'll get to pack though because we're going to the gym tonight and then i'm going out with my sitc girls (sharks in the city. we're cool) for pho and then poker or a movie night or something. we're calling it "phoker". fun, eh?

i'm also excited because i found out yesterday that i have a shitload of pc points and i can get free prints with them. this is perfect because now that i'm scrapbooking i'm spending a lot of money on pictures (never used to get them developed). but now i can do it for free!

today is my friday and i have to say that this week has flown by. it sure helps when it's only three days long. i managed to bring a lunch two of three days so that's good. now i just have to get through the next hour and i'm all good.

more contract?

tomorrow i find out if my contract is being extended and for how long. this is a good day.

friday night we waited at home for the rogers guy to come and install our new phone line. we never got it installed though because we couldn't have the alarm put on standby without the password. oops! so after that cuffufle (is that even a word?) we went to the gym and then were picked up and whisked away (granny-style - sorry dick!) to kanata to see jarhead. i thought it was a good movie, but i would much rather have seen it by myself or with some friends so that some loser guy in front of us hadn't laughed through the touching-ending-part. because we're lame we went home and went to bed after the movie. to our defense, the movie didn't start until 10:30pm.

saturday i slept way in, after dropping j off at work. he was asked to do overtime this weekend kind of last minute but said okay so spent yesterday and today in a warehouse. i spent the time either sleeping or reading in bed or doing house-y stuff like laundry and dishes. after dinner at swiss chalet (i had a really good new salad with spinach and strawberries and almonds) we hung out for a bit and then went to grace o'malleys with j's car buddies. i have to admit, i wasn't there the whole time. i dropped him off and walked around shoppers for a while and then went to the bank. but i did end up there for a little while and it wasn't that bad.

today wasn't much of a day. i wasn't feeling great so i stayed in bed late and then went out to get a birthday present (lots of rubik's cubes going around this year). we drove out to riverside south for an open home and were somewhat impressed but somewhat not so impressed. the backyard was about the size of our bathroom. but we found out yesterday that we aren't being kicked out of here for a year and a half (could have been 6 months) so we have plenty of time to look at loads of open houses and save up tons of money. after that we had j's dad's birthday dinner at grammas and the usually sunday night shopping. now it's basically turn-in-for-the-night time.

now that you know all about my life, tell me something about you. anything.

you make me want to lu lu!

it's friday. finally. you know it's going to be a long week when tuesday feels like friday. it can only go downhill from there. but work wasn't so bad this week. i'm really getting the hang of things and fewer things have been going wrong. and i found out, in a backwards way, that i'm getting extended. but because it wasn't a direct way i have no idea how long this extension is. i'm keeping my fingers crossed for this job lasting until christmas.

i got the results of my french test back. they were just what i expected so i'm pleased. i have no idea if i will get a job as a result of those tests though. but at least i've now been tested and i can put that out there when i apply for any government job from now on.

more later.

why? tell me why

this weekend was an eventful one. friday night turned into my stitch & bitch night so it was extra late. we had a good time laughing at b's hotdog halloween costume. then last night was a pumpkin carving party at m's. m's pumpkin turned out to be a very deformed popeye, but we got some marvelous pictures from the whole affair. today was the nicest day since daylight savings time gave us an extra hour of sleep. i was tired most of the day, but still got lots done.

tomorrow is halloween and chocolate binge-ing day plus prison break is on.

oh! i almost forgot! we booked a trip for the november long weekend. my boss held out on okaying my time off so our tickets were more expensive than expected (and if we had booked two days earlier) but we're going and i'm super excited! a trip!

french testing

i had my french-as-a-second-language testing this afternoon. it's for a biology position at health canada for which i applied over a year ago. why they're testing me (aka spending money on me) before they interview me is beyond me. me me me!

funny story. i get home today and go get changed. in my room i notice the little nest where the cats have obviously been asleep for a long time and then i notice two of our pillows are missing. this isn't the first time. so i went for a little look around the house. found one in the kitchen under a chair and the other mostly under another bed. our cats are weird! why they (we think it's just rolo) feel the need to take our pillows for walks we don't know. so i made a documentary. i'm sure it will make you laugh if you ever see it.

i got another scrapbook! julie - i know you don't read this but maybe matt will tell you. i got it because the one i have is full! i have three months of 2004 completed and i'm in july for 2005. i'm playing catch-up and will be for a long long time, but i am getting it done. also (matt tell julie) i think we should have a scrapbooking night where we invite friends that want to scrapbook and let them use our stuff and show them all the tools. what do you think?

pictures

i'm in the process of uploading pictures to a rogers yahoo thingy and eventually will invite you by email to see my pictures. it takes a while, but this way you can see my pictures and download/print them if you would like. i think it's a win-win situation.

julie's wedding was yesterday and i have to say that i had a GREAT time. all the sharks wore something teal or at least blue. it felt like we were part of an exclusive club and we were definitely the life of the party.. eventhough mr. dj was just terrible. julie looked beautiful and the food was great and the speeches were mostly funny. i think everyone had a good time. i'm still pumped from it. definitely the best wedding, other than my own, that i've been to. congratulations julie and rob!

first whole week of work

so here's a little update/bitch-fest from my first week of work:

i was hired to do mostly admin work - fine. that's what i was hired to do and that is what i will do. do i have much experience? do i have any? hardly. is this my fault? how could it be? during my phone interview i was very very upfront about my past experience and my skills. i never said i knew how to do things i couldn't do.

i'm being shared between two groups and this means that i was trained on two different things by two different people. two women. these two women HATE each other and are constantly bad-mouthing each other to me and expecting me to side with them! wow, i can't believe this shit actually happens, but it does, and i'm caught right in the middle.

my office space is lovingly referred to as "the swamp". why? i do no know. no one will tell me.

and that's my rant. i have another 3 weeks (and maybe more!) for more shit to come and me and for me to fling it your way via this blog so head's up!

the tv

the biggest loser was great tonight and i'm really looking forward to the return of prison break. monday.

so i started work and i got my first paper cut today. so far i like what i'm doing. it's government so there's the same shit as everywhere else but this shit is half the distance from my house than the last pile.

that's all.

i got new shampoo!

i got new shampoo and conditioner so i'm back to two things for my hair instead of the 2-in-1s that i normally use. this new stuff is citrus-y. so far me likey.

today i got done everything i wanted to plus more. i went to m's place and we went to my new building to scout things out. turns out there was a science fun fest on and we walked around and got a free canvas bag, some neat magnets, and free lunch. plus i got to see where everything is and not be so frenzied tomorrow morning.

after that, i went to kanata to see my parents. they seemed happy i stopped by. the biggest news from my mom was that my best friend from kindergarden's dad just walked out on her mom, for another woman! a woman he runs with at lunch. oh man, i can't believe it! there are so many reasons that i don't want to get into on here, but wow. that's all i can say.

from there i went to stittsville hoping to catch the carleton team playing. apparently that was not to be. i did see ottawa u beat queen's though and talked to some people, but left soon after i got there cause it was so damn cold.

i went home for a little bit and then to gramma's for dinner. food was excellent as usual and now i'm just sitting here in my quiet little house as everyone else sleeps. all in all i would have to say that was a good weekend.

comments

what can i say to make you feel like you must comment? what has to be in this post? do you need a burning question? a funny tale? an embarassing story? what? WHAT? do i need to comment on our political world? on what the celebs are wearing/dating/eating/not eating?

well i won't! this blog is for me. it's for me to get it all out. and if you don't like that then just keep reading annonymously. that's just fine. fine with me.







did i have you going? do you really think i'm a bitch?

i would like more people to comment but then i realize that i read other peoples blogs and never comment or only sometimes do so i don't hate you for not commenting.

and now the rest of the post. since i start work monday i have some things to do before then. i have to get a bus pass (and if i can't get one on the cheap, i will just get some tickets). i have to get groceries because i can no longer do that during the week during the day (what better time to do groceries? there is none).

i'm lucky that m will be taking me to my new building sometime tomorrow to show me where to go. i don't want to be figuring it out at 8am monday morning. yuck. i just have to say this again - i will be cutting a whole hour off my commute every day! i am SO excited about this.

now let's back it up a little bit. thursday night was our first S&B of the new season (when it's cold it's easier to knit). it was great to see m's new apartment and to see the girls again. only two of us were knitting though and one of those girls was me! i'm back into it. yes, that's right. for the first time since my lumi died i picked up the needles and actually DID something. plus i need a scarf that will match my new coat ("new blue" is to replace "big blue", my old football jacket that someone made me throw away. new blue is leaking little white feathers all over the car. oops!). soon enough i will be knitting for the salvation army. you buy the wool and make the scarf/mitts/tuke and bring it back and they reimburse you for the wool. sounds like a good plan to me!

yesterday was lunch with alan. we had been meaning to get together for months and months, but finally did and i'm very happy about it. we went to a little place called the table. it's a vegetarian restaurant. SO good. i had my first real dose of tofu and i have to say that i was impressed. now i just have to learn to cook it myself. then j and i went to the gym and i worked myself extra hard. why? maybe it's because i don't have hockey this winter and i'm feeling a little strange about that. anyways, then we went to gracies west to meet up with the mazda3 boys. then to the market to meet up with some friends for matt's birthday. we went to a coffee shop/dessert place called oh so good and it was oh, so good. that was it for our night. j is working all weekend overtime, which means big bucks for us. whoowhooo!

new job!

how many times have i used that title for a post? anyways. i start my new job monday at nrcan. it's a short-term admin position, but with the possibility of extensions. i'm excited. it's something new and different and it's close to home. i can't stress this enough. i will not have to travel an hour each way taking three different busses. i will be on the road less than an hour a day total and only on one bus. what could be better? sweet!

and i just heard about a language test i have for another position, but this one is indeterminant, or term at least, with the government. biology something. i'm a biology something!

can you tell i'm feeling better? me too.

hit me baby one more time

will britney spears music ever get old? i'm kidding.

i had a phone interview just now. i think it went well and i should hear back soon. it's for a cr-04 position (admin assistant type) with nrcan. the pros are 1) it's a job and money, and 2) it's only one bus to get there instead of 3.

had anyone seen the RU the Girl show? it's tlc trying to find a new "L". as much as i don't like reality tv, except the biggest loser, i kind of like it. there's so much attitude.

i spent a lot of time this weekend scrapbooking. it feels good to get back into it. i have all the pictures so i just have to put them all together in albums. this weekend was also a lot of eating and seeing family and friends. but it didn't feel much like thanksgiving. maybe it's because we're both done school so there was no travelling back home, or thinking about studying for exams (and not studying of course). weird. i did eat a lot of turkey though. and our second annual friends potluck thanksgiving dinner was a success. a bit shrieky at times due to someone's new girlfriend, but it went well.

the last thing to mention is that i slept in until 1pm today. i am officially unemployed and loving it!

who was the best batman?

the turkey's in the oven. we're having our second annual friends potluck thanksgiving dinner. we have a limited number of chairs so don't fret if you didn't get an invite. and besides, we aren't very good at cooking turkey yet, so you're better off waiting a couple of years.

now that i'm no longer working i don't really care that it's a long weekend for the time off, but i'm glad it is the long weekend because it means jon will be home with me monday, and it means my brother is in town from toronto. i'm sure there are more good things that come this weekend as well, but those are the only two i can think of on the spot.

this week was great weather, but i was stuck inside sick as a dog. i have to thank jess for passing along the disease. she infected most of us at the wedding show. somehow jon came out unscathed. it's been awful. but i'm definitely on the mend.

i just got back a bunch of pictures and have some doubles. i have a huge backlog for scrapbooking and the time's right now that i'm unemployed and it's getting cooler outside. what could be better? i was toying with the idea of selling scrapbooking stuff as a job. then i laughed at myself and moved on. i'll wait for something else to come along. i have some leads that i can follow now that i don't feel like death.