Hello Again

I was planning to title this post The Dead Rise Again, but after just reading that Saddam Hussein was executed, I felt a need to pick a different title. I had a very odd sensation when I read that news article that I can't quite describe - but I do certainly wonder how it will affect the war.

As for why I haven't posted in a month - man, it's not been that fun. First, it started off with a nasty nasty cold. Then the death of a long time family friend of ovarian cancer (which let me tell you is NOT a good way to go. Less then 2 months from diagnosis to death.) Add in massive snow and wind storms, with power outages. My bedroom gets cold with no heat! Then there was the usual pre-Christmas rush, with pre-Christmas secrets and sewing projects. I made several sets of napkins and placemats, a nightie and a pair of boxers. The boxers were for me though. I didn't even bother putting up my tree this year, although I did put out my other Christmas decorations. My cold returned even worse than the first time around, probably due to lack of sleep, and I missed a day at work.

As Christmas approached, I was feeling better and my spirits were lifting - I was in the Christmas zone. I was really excited about most of the presents I had bought or made (especially the pantsuit I bought my mom). The week before Christmas, I went to my dad's side's family Christmas that I hadn't been to in 3 years. Much fun - although my 90 year great auntie didn't believe me when I said who I was. Not sure who she thought I was, but apparently I am not me. Christmas Eve at my mom's mom's house was really nice, although one of my uncles' family did not come because they were sick. My three year old cousin had "recovered" so his mom and he came. Christmas Day was great! Presents were lovely (books! happy books! A new hiking pack and sewing stuff!). The suit I bought my mom fit! My dad laughed at the note I included with the tool I had got him (he'll need it to fix something at my house). Our usual Christmas Day open house was nice and there were 10 people over for turkey dinner. Unfortunately, about 9pm that night, the PLAGUE that my little cousin had supposedly recovered from hit me. And my sister. And I later heard that it also got my parents, 3 uncles, 1 aunt, 2 cousins and my grandmother.... And by plague I mean a norwalk like virus. Ever had it? Then you know... If not, I don't wish this on anyone, not even my worst enemy. The only positive thing I can say - I didn't gain any weight over the holidays. The weird thing - that damn cold is back! It's a super-cold.

I have minor plans for the New Years, all depending on how I feel. I still get tired very very easily. I'm thinking dinner at my parents for their annual New Year's Eve dinner (cornish game hens, so yummy) and possibly followed by a house party if I'm still awake.

Best wishes to all of you for the New Year!

So that massive storm we had last week led to the largest boil water advisory in Canadian history. My area only had the warning for a day, but it's still ongoing where my parents live. I was up there on the weekend, and it's just nasty looking. Somewhere past tea coloured and heading towards coffee. Blech. I tend to drink a lot of pop when I'm at their place anyway.

My weekend was full of craft fairs again. Three actually, including a 'Swedish Christmas Market' that my dad got a big kick out. Lots of things that reminded him of his childhood apparently. There were definitely quite a few things that are part of our family's Christmas - straw reindeer, winter gnomes, angel candle chimes, rye bread. No hardtack though, but we did share a bowl of rice pudding.

Went to the Canucks game Sunday night with Rodney - the ticket was my birthday present. Great game - 2 to 1 for the Canucks. I wore my 1990-ish Canucks jersey and cheered for the home team. I kinda want a Trevor Linden jersey :) I wonder how conflicted I'll feel at the January game when the Canucks play the Oilers.

Rambleness

Poor Fuzzy, I think he's had a very hard day. I came home to find him huddled on the kitchen counter, in the corner between the knife block and the cutting boards. The Lower Mainland got hit with a massive rain and wind storm and it was crazy loud. On top of that, my building was testing all the fire protection equipment. When I left for work, Fuzz was hiding under the bed where he had been since my apartment alarms were tested. He's currently sleeping next to my office heater.

I had a really nice long weekend. 4 days off! A friend from Edmonton was in town, so we made plans with him. Friday night, we went for drinks at a bar near my place. We were hoping to play pool, but there was only 1 pool cue for 2 tables. We did get to play a few games though. Saturday, my sister and I went to the Circle Craft fair at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibit Hall. There were a lot of amazing things there - it was more of an artisan fair than a traditional craft fair. We bought a teacup shaped clay clock for my parents' as a gift for their anniversary (my mum is a tea junkie) and we each bought another item for Christmas gifts. Saturday night, R/F and Marc (the friend from Edmonton) came over for some board games. Sunday, my sister and I hit the gym together and had tea with my grandmother (what can I say...it runs in the family). That night, we took my parents out for dinner. I have no idea what I did Monday...I think it involved reading, sleeping and being lazy.

Last post, I mentioned a singer named Shawn Hlookoff. Turns out there is also a guy who sells real estate in my area by the same name! Never heard that last name before and now I've heard of two different guys in one week with it.

Ah ha! I finally remembered my reason for posting mid-week. Today is the three month mark for my moving to BC. Three months. It feels longer. But the nice part is... three months! Benefits kick in! Woohoo!

One last thing - I have a date on Saturday :)

Remembrance Day

In Flanders Fields
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918), Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.



This poem was written the day after one of McCrae's closest friends, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, was killed.


Today I remember my family: Len G., Eddie J. and Bob D., who all fought in World World II and were fortunate enough to come home.

And today I think of my friends: Alan R. and Todd M., who have chosen to stand up for us now.

And I remember the 42 Canadian soldiers who have given their lives in Afghanistan. The 516 Canadians that died in the Korean War and the 27,000 that served. The 45,615 Canadians that died in WWII and the 1.1 million that served. The 68,260 Canadians that died in WWI and the 620,000 that served. And the 116 Canadians that died on peacekeeping missions and the more than 125,000 that served and still serve.

Thank you.

Lest we forget....


If you would like to hear a modern day tribute to soldiers, check out Shawn Hlookoff and listen to his song titled Soldier.

Great week, although I spent a lot of it in traffic. Glad I decided to live closer to work because I could not do a long commute every day.

I went to up my parents on Hallowe'en and handed out candy to the 45 trick or treaters that came to their door. One little girl really stood out - I was wearing my old witch/vampire/Hades dress from 1995 and she was so excited that we were both dressed as witches. Some of the pumpkins did not survive a weekend of shrinkage but my dad put most of them out in the yard and they looked great. He got a lot of compliments on his decorations.

On Thursday, I went to my parents again for a birthday of chinese food and ice cream cake (sooo yummy). It was great having a birthday dinner with my family and my grandmothers - first time in 11 years. I got lovely presents too, several books and videos and a 19" LCD monitor!! Anyone need a perfectly functional 16" (I think. Is that an actual size?) old style (CRT?) AOC monitor? It would help a lot if you were in BC though... *L* Rod also gave me his old cd drive to replace my broken one so my computer is actually in complete working order for the first time in months. And there is space on my desk!

Saturday, I went to a party at Shivauna's house, met some more new people. Yay, socialness! Much fun was had.

I start my sessions with a personal trainer (decided I needed someone to yell at me, motivation is currently lacking) in the morning so I should go to bed.

Pumpkins!

I had an absolute blast this weekend. Yesterday, I had people over for a night of pumpkin carving.... at my parents' house. *L* So why there? My dad really, really, really gets into Hallowe'en. His yard is decorated to the nth degree. The last few years my sister has carved several pumpkins herself to add to his collection and she didn't want to do it alone. I thought it would be great to make an evening of it. I asked my parents if they would mind if I invited some people over for dinner (hamburgers on the BBQ, made by Dad) and pumpkin carving. They said it was fine. I sent out a few emails, invited some cousins and some friends, told them to bring their own pumpkin if they wanted to carve one and my dad would gladly adopt it if it needed a home. I honestly did not think everyone would say yes. Most people seem to roll their eyes when I mention pumpkin carving, but this year people got into it. Although apparently the chance to have one of "Uncle Ron's" burgers was a huge draw. 15 people! I had tons of fun. Before people came, we covered the floor with tarps just in case, put up two long tables and every chair in the house. We had burgers first (soooo yummy) and then cleared off the tables for the pumpkins! Some people used stencils, some people went classic and Rod went highly creative. He made one pumpkin look like two hands clinging to the bars of a jail cell and he peeled a second pumpkin to make this glowing orb/disco ball thingie. Very odd. I carved three (my dad bought 7 pumpkins and I bought 2, so there were lots as most people also brought one or two), two classics and one using a stencil of a skull. I think 17 pumpkins got carved and my dad was left with almost all of them! I can't wait to see how he's added them to his display. And yes, there are pictures. You know where.

Today was just a quiet day of running errands, going to the gym, sewing. The usual. I'm looking forward to this week - Hallowe'en and my birthday!! Really, it's my favourite week of the year. I get to have ice cream cake!

Oh yes - earlier this week, Fuzzy's friends came visiting him again. My poor little indoor kitty gets taunted by these two outdoor kitties who just want him to come play. Well, one does anyway. I think the white fluffy one is spoiling for a fight. Anyway, I got a great pic of one of the visits!

Bowen

I had an absolutely fabulous day. I met up with my family, took a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Bowen Island and spent the day outdoors. Amazing weather! It was the perfect fall day - the sun was shining, there was very little wind, and it got warm enough that I didn't even need a coat for most of the day (I was wearing a light sweater). We spent about three hours walking along the trails on the island, from the ferry dock up Alder Grove Trail to Killarney Lake Loop and coming back through the Meadow Trail. We had our brown bag lunches at the end of Killarney Lake, about our halfway point. I'm guessing about 8km, but I'm not too sure. We ended our hike with the ritual ice cream before we boarded the ferry back to the mainland. I took some really great pictures I think, as usual posted on my website . There is this really cool pic of a dragonfly, who was too wet to fly away while I took his photo.

I went back with my parents to their house and helped my dad with his Hallowe'en decorations for a while before supper. To say my dad gets into the Hallowe'en thing would be an incredible understatement. I haven't seen it in person for years obviously, so it was cool to help him. Can't wait until it's done and I can check it out. I wish I wasn't working that night, it would be a lot of fun to hand out candy.

Saturday was a pretty slow day for me, but nice anyway. I spent the day cleaning and chatting on the phone. Got to talk to both Erin and Lori and it was very very nice to catch up. I want to congratulate Erin again for finishing her half marathon earlier this month, with the fantastic time of 2:09:07. Just in case I haven't made it clear, I'm very impressed. 21 km. Eep. I also want to share the exciting news that Baby M has added both crayon and table to his vocab! It sucks not getting to see him grow, but I have to admit that this Vancouver thing is working out for me quite well.

Trying to think if anything else happened this week that I can share - sewing? Did some. Work? Yep, I went. Have stories, can't tell them as usual. Gym? Still there.... Going to try to crank up my work outs this week and I plan to get a personal trainer. My motivation has been lacking and I think I'm going to need someone kicking my ass through the Christmas season.

Delayed post

Oops, forgot to post last night. I was very very sleepy if that will serve as an excuse.

I had a great week at work as it was only 3 days long. My favourite kind of work week! I have now officially finished all my training. Very cool.

I also had a really nice weekend. Spent a relaxing Friday pretty much doing nothing. Had a massage, sewed a lot. Saturday, I had lunch with my sister, my cousins and Shivauna at a really nice sushi restaurant. We ordered a bunch of different rolls - a yam roll (very very tasty), a caterpillar roll (based on appearance, not contents - it has layers of avocado across the top), a spider roll (again on appearance - it has crab legs sticking out of each end, very creepy but tasty), california roll, and something else that I can no longer remember. Later that day, Shivauna and I went up to a party in Squamish at her friend's house. I had a great time, met some new people, went hot tubbing. We stayed the night (we had brought sleeping bags), and drove home in the morning. Even with the low clouds and rain, the view up there is just amazing. Lots of construction taking place on that road, but it has improved since the last time I remember going up there. Sunday, I had lunch with Rod and Fancy at a restaurant near their place.

Almost finished the first of my Christmas projects. This one is for me, so I don't know if it even counts. I have bought so much fabric lately. I need to ban myself from fabric stores again.

Andrea gave me some books to lend to Rod - Belgarath and Polgara. I decided to read them first *L*. I read the Belgariad and the Mallorean (I think I got those right), but never had any urge to read any more. But I have a very low TBR pile right now, and these just fell into my hands.

Ack, forgot to put my laundry in the dryer.

food is tasty

Should have typed this earlier, I'm too tired now. I love long weekends. I don't have to go to work tomorrow!

And... it's Turkey Weekend. On Saturday, I had people over to my house for dinner. My sister came over early and we cooked the meal together. 5.85 kg turkey, bread stuffing with onions, celery and carrots, yams in a brown sugar and orange juice glaze, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, buns and salad. For dessert, we made apple tarts in phyllo pastry. Shivauna also made a great peach and blueberry cobbler. A nice basic dinner for eight :)

Sunday night, I had a big family dinner at my grandmother's with even more dishes. There was a pureed yam and apple side dish and a pineapple fluff dessert that I really need to get the recipes for. Yummy.

I could type about sewing and going to the gym, but now all I can think about is food.

Kudos go out to Erin today. I haven't talked to her yet so I don't know how it went, but today was the Victoria half-marathon. I'm sure she did great, but in any event, congrats for being ambitious enough to even contemplate it!

Wow, October First already.....

I had a pretty nice weekend. Friday, I had a little adventure. I drove to Langley. Ok, so it's just the next community over but a big deal for me as I hate to drive places I haven't been. I needed to hit fabricland and it was the closest one (I think....) I had to turn LEFT across Hwy 10. *whines* People are scary. Construction zones are horrifying. I like being a passenger better, but I love being able to go when I want to go. I spent the rest of the day sewing and figured out how to heat my apartment this winter. Using the iron and the halogen lamp in my sewing room makes that room darn hot. Hothothot. I worked on pillows for my couch/day bed thingie. I only had enough scraps from the curtains (which I finished earlier this week) to make one 18" pillow. I also made 2 22" pillows and another 18" one, using the same fabric as the old 16" cushions I have. I need so many pillows to make the day bed narrower so I can actually lean against the cushions and have my feet on the floor.

Saturday, I met up with friends and went to the Telus World of Science. We saw an Imax movie on Greece and went to the Body Worlds 3 exhibit. If you haven't heard of it, it's an "stunning exhibit featuring almost 200 authentic human specimens preserved using the extraordinary method of Plastination". Donated human bodies. I know it sounds really morbid, but I found it hard to remember that they were real and not just incredibly detailed models. Although I found it really interesting, I only spent an hour looking at the exhibit. It was really crowded and I didn't find that part enjoyable. I think I would have spent more time if I had gone on a Wednesday instead of a Saturday. I also thought it was over priced. If it had just been the regular Science World price, I would have been fine, but it was an extra 10 bucks for the special exhibit.

Saturday night, Rod and I went to a pre-season hockey game at GM Place, Canucks versus the Oilers. It was so strange to be cheering for the away team! Nice game, with the Oilers taking it in overtime. Today was a quiet day. I had tea at my grandma's, went to the gym, and finished the last of my couch pillows. Onto the next project! Well, tomorrow anyway....

I feel like complaining

If you are one of the very few people who read this and have been to my house, you know my toilets are very very hard to flush. You have to push hard on the handle to an effort to defeat the vacuum seal in the tank. Earlier this week I broke the handle off! I can still flush, but I have to lift the lid to do so.

Bah.

Saw Gridiron Gang last night with my sister. I give it 3 out of 5, but I admit to liking sports movies in general. Even when they star The Rock. But the movie led to other things that bug me:

People who think their views on the movie DURING the movie will add to my entertainment experience.

Morons who can't disconnect for two whole hours and text message throughout the movie. Although I actually think this particular guy was perhaps recording the movie onto his cell phone because he kept holding it above his head. The blue light from the screen is so distracting!

And my popcorn was really salty!!

Things that bug me as a driver:

Peope who don't use stop lines and like to drift out into traffic!!! Rolling stops are one thing, but dude, you nearly plowed into me and I'm the one on the main street. Used my horn for the first time.

Pedestrians who jay walk. I think I should be allowed to hit them. Especially the old lady with the WALKER who decided to jaywalk!!!

People who actually do 50 in an 80 zone. Seriously. On the highway. And no, there wasn't any traffic in front of him, just behind him....

I'm sure this list will grow....


Best rumour of the week, with a strong likelyhood of being TRUE since it is in offical court documents - Belinda Stronach, Liberal MP, and Tie Domi, Toronto Leafs enforcer, having an affair! Man, I laughed out loud....

blahblahblah

Excellent news - I finally finished my living room curtains! I think I like them, but I'm not 100% sure yet. I still have to make the matching roman shade for the patio door and possibly some cushions for the couch (aka the spare bed...). Then I'm moving onto my Christmas projects! Yes, that's right. I have a long list of things I want to make and a large number of them involve my favourite thing of all - hand sewing.

I had a really nice weekend. I had Friday off and spent it running errands and I went shopping with my mum. Friday night, my high school girl friends and I had a sleepover. Very old school, much laughing involved. Saturday, my sister, Rod, Fancy and I tried an Italian restaurant near my house. I thought it was quite good, but when they warn you of large portions, they really mean it. I think I could share a pasta dish with 3 people. We played a few board games after dinner and my sister stayed over. This morning, we went for a workout and a swim and then I spent the rest of the day sewing.

So I must say after a week of being a car owner, I'm loving it. The fall weather is settling in and it was very sweet being able to get groceries without having to walk in the rain. No twenty five minute waits at creepy bus stations! No two hour ride to see my parents. Of course, I haven't filled up the tank yet, so we will see how much I love it after that.

Random points

I desperately need a break from sewing my curtains. I'm currently trying to turn a 15 foot long tube of fabric right side out to make curtain tabs and it's very boring. These curtains are taking forever. So much fabric! One panel is mostly done, except for the tabs and the bottom hem, but the second panel still needs side and top hems. I can't believe how much thread I'm going through.

I had a nasty moment this evening. I was walking into the kitchen when I saw a dark spot in the corner. At first I thought I had dropped something, but then it moved. Another damn spider - this one about an inch and a half wide. And bulky, not delicate like a daddy long legs. I used my boot to kill it. Why doesn't my cat torture and murder them like most pets I've had before?

Vancouver weather hit on Saturday for the first time since I moved here. I actually took my umbrella when I ran my errands. It felt like fall - a light rain, crunchy brown leaves beneath my feet as I walked. Of course, today was summer again, gorgeous and warm.

I had a nice weekend, even with the little bit of rain. I spent Saturday cooking for my first dinner party in my new place. I had my grandmothers, a family friend, my parents and my sister over for salad, homemade dinner rolls, roast chicken with rosemary, thyme and lemon, roast potatoes and carrots, green beans, and pavlova with strawberries and blueberries. First time I made a roast chicken, but since I've made turkeys, I figured it had to be pretty much the same. I think everything turned out well and I was especially proud of the pavlova since I rarely bake. Today I made chicken stock from the leftovers so I can make soup sometime.

I went to the gym this morning and had a good workout - in addition to my usual, I went swimming and swam slightly more than the distance needed for the sprint triathlon in March. I need to half my time though, so I will have to really concentrate on swimming. I'm thinking about taking adult swim lessons so I can actually learn to do it properly. Maybe in October or November as I'm already taking a weight training class starting later this month. I did learn something valuable today - if I go for a run first, I need to stretch before going in the pool, otherwise the cold water results in hideous leg cramps. Much ouchie.

Ah yes - my big news. You may have noticed my whining about the transit system. I gave in to convenience (seriously, 2 hour bus rides?) and safety worries (25 minute waits in the dark, in crappy neighbourhoods) and got a car! It's a 1998 Ford Escort, in green. It's in really great condition, with only 97000 kms on it. I really like it and it's very comfortable to drive. Funny that I got an Escort though - my first car was a 1993 Escort in blue. I thought I'd maybe like something like an Echo or a Focus, but out of all the cars I test drove (I only drove cars in my price range, no point in dreaming), the Escort was my favourite. Now I just have to be careful not to turn into one of those people who drive to the corner store.

Long Weekend

Phew. This long weekend actually felt long. This was probably my first real long weekend in years since I was working part time before and frequently had several days off in a row. When I was working nights, I worked every second weekend no matter what. So technically this weekend was a three day break. How come I don't feel rested?

I woke up on Saturday almost an hour earlier than my usual workday as I had an early morning appointment (after staying up to 330am reading Time Traveler's Wife - great book!). When I got home, I spent a few hours cleaning before hopping on a bus for the two hour ride to my grandmother's - a bus, the skytrain, the seabus and another bus. Oh the joy. It was worth it though, as I had a lovely cup of tea (what can I say, we're British!), a piece of chocolate cake and a long chat with her. My parents and sister picked me up from there and we went to the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE). It's a lot like K-days - rides, a midway, exhibition halls and performers. We wandered around for hours, had supper listening to some mandolin players, watched the Superdogs (way more amusing than I thought possible), resisted spending a fortune on useless junk, and ended the night with an ice cream cone.

My sister came home with me and spent the weekend at my house. We went for a workout and a swim Sunday morning, checked out the mall, had Rod and Fancy over for some board games, and watched Hidalgo. Monday morning, we took the bus back to my parents (AGAIN) and met up with them and grandmother for a walk through Lynn Valley Headwaters - a really incredible area. We went for about four hours, and had lunch in a sunny spot in the middle of the forest. Lots of people on the trails as the weather was gorgeous.

I've been trying to make curtains for my living room but haven't got very far. So much fabric to fold and iron and hem. I want to finish them by Saturday though as I'm hoping to have my first dinner party. I'll have to make a serious effort!

Fuzzy is famous!

I submitted a pic of fuzz to a comedy/pet website and it got posted.

Hopefully this link will work - Stuff on my Cat .

End of My Second Week Here

Well, I guess it's official. Today was the end of my first week at my new job. Good news - I think I like it. (This is where I typed a bunch of job stuff, remembered my confidentiality agreement and deleted it. I'm sure it was fine as there was no patient information or mention of company policy, but hey, you never know.)

So the only thing that sucks about my job is the getting there! The bus system out here is not good at all - it takes at least 2 buses to get anywhere. On my very first day my bus got stuck in a traffic jam due to an accident and I ended up missing my connection. So I decided to take a cab to make sure I wasn't late. Not on my first day! Coming home is very annoying as I have a 20 minute wait for my second bus. Not that it would make a difference, but I should write translink and ask them to run that bus every 15 minutes instead of every half hour. Every time I take it, it's packed full, barely any standing room left.

I haven't done much else this week, just a few things around my new place. Tomorrow I plan to join the gym and get a library card. Buy some curtain rods to make living room curtains. Still need to get my bike tire fixed. I'm also planning to visit my grandmothers as I haven't seen them yet. Sounds like a thrilling weekend!

The Long Blog

Well, I'm more or less settled in and thought it was time for an update! So much has happened in the 9 days since my last post....

Last Saturday, I spent the day running around Edmonton, getting a bunch of last minute things done. One of which was getting a haircut - I loved my stylist and I hate the thought of trying to find a new one who knows what do with my thick wavy hair that does not like humidity. That night, I went to BPs on Whyte for one last gathering. Most of my friends managed to make it and I spent the night chatting away. It was really great seeing everyone before I left, although I was so tired from packing that I went home not long after midnight.

Sunday was full of last minute packing and taking apart furniture to have it all ready to go in the morning. Dad and I went out for supper on Whyte as I had a craving for Julio's nachos. Yummmm. We also went for a walk through my old neighbourhood before heading home.

Monday morning, I woke up at 430am, ready and raring to go. We couldn't pick up the truck until 8am so there wasn't a lot I could do at that point!! The loading up went really well, as Rob, Lori and Baby M came over to help. Baby M was so cute. He walked up and down the hallways with us as we took down carts of boxes for my Dad and Rob to load. I honestly didn't know how it was all going to fit into a 16 foot truck but somehow my dad figured it out. I can't imagine what he would have done if I had kept the ancient couch!

We were ready to go about 1230, and after a few almost tearful hugs and the stuffing of one cat into a cage, we were on the road. We had lots of healthy and unhealthy snacks for the road - sandwiches, fruit, cold pop, water, licorice. What it is about road trips that give me the munchies?? Fuzz cried for a little over an hour, mostly while we drove out of the city. He didn't take long to settle down after we got on the highway, but he was clearly sulking. He sat right at the back of his box with this attitude of "If you're going to ignore me, I'm going to ignore you too". Our first stop was in Hinton, after about 3.5 hours on the road. Just a quick washroom break and a diesel fill up. The weather started getting crazy after that and we went through some very very very heavy rain. After another 3 hours or so, we stopped in Blue River just to get out of the truck and use the washroom again (must.stop.drinking.liquid). As we were driving out of there, a lightning storm started up. It was amazing, although quite freaky. We actually saw a lightning bolt strike the side of the mountain and start a fire. We would have called it in, but no cell service of course. From there, the weather got even crazier. Even heavier rain and large hail. It was so bad at one point that we couldn't even see the front of the truck and my dad had to pull over. It looked like the road was flooding out in spots. Once we got going again, we drove through a section that had had so much hail, it looked like it snowed. We pulled into Kamloops around 10pm Alberta time, so roughly 9 hours of driving. Fuzz started crying when we got back into the city, I think because of the stop and go motions of the truck. We got diesel so we wouldn't need it in the morning and it took two tries to find a vacant hotel. We stayed over night at the Best Western and Fuzz was very excited to get out of his cage. He explored the room for a bit and settled in pretty well. The next morning I was up by 5am BC time. We had decided to have breakfast at the hotel's restaurant before leaving and it didn't even open until 6, so once again I was awake too early! After breakfast, we went back to our room and I was surprised by how easily Fuzz went back into his cage. He clearly didn't like it, but he hardly fought at all. Once back in the truck, he didn't cry for the first half hour and then he got really cranky. He kept crying and sticking his paw out the bars at the front, which he hadn't done at all the day before. At one point when I leaned down to check on him, I realized the floor was really hot. We were going through a really mountainous area and the engine was obviously working too hard. For the next 4 hours, I kept his cage on my lap. We drove straight through to the Lower Mainland and my new apartment!

The first thing I did when I got here was find a good place to put Fuzz's litter box and let him out inside the laundry room. After that, I actually got a look around. It's a really nice place - 1083 square feet, 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a breakfast nook, a galley kitchen and a long living room/dining room with a gas fireplace. Only problem - smells like cat pee. The previous renters clearly had pets with problems. The first time my dad viewed the apartment, the carpets were being cleaned so it smelled like rug cleaner. The second time they were painting. Not much I can do really, although I've spent the last few days using stain remover, odour remover and carpet deodorizer. I think I've weakened it, or perhaps I'm just adapting. If I invite people over for supper, I'll just make really strong smelling food to drown it out :)

The unloading went great as one of my uncles helped us. 6 days later, everything but my china is unpacked and that will be finished tonight. My dad's helped me with a bunch of things like putting my furniture back together, hanging pictures and extra shelves, and a few little fix-its. My landlord is away for a few weeks so I haven't met him yet.

I've also explored my neighbourhood and it looks really great - lots of shopping and restaurants within walking distance. I've found the bank, the library and the gym (although I haven't joined yet, it's on the list of things to do this week). I took the bus to my new job to make sure I know how to get there. Long ride, but not really that bad. I like to read anyway.

I've already seen my friends a couple of times - Rod and Fancy stopped by Wednesday night to check out the new place. There was a party at Shivauna's house Friday night so I got to see the girls and meet some of her friends. My sister came too. Saturday I had dinner at my parents' house and my sister and I went to see Snakes on the Plane. Honestly, it was the most entertaining movie I have seen in a long time. Five stars. Worth every penny. I'm mildly scared of snakes, although I wouldn't freak out if I saw one here since we basically only have garter snakes. So I jumped about a million times during the movie, screaming and laughing at the same time. I highly highly recommend seeing it - no, it's not a classic in sense of Gone With The Wind, but I think it will definitely be a cult classic along the lines of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

My new job starts in the morning! Nervous. I think it will be what makes this move feel real though. It doesn't yet. Sure, I'm in my own place, but it feels a bit like a vacation still. I have this feeling of "i'll be going home soon". I'm sure I won't by 5pm tomorrow though!

Live From Edmonton

Well amigos, I have a feeling I'll be packing up my beloved computer tomorrow so I thought I should make one last blog post from Edmonton.

I had a really nice day today, my last day at work. When I came in this morning, there were some signs posted around saying Good Luck/Farewell etc. I also had a vase full of carnations and baby's breath on my bench! I spent the day training my replacement and then we had an afternoon coffee break with cake and lots of treats. My co-workers gave me some cards, a company water bottle, a company bag, a HBC gift card and a really nice wall plaque. It was lovely. I got a bit teary as everyone was saying goodbye. I worked there for 6.5 years as I started right after I graduated from university.

Can't help reminiscing about all my time here in Edmonton. It will be just two weeks shy of 11 years. I moved here at the end of August 1995 and moved into Lister Hall. I remember the first person I met (Donald, wearing a white and purple bathrobe) and my first Edmonton bar (BPs). I remember Lori insisting we had to go to MH to met those cute guys. My obsession with checking my messages. The time I shaved my eyebrows. And my head. Manson's fish killing spree. The Goddard-Baydak Discipline Centre. My first real apartment with the weird stain on the kitchen floor, but so conveniently located across the street from BPs. My first big move when I moved downtown, where for the first time everything I owned didn't fit into the back seat of a car. I love my current apartment, can't believe I've lived here for almost 6 years. Kind of odd that it finally looks like I've always wanted it too, and I've sold it. But it's time to go home. I only meant to stay for university, but when I graduated, I wasn't ready to leave the life I had built here. All my friends. I really loved my years here in Edmonton, but I just feel a need to be closer to my family. When they were here in April, I almost left with them then. I tried to get to them to move out here, but my mother has serious issues with Alberta weather.

It will be nice to be home, but it will be weird too. 11 years gone. Glad I have my own place and I don't have to live with my parents!! I just can't believe there is only 2 full days left....

one new thing done

I have an announcement.

I, who willingly admits to being the greatest yellow bellied chicken in existence, finally overcome my fear and rode Marc's motorcycle tonight.

Yeah, I'll probably never do that again.

All we did was ride around the parking lot and my little side street, but any time he got over 30, I had to yell at him to slow down. My hands still hurt from clutching at the little handhold bars.

Can't believe I rode a motorbike.

As for the rest - packing still continues! ARGHHHHHHHHH! Only two more days left work. 4 days to go...

An Unexciting Update

Really not much to say, unless you want me to go into detail regarding my packing. It's painful! I don't consider myself to be a packrat at all, so how do I have so much stuff? And I gave 2 boxes away to a garage sale this past week, and quite a bit to charity when we did the renos. It's going okay, but there is still a lot to do. But now I'm at the point where I wonder if I can pack the object in question. Will I need this lamp in the next week? How many plates/glasses/items of clothing should I leave out?

And then there was the exciting moment when I couldn't find my thick black marker and I realized I had packed it in the box I just sealed....

In other thrilling news, I finished my antibiotics. Yeehaw.

Went for a long walk with Erin and Kim today. From Whyte and 109 Street down to Hawerlak (hmm, that looks wrong, apparently I've never looked at the sign) Park for a wander through the Heritage Days tents, across the river and up Victoria Park hill and down to 110 St. They split off to go have supper (and then walk back), but I had an appointment in Oliver Square. Almost 3 hours. And I went to the gym this morning. Good girl.

Ok, enough boring news. Make me pack more.

Happy News!

I got an apartment!!!!! I haven't seen it obviously, but my dad viewed it and said it was really nice. I found it through an online ad in the Vancouver Sun. What I know about it - 2 bedroom, 2 bath, ground floor condo apartment with a patio, insuite laundry and dishwasher. Takes cats! It even has two parking spots which will be nice for visitors. It's available for the 15th so there will be no awkwardness with the move. Just leave here on the 14th and take my stuff straight there.

*happy dance of joy*

If you want my new contact info, just send me an email!

Two weeks to go

It's been a long two weeks. A couple of days after Erin's stagette, I started feeling achy and tired. At first I thought it was just a summer cold, but it was very unpleasant. I went home early on Wednesday because I so tired. Worked Thursday, but called in sick Friday because my throat was so sore I could barely swallow. On Saturday it felt like I tried to swallow a golf ball and it got stuck. I thought about going to a medicentre to see a doctor, but on Sunday it seemed to be getting a bit better. Besides, I figured it was probably viral and there was nothing they could do for me. I went to work Monday because I didn't feel sick - my throat was still a bit sore but other than that, I thought I was fine. An hour after I started work, I started feeling dizzy and passed out. We have an employee nurse on staff and she came and took me to the first aid room. Apparently, my blood pressure was 88/56. Pretty low. After I recovered enough to walk, I went to a medicentre. Had my throat swabbed since it still hurt, my pressure taken again (98/60, coming up!), and blood collected. They called me on Tuesday (I stayed home again) and told me I had an infection. Yep, figured that out. Wednesday they called (I went to work that day) and it turns out I had strep throat. Never had that before, never ever want to again. I started antibiotics that day and my throat stopped hurting Thursday. Antibiotics are wonderful!!!

So other than being sick, I haven't much to say. Was mildly social with Erin and Kim on Friday - we went to the gym, out for coffee and then visited the boys who had a Starcraft tournament. It tired me out though and I spent Saturday sleeping. Apparently I wasn't quite all the way well yet. Felt okay today though and went to the gym again with Erin.

Haven't got much packing done since I felt so horrible. Most of my books are packed though and that's a decent dent. My 1970s fabulous couch and matching chair are gone now. I donated them to a friend's garage sale and they were picked up on Thursday. I think they were the very first thing I bought when I moved out of rez, but I'm not sure. I can't remember if Nancy (my first roommate) had a couch when we lived on Whyte. I do remember that I got the couch, the chair, a coffee table and 2 end tables for 100 bucks though - what a deal :) I have my Ikea day bed/spare bed in the living room now so I can have somewhere to sit. It looks quite odd, but it works for now.

Oh, and the condo has been sold. Had three offers the night after the first sale went through, all very close to each other. Accepted one and it was final that week. Good news. Still working on the place to live part, hoping to hear good news tomorrow.

Only 2 weeks left before the move. Eep.

The One Where Erin and Todd Get Married

This post is just to send out my best wishes to Erin and Todd, who are getting married this afternoon. Congratulations to both of you!

A health to you,
A wealth to you,
And the best that life can give to you.
May fortune still be kind to you.
And happiness be true to you,
And life be long and good to you,
Is the toast of all your friends to you.

moving details update

I ache absolutely everywhere. I'm hoping it is just tension and that I'm not getting sick. Tension? Why tension? A million little details of course, and a few major ones.

First, the condo sale fell through yesterday. My realtor told me at 5pm and by 730pm, there were already 3 showings lined up for today. Which meant some frantic cleaning (ok, my place is pretty good, but I'd been shredding documents and had confetti everywhere. Not to mention the ol' litter box.) I think there was 5-6 showings in total and I had 3 offers again tonight. I accepted one of them so hopefully it's taken care of it for good this time.

I still don't have a place to live in BC yet, but my mum filled out a rental application for me today. I think it was a place I found in Vancouver Sun and she viewed it today. First place she's liked out of the ones I've had her go to, so hopefully they pick me! 2 bedroom apartment in New West, takes cats. That last part is all that really matters to me!

In the good news category, I won Cracker Cats tickets at work. My first and last Cracker Cat game will be Thursday. I haven't been to a baseball game since I was a kid. My poppa used to take us. Trying to remember if I liked it...

I think I'm going to be lame and go to bed before 10pm.

The Weekend

Wow - what a weekend. Friday night, Lori and I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I really enjoyed it but I hate when a Part II movie ends on such a note that you forced to see Part III (and spend a year waiting for it!). It was really great hanging out with Lori and I hope we get to hang out a bunch more in the next couple of weeks. Before the movie, she came over and raided my Wee Book Inn and garage sale boxes. I'm being absolutely ruthless with what I take with me. It must serve a purpose.

Saturday night was Erin's stagette, arranged by her friends Jamie and Anne. Great night out. We started out at Erin's house where they gave her a hot dog toaster as a gift! I had no idea they even made those. They then gave her the traditional stagette gifts to wear - tiara, beads, blowup doll etc. First, we went to Pub 1905 for a few beers and burgers. Then off to Cook County! We had a stagette package so the price included quite a few free drinks and a bottle of nasty champagne. I danced to the few non-country songs they played, but Erin two-stepped quite a bit. Lots of fun.

The weekend before we had a kind of bridal shower/girls' day out for Erin. Erin, Kim, Kate and I went for a 3 hr hike in the Elk Island National Park, followed by a picnic. We then wandered around the interpretive area, and joined a bunch of kids in a lakeside program where we caught some water life - minnows, leeches, snails and various bugs. It was strangely fun! We drove back to the city (it's about an hour from my place), had showers at our individual homes to get rid of the layers of sunscreen and bug spray, and then went out for supper on Whyte. Just a casual, lovely day.

Pics are posted as usual :)

The Camping Entry

All pics are posted on my website, check them out if you feel like it.

The following entry is my nightly journal typed up.

Thursday, June 29

Left North Van this morning only a bit after our intended target of 9am. It was funny though - we stopped to get Shivauna and we all got out while S finished getting things. AJ and I got back in the car with dad and he pulled away - without Shivauna. She'd gone back inside for a last minute bathroom break.
It was about a 2.5 hour drive to Lightning Lakes in Manning Park. Nothing eventful. Got spot #30, looks very nice. After setup and lunch, S, Dad, AJ and I went for a bit of a walk around the parking lot to Lone Duck Beach and then to Lightning Lakes Day Use Area and back. Very pretty. Lots of hoary marmots.
After supper, S, Dad, AJ and I drove to the Rein Orchard Trail and went for about a 20 minute walk. Had hot dogs and marshmallows around the campfire and went to bed about 11pm. Rained during the night.

Friday, June 30

Hiked Heather Trail to just before the First Brother/Third Brother junction. About 9.5km in/9.5km out. Drove to the upper parking lot, hiked down to Buckhorn Wilderness Camp and then UPUPUP to the Bonnevier junction. Then from the junction across the meadows to just before the First Brother junction and had lunch. Then back, downdowndown and a little bit more upupup. I spent a lot of time looking at flowers - western anemone, glacier lily, red indian paintbrush, yellow cinquefoil, blue lupine and others I can't identify. Million pics. Took us about 5.5 to 6 hrs. Fell asleep on the drive down.
Just being hanging out at camp since. Going for a walk around camp after dinner.

Saturday, July 1

Hiked around the Lightning Lakes Chain. From Spruce Bay, down the west side to Flash Lake, around Flash, up along Lightning again to Lone Duck. Didn't see too many people until we got close to the Lightning Lake Day Use area. Tons of people there. We also saw deer.
I actually went for a run after dinner! About 1.5km I think, so not very far, but I did go at least.

Sunday, July 2

Today was Strawberry Flats/Three Falls. About 9km. The first section through Strawberry Flats was very flat with lots of flowers. Shadow Falls was okay, then downhill to Nepopekum Falls (which was across the river, so fairly far away), then more downhill to Derek Falls (nice!). Had to cross 2 talus slopes (rock falls). We had lunch at Derek, sitting on the rocks, then back uphill to Shadow and through Strawberry Flats back to the car.
Just spent the afternoon reading and lying in the sun. The squirrels and marmots got very brave and were running up to us.

Monday, July 3

Did Skagit River trail today, starting at the Sumallo Grove to the 6km marker. We took 2 side trips, one to see an old cabin,Ford truck,mine entrance and waterfall. The other was about 10-15 minutes along a very unmarked trail, uphill, to see the rhondrodren grove, but the rhondrodrens we passed were not in bloom and we decided to turn back before reaching the heart of the grove as the trail was becoming very narrow and very uphill. Lots of logs to go over or under. Most of the main trail was quite flat, except between the 5-6 km markers. Had lunch at Delacy camp on the way back. On the way in, we saw a deer at Delacy. Dad got very close. Total bear country too, but we never saw one. We did see old scat and markings though. Found some ripe salmonberries. About 13km in total, 4.5 hours. AJ didn't come on this one as her knee was really bothering her.
I saw a shooting star just before bed. I'm taking it as a omen that this is the right decision.

Tuesday, July 4

Got off very early today, before 9am. A little rain storm just as we were waking up, but it didn't really bother us as we packed. Time to go home!

All Hands, Abandon Ship

Sorry about the lack of entries lately, but I've been on vacation. I spent about 6 beautiful days camping with my family in Manning Park, BC, and I stayed a few more days in Vancouver. I took a million pictures, which I am currently working on and will upload eventually. I've just been way too busy to do it lately as there are so many things going on!

While I was in Vancouver, I went on 3 job interviews. I have since accepted a job in a lab in Surrey, working in their hematology department. It starts in late August which really isn't that far away. There is so much to do! I have been frantically chipping away at my to-do list. So far, I've given notice at my current job, listed my apartment for sale, sold my apartment (in about 6 hours), and started looking for a place to live in BC. And those are just the big things, never mind all the little picky details. Frankly, I've been going nuts! I can't believe how fast all of this is going. It's pretty exciting though!

Nice week

Can't say I did very much this week. I was very lazy. I'm slowly crossing things off my to-do list, but it is a very very slow process. Mostly I just went for walks and took naps. Can't complain though, it's been lovely!

Had a great time last night. I had both a friend's birthday and a friend's stagette to go to. Luckily, they choose bars that were only 9 blocks apart. I went to Steve's birthday for 8, hung out with him for an hour and then walked down to the Iron Horse to meet up with Sarah and her friends. That was a lot of fun for me, mostly because of the ego boost. Several of the people I knew there hadn't seen me since 2003 and even the ones I currently work with hadn't seen me in street clothes in a very long time. I got many many compliments :) I stayed there for about an hour and a half, and then walked back up to Steve's party. By this time, pretty much the entire crowd was there, so we spent the night chatting away. I had my usual difficulties in calling a cab, so just about everyone walked me to Whyte to flag one down and we actually got one very quickly. Posted some pics already.

I went for a walk with Erin today and I met her new baby hamster, Giselle. She's a sweetie. I held her and I even liked it! (I'm not a hamster person, previously the hamsters always made me a bit nervous.) She's very tiny and quite cute.

Thanks for all the fish

Well, it's the morning after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. I'm a bit sad, but mostly I'm just impressed. Really, no matter how diehard a fan you are, who would have predicted we would have made it so far? The Edmonton Oilers were the eighth seed team in the Western Conference. I remember the talk about whether or not they'd even make the playoffs. Then that eighth seed spot meant we were facing the Detroit Red Wings, their 124 points to our 95. But somehow they pulled it together and pulled it off, making the Oilers the only eighth place team to get so far. To all the players, especially Fernando Pisani, Chris Pronger, Ryan Smyth, Dwayne Roloson, and Jussi Markkanen, thank you for giving us a ride to remember.

As for Fernando - I had to work both game 6 and 7. But it turned out to be quite fun as my coworkers keep singing a version of Abba's Fernando but keep using Pisani instead of Fernando. Then yesterday I heard the Bear's (a local radio station) version, which amused me greatly. The lyrics had been changed to reflect hockey and the playoffs. Just tried to find a version online, but couldn't.

Congratulations also go to Cam Ward - the 22 year old rookie goalie from Sherwood Park, Alberta who won the Conn Smythe MVP trophy. He's only the fourth rookie to win it and the second youngest after Patrick Roy.

In other odd news - Jenny Craig's just been bought by Nestle. Maybe they will provide more chocolate treats!

Thank you hockey gods

Had a nice weekend. Watched the hockey game with a friend (go boys go!!) and then we went to see Prairie Home Companion. A cute but odd Robert Altman movie. Some weird, out of left field twists. The Bad Joke song with Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly was very very funny. I only gave it 3.5 stars out of 5, but mostly because it left me wanting more. I just felt there was more story that could have been told, a little bit more detail needed.

I'm really proud of how I did this week, sticking to my diet/exercise routine. I actually worked out every day for the last 6 days! I can't believe how hard running is again, after a 3 week hiatus. It's just brutal. I'm hoping the improvement will come quickly since my body should know what to do. My endurance just lacks this week though. I still got in good workouts though, just not continuous running.

I finished an interesting book this week. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. It talks about the effect fast food chains have had on America's culture, economy, diet, and landscape. The sections on meatpacking were very detailed and disturbing, although I mostly knew that already. I very rarely eat fast food, and I won't eat it any less than I currently do, but I admit that I was very grateful that I was already planning to eat vegetarian that day. It was a really great read and I recommend it.

06/06/06

I listen to a late night talk show called Coast to Coast AM. The show's themes are conspiracy theories, alien abductions, paranormal subjects, etc. I love it. Sometimes I take it seriously, sometimes I find it very funny. So after several years of listening to this show, I was eagerly awaiting today's date - just in case. June 6, 2006. 6/6/6. Well, the whole world didn't end, but my little world took a major beating. I woke up this morning to discover that Dwayne Roloson, the Edmonton Oilers' star goalie, is out of the rest of the Stanley Cup Final series with a sprained knee. That sound you heard was an entire town screaming. Losing Roli is our worst nightmare! Our backup goalies haven't played since March. I still have faith, but it's shaken. There's going to be some serious on the edge of my seat watching over the next little while.

Phew!

Wow - talk about a couple of crazy busy weeks!

First, my sister came for a visit and we had a blast. I attempted to budget for the weekend, but completely blew it as we moved into the malls. We went to West Ed on Friday, Southgate on Saturday and City Centre on Sunday. We also saw two movies (Over the Hedge and Kinky Boots). Saturday night, we had a little pub crawl down Whyte. It was an odd night on Whyte as there was a game the night before and the night after and it seemed like people were home resting up. Add in some rain and Whyte was just dead. Nice for us though - we ended up going to 6 bars as there were no lines! BP's, Thirsty Turtle, Funky Buddha, Hudson's, Wooly Bully's and Pub 1905. We had a lot of fun and got along great - not having to share a bathroom probably helped a lot :)

Shortly after my sister left, my dad showed up for some serious work around the place. It's too bad the work required me to pack up my computer because I had some great blog thoughts while I was working. I learned some valuable lessons like when someone asks if you need a shower, never answer "later". When "later" arrives, one bathtub will be full of packing boxes and the other will be blocked by large furniture items. Also, five minutes after both toilets are removed, you will need to use them! We (and by that, I mean mostly my dad) accomplished a lot. New carpets, new vinyl, new doors, new casings, new baseboards, painted ceilings, painted walls, plus a million fix it jobs. I think my place looks amazing!

Everything is back where it belongs finally, although I still have a few touch-ups to do. I intend to do them today, I really do. If you are interested, I posted pics of the place and of my sister's visit on my home page.

Summer already?

It seems so strange that it is still light out and it's after 9pm. Even weirder that it's 24C. How did it get to be summer so early this year?

So first off - Congratulations go out to Heather, my old roomie. She submitted an abstract to a conference in Spain in hopes of doing a poster session and got picked for a full presentation! In case I haven't told you lately, damn girl, you are smart! I'm so proud of how you are doing! Heather was visiting for a couple of weeks and I had a great time. We went shopping, watched playoff hockey, played board games, played frisbee, went for a walk on Whyte and eventually ended up at Julio's. Yummy nachos. There are a couple of pics of her visit on the main page.

Next, congratulations go to mememememememe! I ran my first 5k race on Sunday. My goals were to run the whole way, which I did, and to do it in less than 35 mins, which I did. 34:50 to be precise. I placed 108 out of 285, and 22 out of 50 in my age/gender group. It was a lot of fun and I'm currently trying to decide if I want to sign up for another 5k at the end of the summer and concentrate on my speed or if I want to do a 10k and work on endurance. Hopefully, there will be pics from my race as well. Heather and Erin were at the finish line and Heather took some. There was also a pro photographer taking pics that haven't been posted yet.

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted so I'm trying to remember if there was anything else exciting. I attended a cool conference on May 6, but the topics were things like patient safety and cardiac markers. I had fun anyway. I sewed a present for my mum for Mother's Day/birthday but she hasn't seen it yet as she's been away on a trip. I'm reading a really fascinating history book about smallpox in the 1700s called The Speckled Monster. It's a great read, more like a novel than non-fiction.

Can't wait until this weekend as my sister is coming for a visit! I might actually blog again next week since I'll have something to write about :)

The world continues turning...

I am currently feeling a giant sense of accomplishment right now. I finally made my running goal at the gym today - 30 minutes of running. Non-stop. So with my warmup/cool down walking, I did 40 mins and 3.4 miles. Pretty darn proud I am. Now I just have to keep it up for 12 more days as my run is on Mother's Day.

My goal for May is to be active - gym or outdoor run/rollerblade everyday. I've completely flatlined in my weight loss again and I need to do something about it. My sister is coming out for the May long weekend and we'll be going bathing suit shopping! EEEK. I've done well so far, but it's only May 3. Must. Keep. It. Up.

This past week was quite nice. Fancy stayed with me for about 5 days before she left for BC and it was really good. Saturday night, I went out for Jay's birthday to Devlin's. I then met up with Fancy and Holly for a night of wild drinking. We went to three bars - Thirsty Turtle, Funky Buddha and The One on Whyte. Lots of fun. We played pool at the Turtle and did a little dancing at the Buddha. We then moved onto The One where we did a lot of dancing. Nice music - both retro and more recent. Good place to ...errr.... met people. Lots of great pics from that night up on my main site.

Fancy left Monday morning and I seem to be coping well. Or it's still denial, not sure. It probably won't hit me until it's longer than the average vacation. Or the first time I get bored and I have no one to play with. Good thing May is looking super busy.

The dating thing continues. I've gone out with four guys now. I have another second date coming up this weekend. Looking forward to it.

I suck at the hockey pool. I picked a lot of players from Dallas and Detroit. I'm in dead last. Still have players from Ottawa and Carolina though so maybe it will pick up. My wishful thinking pool is doing much better. If Calgary can pull it out (currently losing 0-2), it will still have potential. A Calgary vs Edmonton series will be extremely interesting, but I can't even imagine how bad the Red Mile and Whyte would get. Fans from here going there and vice versa. Eep. Would be nice though - a real Battle of Alberta.

Heather is visiting this weekend so I feel a need to clean my apartment. I must maintain my neat freak reputation.

April update

Ok, so it's been forever since I posted. Lack of postage is partly due to a case of the blahs and partly due to evil shifts at work. May and June are looking sweet though. I am available to be social - call me!

Speaking of socialness, I'm back in the dating world. EEP. I've had two dates in the last month. One that was horrid and awkward, mostly awkward, and I ended it quite abruptly because I couldn't take it anymore. The second one was quite nice. It was actually too bad I scheduled it with a valid excuse for leaving because I would have liked to stay longer. So we shall see.....

Trying to think of other events that have happened in the past month. My parents came for a visit and we (and by we, I mean mostly my dad) replaced the doors and window casings. Mostly I pulled off trim, including the baseboards, to prepare for new flooring which we will be getting in May. I love the new doors. They are white four paneled doors and I think they make the place look bigger and brighter. It was great having my parents here for a visit. We went shopping, out for supper, and my mom and I went to the gym three times together. I worked almost everyday they were here though, so I didn't spend as much time with them as I would have liked. My dad's coming back in May though.

We had Rodney and Fancy's going away slash Rodney's 30th birthday party way back at the end of March. It was a great party. Tonight, a few of us are going out for one final supper to the Olive Garden. I really only have one thing left to say on this particular issue - BASTARDS! Don't LEAVE!

The running thing is going really well. This week my goal is to do 10 mins run/2 mins walk/repeat. My run is on May 14 and is for the Stollery Children's Hospital here in Edmonton. On the off chance you have extra cash floating around, you can pledge me!! Email me or call me and I'll give you the info. Odds are, if you reading this, you are probably going to get a PLEDGE ME!!!! email in the new few days anyway. :)

So far, good news in the play off world. Oilers and Wings tied 1-1. I entered my work hockey pool twice. One my "realistic" pool where I have Detroit, Carolina, Ottawa, and Dallas as my four picks and my "wishful thinking" pool where I have the four Canadian teams (heavy on the Edmonton/Montreal guys). We'll see which one does better. I did half decent last time, because I actually picked Tampa and Calgary. I had to listen to one game at work, and watch one game at home. I'm really hoping to get together with people for some of the other games this week as I love watching them with people. I like sports bars too for playoff games. I love hockey, but other people are funnier.

Well, it's my day off and productive-ness would be a good thing. So I'm off to do something that doesn't involve my computer. I do have new pictures to post from Todd's weekend visit (very fun, nice to see him and everyone) and I'll try to post them tonight.

I would post in more detail because things happened. I have political comments, social life happenings and more! But right now, all I'm going to say is my hard drive crashed. My last backup is dated January 16, 2005. Stupid me. I'm currently installing programs I need/want and getting it back to normal.

Many, many, many thanks go to Rodney for trying to save my old hard drive, taking me to purchase a new one and installing it. And then coming back over when I told him it still "looked funny".

Just one thing.

Single again. Six months and over.

and yeah, i'm okay.

Oops, missed a week

Ack! I forgot to blog last week. Looks like you survived without it though. :)

Mostly I've been working so there isn't too much to say. We saw Walk the Line last weeekend and I highly recommend it. Really good movie and a very untraditional love story. Of course, if you don't like Johnny Cash's music, you might want to skip it. A lot of great songs are played during it and I had several of them trapped in my head for days.

This weekend, Rod, Marc and I had a little mini-pubcrawl down Whyte Ave. The Attic, Monkey Island, the Armoury and BPs. It was a really fun night with too much money spent as usual. The only down note was the attempt to get home. Trying to find a cab after the bars have closed, on St. Paddy's day, in a blizzard - really really hard! We walked from 109 St to 103 St before we found one.

Yesterday, I went to Baby M's first birthday party. I can't believe he's a year old already! There were several other little kids there and lots of family members. It was your standard birthday party - presents and cake, with about a million pictures taken. Good fun and excellent cake.

My big accomplishment this week was I finally cleaned my sewing room. It had become the room of doom, the place where I threw everything I didn't know what to do with. Took me ages to get it all sorted again and I have one giant bag and one box of stuff that either needs to be donated or taken to the eco-station. Anyone need an old bubble jet printer (i have 2 extra ones...) or a laptop without an operating system? Yeah, I didn't think so.

i say....sleepy.

Well, it was Oscar night last night and I didn't care. Normally I get into it, but not this year. I think part of it was my work schedule. I'm on nights again and I'm super tired. My motivation for most things has completely disappeared. I also haven't seen any of the movies nominated this year, although there are a few I've wanted to see, but just never did (Brokeback Mountain, Walk the Line, Crash...). I'm not even into the dresses this year, and that's just strange! The few I have seen on the news I'm not incredibly impressed with. So far the only one I've gone wow over was Salma Hayek - what a gorgeous colour.

In other movie news, we saw Ultraviolet this weekend. It sucked! I wasn't expecting a decent plot or acting, but even the effects didn't impress. I think I like my cgi so believable that I end up wondering if it was digital effect or stunt work. As for the plot, it kind of had one, but it was so fragmented. The highlights for me were the opening credits and her purple hair. When we left, I said I couldn't decide if it was a 1 or 2 star movie. Ian said it was a crap star movie *g*, so it didn't even get the guy vote.

I finished the history book I was reading - Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact. It was excellent. Depressing in parts obviously, but extremely interesting. One funny thing from it: The technology chief of the Luftwaffe apparently objected to research on radar because if it worked, it would mean flying wouldn't be fun any more. Oh, I also read about the WWII Tokyo Bat Bombs. I certainly had never heard of those before, so an internet research was required. Turns out that the Americans were discussing the possibility of attaching small incendiaries to the wings and feet of bats and then dropping them from airplanes over Tokyo. The idea was they would fly into chimneys and the like and Tokyo would go up in flames. An amusing version of this can be found at Useless Information. See what you can learn from reading non-fiction books? Fun fun facts!

It's called streamofthought for a reason

Wow, what an amazing Olympics for us Canadians. The COC predicted a total medal haul of 25 before the games started and a top three finish. I was personally hoping for a top five finish. What do we get? 24 medals, including 7 golds, and the number three spot in the standings, behind Germany and the USA. We also had 13 athletes place fourth in their events. Just outstanding! We did absolutely amazing. Leading the pack was Cindy Klassen, who won 5 medals in speed skating. That brings her total Olympic medal count to 6, a Canadian record. The 24 medals were a new record, beating our previous high of 17 in the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002. The COC is planning for 35 medals in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and we might actually be able to do it.

On a side note - anyone else think the Torino medals were ugly? They look like discarded CDs.

In the interesting factoid section, the world's population hit 6.5 billion at 7:16pm EST on Saturday night, using estimations/projections. An average of 4.4 people are born every second. When reading about population growth, I always see mention of improved health, economic development, urbanization etc. For the first time, I read an interesting comment about fertilizer in my current book - Hitler's Scientists by John Cornwell (more on this book later). Apparently if Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch (or someone else) hadn't discovered a way to fix nitrogen from air, resulting in a vast supply of artificial nitrogen fertilizer, the world's population would have only been around 3.9 billion in 2000, instead of reaching 6 billion.

This book I'm reading - Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact by John Cornwell - is a discussion of the ethics and morality of science during war, specifically German scientists in the first half of the 20th century. I bought it for about $9 in the bargain section at Chapters and so far, it's an excellent buy. I'm not even 100 pages into yet, but it has me captivated. Haber, the guy I mentioned earlier with regards to nitrogen fertilizer, was also a key figure in the first use of poison gas in April 1915, breaking the Hague Conventions. I'm starting to get into the chapters on racial hygiene and eugenics and it's just bizarre reading the social interpretations rising from both valid science and crackpot "science".

One of the reasons I'm so far into that book already is that I'm sleeping horribly. Last week's nights have really screwed me up. I'm tired all the time, but I seem to be able to only sleep for 4 hour stretches. I somehow managed to be social though, although I wasn't feeling my best. Friday, I had a couple people over for dinner and games - Battle of the Sexes and my new game Artifact. For dinner, I made stuffed mushrooms (good, but more cheese next time), roasted veggies and baby potatos (yummy), chicken provencal (blah), and peaches with berry sauce and vanilla ice cream (died and went to heaven). On Saturday, I went to another friend's house for more games, playing Conjecture (a game based on the sculptorades section of Cranium) and Clue, a game I haven't played since the 90s.

Since I have been awake so much, I've been wasting time on the internet. I did a two question Ennegram test, which doesn't exactly imply accuracy, but some of it seemed to match what I understand of me. I'm apparently an Adventurer - "happy and open to new things". One statement I really agreed with - "Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories." Listen to them over and over again too, while you are at it!! Oh, and thanks to those of you who filled out my Johari window. The validation was lovely. :)

One last thing: Sunday's For Better or For Worse comic really had me laughing. Just picture a grey kitty instead of a bunny and string instead of an extension cord and you've got my sweet yet psycho Fuzzy.

It's really Monday

Darn computer just errored and rebooted, eating my post. I thought about just going to bed, but it's technically Tuesday already which means it's a day late in my attempt to post every Monday. In my world though, it's still Monday. I just survived a week of both evening and night shifts and it's not Tuesday until I wake up later. Turns out the autosave feature restored my first two paragraphs anyway. Better than nothing!

This week was a bit of a write off with the return of my old shifts. My sleep schedule was pretty screwed up and I didn't do much. Managed to get some great workouts in though and met the goals I set for Jan/Feb. Need to plan out my next 8 weeks as I'm trying to keep it fresh and challenging. I did get a bit of socialness in as well, although I was definitely not my usual perky self - my apologies to those of you who got caught in the whiny crossfire. I went out for coffee on Friday, a friend's birthday on Saturday, saw Ian for a bit on Sunday and I went out for dinner last night. Hey, I was more social than I thought. Since it was all pre-work stuff though, it just didn't feel like much.

One nice thing about working nights is that I get to listen to my favourite talk radio show - Coast to Coast AM. When I'm not working, I occasionally download it on my computer, but I rarely listen to the whole thing. I don't often work at my computer long enough to listen to a 4 hour show. This week has been nice, catching up on the latest in the world of global warming, space exploration, ghosts and time travelers.

As I said earlier, I was suffering from a horrific case of the emotional blecks this week. I know why (hormones are an evil evil thing) but there was nothing I could do to get rid of that black cloud. I tried working out nearly every day, which often works for me, but not this time. Apparently all I needed was a 10 minute hug. I'm not kidding about that length of time. It went on for so long, I needed to move and re-hug. A hug can really make you feel better, especially the kind of hug where you just know the only thing the other person is thinking about is this moment, this hug. The only other person I know who gives that kind of hug is Todd. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I highly recommend getting one from him next time he's in town.

One final thing - Go Canadian Women! Congrats on the gold! Hopefully, it will help motivate the men...

Random News

YAY!! We won a gold at Torino! In women's moguls. Very very exciting because Jennifer Heil is an Alberta girl. Cindy Klassen also received a bronze in the 3000m speed skating. I'm pretty into the Olympics this year. Not in the glued to the tv set way, but I do keep checking the CBC Olympic website. I think part of it is that the next winter Olympics will be held in my hometown.

It turns out I was right when I said that Steven Harper's cabinet picks would be a hot topic. The Fortier appointment seems to have died down (at least out West it sure has), but the Emerson defection is all over the news! There was a rally held on Saturday in his riding calling for a by-election where he would run as a Conservative. 700 people showed up. On Sunday, there was another protest in front of his Vancouver office. I really understand their anger. He won as a Liberal with 43% and only 18% of the people voted for the Conservative candidate. People are saying that they feel like their vote didn't count. There is no formal federal recall legislation but someone has started an online petition. The comments are just crazy on it. Some are aimed at Emerson, some are aimed at voters, and some are downright vicious. I couldn't figure out how many people actually signed the petition at that site, but 15,032 had signed the petition at petitiononline when I checked this morning. I should also point out that the rally was organized by the NDP, the party that placed second in that riding with 34%. A by-election would probably be quite favourable to them, depending on who ends up running in the now empty Liberal spot.

In more amusing news (well, at least for me), Dick Cheney, US Vice President, accidentally shot a fellow hunter with birdshot while hunting quail. Thankfully, the guy is fine, so I'm allowed to laugh. Apparently, he didn't see the other hunter (who was wearing a bright orange vest) when he swung around to shoot at the birds.

I also did a Johari window for fun - if you don't know what it is, you get to pick 5 or 6 words to describe me and then they get mapped against words I picked and others picked. If you are interested - go here.

And just because my cat is so darn cute (also psycho - yesterday he bit Ian several times and decided it would be fun to step on my eye with his full weight) - a picture of the month:

New Prime Minister

I'm sitting here watching Steven Harper and his 26 cabinet members (27 total) get sworn in as the official government. Prime Minister Steven Harper *tiny shudder*. It's a minority Conservative government, everything will be ok... Breathe! He's restating all his promises right now. Small cabinet, which I like. 9 from Ontario, 3 from Alberta (including an Albertan as environment minister - oh, the irony). Only 6 women. Peter MacKay (who I like and was deputy leader of the party) got minister of foreign affairs but Stockwell Day (who I don't like) got minister of public safety which is apparently quite important and deals with the US a lot. Jim Flaherty, Mike Harris' former provincial finance minister, is now the federal finance minister. That one scares me, I think. Gordon O'Connor, a former general, is now minister of defence. That certainly implies increased military spending. Oddly, Harper didn't appoint a deputy Prime Minister.

Strangely, I remember reading Harper wanted to go to an elected Senate (currently Senators are appointed), but he appointed an unelected person - Michel Fortier - to the cabinet. This implies he will be appointed to the Senate and wait for an MP by-election or the next federal election. Fortier didn't even run in the election! Ok, he just got called on this. He said he considers this a "temporary" appointment until the next election and considers it worth it because it's important to have a cabinet member from Montreal. He also appointed a Vancouver Liberal - David Emerson - as minister of international trade, which confuses the heck out of me. How do you switch parties within 2 week of an election? Vancouverites voted Liberal! Looks like both of these appointments will be hot topics for a while.

Can't say too much has happened this week. I finally crossed two things off my to-do list - I cleaned out my file cabinet and shredded that giant stack of paper. Still need to clean the sewing room of doom. Probably not today though! I started reading the Prehistoric America series by Michael and Kathleen Gear. So far I've read People of the Wolf and am working on People of the Fire. While not a fantasy series, they do contain certain elements - an unknown society (prehistoric Native Americans and as the authors are both archaeologists, this part is done well) who use the spirit world and "magic". So far, so good! Had a nice weekend as well. Friday was quiet with just a trip to West Ed Mall. Saturday, I went to a pub with friends.

As for the weight loss campaign - it goes well! I lost 4.3 pounds this week which is freakin' amazing. Partly because I weighed in the morning instead of the evening, but the rest is me. I had a really good week working out and sticking to my diet...err....lifestyle change, I mean. :) I had my measurements taken at the gym earlier this week and I'm really proud of how I'm doing. Since I started this whole working out, eating healthy thing, I have lost: 24cm (9.4") off my gluteus, 7cm (2.7") off my right thigh, 12cm (4.7") off my waist, and 15cm (5.9") off my upper abdomen/ribcage. This gives me a waist to hip ratio of 0.8, which means low risk for lifestyle related diseases, assuming this particular indicator means anything. But assuming it does, this is important to me! My motivation for losing weight was completely health related as I come from a high risk family history. The body image stuff is just an added bonus! My BMI is still high, but my total goal will put me in the normal range. Other fun facts (well, for me anyway) - I've lost 39.36 lbs of fat and increased by lean body mass percentage by 8.9%. *happy dance of joy*

Before/Current Pictures

yay me, goal

Sleepy. I should have posted earlier, but my new printer/scanner distracted me. New toys are so much fun. I was very busy scanning in polaroid pics of me and playing with the quality. I reached my latest weight loss mini-goal so I needed new pics to play compare and contrast. I might post them later, but I'm having problems with yahoo right now.

I had a pretty cool week. I got to cover in my old department - urinalysis - which was fun. Back on my regular duties this week though. Had another nice weekend as well. On Friday, I went out with Rod and two of his coworkers to a blues bar. Great band, but I was so sleepy that I had to leave early. In bed by midnight! Saturday, I did the usual housework/trip to the gym and then met up with Ian for his birthday. He's not a fan of birthdays and just wanted a quiet night. We made supper together - Hawaiian Venison (ie venison stew meat with veggies and pineapple over rice) in the slow cooker and then watched King Arthur on DVD. I also gave him his gifts, which I think he liked. He spent a large part of Sunday working on the puzzle while I read and kept checking out the Tiger Woods game. Sunday night, we went to his parents for his birthday supper.

Wow, really I have nothing to say, do I? I need a rant. Too sleepy for one though. Maybe I'll get irritated later in the week.

Election Night

I'm currently watching the election results come in, even though I really thought I didn't care very much. That same weird urge that makes you stare at a car accident makes me watch it though. So it looks like it will be a Conservative minority government with a strong Liberal opposition. Pretty much how I thought it would turn out. NDP (the really left party) got about 29 seats, which I'm happy about. I think this is really the best case scenario. Guess we'll have to wait and see how it all turns out. Kind of strange though - this is the first Con government since I was old enough to vote.

But there is way more to life than politics, thank god, and in case you really wanted to know, I had a pretty nice week.

I saw The Matador with Pierce Bronson and Greg Kinnear on Monday. I enjoyed it, but it is a very odd movie. I guess it qualifies as a dark comedy, and not a thriller. I love the tagline for it: A hitman and a salesman walk into a bar... I'm trying to decide if it's worth full price (13.95). Not quite I think, but that's because I'm cheap. It would be an excellent choice for half price Tuesday (if you still have that) or a matinee. I'm glad we had free passes, it was most certainly worth that! We also saw Underworld Evolution yesterday. I gave it 3.5 out of 5, although Ian probably gave it 5 out of 5. He enjoyed it a lot. The effects and the action sequences were really good.

I interrupt my typing to announce that Paul Martin is resigning his leadership of the Liberal party. I'm not surprised there will be a new leader - but I'm surprised he's announcing it tonight....

I tried a couple of new recipes this week. Last night, I made Dilly Beloved Chicken from the cookbook I got for Christmas - maple syrup, lemon and dill marinade. I liked it a lot, Ian didn't think it was anything special. I'm going to try it again though, and leave it in the marinade a lot longer. Like all day, instead of barely an hour. I also made venison ribs with hickory bbq sauce, beef broth and some veggies in the slow cooker. After 11 hours of cooking, the meat just slid off the bones and tasted amazing. Hmmmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. I wouldn't add the veggies if I did it again, just the onion and garlic for flavour. BBQ sauce flavoured veggies are not tasty, although it would have been okay if I had served the veggies and sauce over rice I think.

I finished a really really great book this week and I highly recommend it to anyone, particularly if you are into medicine, biology or World War I history. By John M. Barry, it's called The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. I really liked the angle he took as he didn't just write about the 1918/19 pandemic itself (although he covers that in detail). He really got into the people involved in medicine and science at the time and you get to know the men who were desperately seeking a solution, any solution, to the crisis. He looked into the links between public health and politics. Although it was 99.9% a book about the United States, it was still really fascinating, especially all the parts about the WWI war machine, how it just consumed all resources, how the censorship affected health reporting and so much more. I now want to read a book about Tammany Hall and books about World War I. I also want to read John M. Barry's other book: The Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 which is not something I think I would be usually interested in, but I really enjoyed his writing style. The Great Influenza was a non-fiction book that read like a novel in the sense that I always wanted to get back to it to know what happened next.

I have a few more non-fiction books in my stack to read (The Pagan Christ and Hitler's Scientists are up next I think). I also have a new box of books from Wee Book Inn which is a very happy thing for me. Mmmmmm, books...

titles imply purpose

Woohoo - another weekly update! Too bad there's nothing exciting to report.

Mostly I seemed to go to work, go the gym, read and watch tv. It's a thrill ride a minute I tell you! My hips were still bothering me for most of the week, so I didn't feel like doing much. Still got my workouts in though, and I finally did weights today. Up to 58 minutes of cardio now. As for reading, I finished Kage Baker's Graveyard Game and The Life of The World to Come. I really like the Company novels and I need to find the one I haven't read yet. I should also look for Anvil of the World, her non-Company book.

This weekend was mostly relaxing. Friday night, Rod came over and watched a movie - Big Trouble - with Ian and I. Saturday, Ian and I went out to his friend's acreage and I did something I've never done before - moved hay bales! We loaded 153 bales into two pickup trucks (which means the hay was at least twice as high as the truck) and took them back to the farm where we unloaded and moved them into the barn. I somewhat helped load the trucks and helped unload and place them on the conveyor belt. I know I didn't work nearly as hard as Ian and his friend and his friend's girlfriend, but dammit I was still tired at the end. Those things got heavy around 125..... Afterwards, we had lunch and just hung out for a while.

I'm trying to think if there is anything else to add.... nope. Hmmm, I remember when I started this blog and how I needed it to rant about the world. You would think with the election only one week away that I would be full of rants. Instead, I'm apathetic and disillusioned and resigned. On the positive side, it's so much more efficient to watch taped tv instead of "live" tv. I think I might just keep doing this.

Weekly Update! Only 1 Day Late!

This past week was not a favourite, I tell you. First off, Fuzzy (my 5 year old cat) decided that kitchen twine was really tasty and ate about 18 inches of it. I didn't know about this until he had a lot of difficulty getting rid of it about 2 days after he ate it. I'll spare you the details, but it did involve a trip to the vet's and the blowing of my budget. He is my baby though (yes, I'm one of those people) and I didn't even think about the cost at the time. I also seemed to have screwed up my legs somehow and my hip muscles are killing me (hip flexors? I don't know, it starts in one thigh, wraps up through the hip, across my lower back and down into the other thigh - whatever, it sucks). The weird thing is if I'm walking, it's totally fine. I've been able to work out on the elliptical and the stairmaster (and it doesn't hurt while I'm doing that), but I don't want to bend over at all. Bah, I'm old.

Other than that - it really wasn't too bad. I got trained on a new bench at work which was cool. Went out with the campus crowd for Todd's going away gathering on Thursday. Had an absolutely boring night at home on Friday after my workout and it was great! Sometimes you really need those kind of nights. Saturday was quiet as well, although Ian came over with the perch he had caught and we had a really great supper.

Oh - no more live tv for the next two weeks. I'm only watching things I can fast forward. Election related commercials make me insane, and it doesn't matter what party. I get the urge to throw things at my television . Is it wrong that I want to scream "I hate you all" at them??? Weird thing is.... I'm a decided voter. Ugh, I'd hate to be a undecided voter. How do you pick between Vile 1, 2, 3 and Independent Guy? Hmmm, there's a Marxist-Leninist candidate.... I wonder if she's a viable alternative?

First of the Year

Ok, it's day two of 2006 and it's still looking good. As long as I avoid all news sources, all commercials, and all references to the elections, I'm sure January can be an excellent month.

Managed to keep my resolutions so far (woohoo! Two whole days!) - I'm actually down one pound from before the holidays which is fairly amazing. I worked out both today and yesterday. You are reading my weekly blog entry right now and I think I listened well to a friend today while we shopped. Of course, the shopping didn't help me meet my debt-free goal, but I only used cash, no credit! And the nightie was only $12, I swear!

The real point of this post is to show off the new super cool pic of me. It was taken New Year's Eve and I lovelovelove it. We had a semi-quiet New Year's Eve, as only 7 of us gathered at a friend's house for a typical night of board games. There was more drinking than our usual game night, but not by much. I liked it though, as I wasn't feeling incredibly social and my other invite had been for a gathering of 15-20. As much as I would have loved to see those people, I just wasn't in that kind of mood.

And now for the amazing, fantastic pic - - -



eek...giant head... :)