marsha's musings

2009-01-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

The movie last night was excellent. I love going to shows at the Garneau - they've retained an old-school theater feel. My trip to the concession made me giggle a bit though. There was a cute girl serving me and my inner bitch was laughing at her cluelessness. I thought she looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't place her face. Just before I turned to walk away I noticed her nametag. She has a very unique name and I remembered where I knew her from. Turns out she was a volunteer on a show I worked on at Walterdale a few years ago. Sweet girl but dumb as a rock. Was it wrong for me to pretend I didn't recognize her?

Anyway, I really enjoyed the movie and having my popcorn and nibs all to myself.

Sent from my iPhone

Solo Date

2009-01-12T15:11:00.002-07:00

I am dying to see Slumdog Millionaire. So much so that I'm willing to go alone. My schedule doesn't leave me with very many free nights so I've decided to take myself to the movies tonight. I used to go to movies alone all the time when I worked early mornings across the parking lot from a movie theater. I would finish work by 1:30pm and hit a matinée. Not only did I not go with anyone, I was also one of only a handful of viewers in the theater. I always enjoyed myself. There's something to be said for being able to enjoy one's own company.

Sent from my iPhone

Bus ride

2009-01-12T10:23:00.002-07:00

I am now a slave to ETS. It's certainly not ideal, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. My iPhone helps tremendously with its fantastic maps app that includes bus routes and times in the directions. I can't explain just how thrilled I was to figure this out. I am mainly working nights, with the odd lunch shift (like today) thrown in to keep things interesting.

Sent from my iPhone

Test Post

2009-01-11T14:26:00.001-07:00

I wonder if I'll blog more if I can do it on the go? One thing I know for sure is that I've got to get better at typing on my iPhone. Practice makes perfect!

Sent from my iPhone

musing again

2009-01-11T14:05:00.006-07:00

I have left (and continue to leave) a number of things unfinished.

Some things I leave open-ended with the vague intentions of returning to them. This blog is one of those things.

I am no longer "ABroad in Korea" But I am still Marsha, and I continue to Muse.

Things change. Isn't that the only certainty in life (besides death and
taxes, of course)? So I am back: literally, physically, figuratively
and whatever other adverbs you might like to come up with.

My hometown is cold. My job is mildly entertaining, and fruitful enough. I want to go back to school, if only to get out of the rat race and put off having to make career decisions. My personal life is a wild and crazy roller coaster ride.

I had a terrible Christmas holiday this year. It has put me in a bit of a funk. Some of the highlights:

My b/f's dad threw a roll at me (one that I had baked fresh that afternoon) - I didn't like him much before that
My b/f's brother is a total dick (but I already knew that)
B/f busted his knee on the last day of skiing
My aunt died
I had to drive the whole way home from Sun Peaks and I managed to slide into the ditch

I'm trying to shake it off. No sense letting a few mishaps cloud the year
ahead. It could be a great year. Although, I'm not getting my hopes
up...

big changes

2008-07-28T20:22:00.002-06:00

I am a few weeks away from a huge lifestyle change. I am moving to Busan, South Korea for a year to teach English. It's really happening, and I'm still trying to get used to the idea. I am excited, scared, nervous... let's just say I'm feeling a lot of things right now. One thing I'm sure of: this is the right thing to do.

I have done a terrible job of keeping up this blog, but as I am starting on a new journey, I really plan to make an effort to document my travels. Not just so my friends and family can keep up with my goings-on, but also for myself. In that spirit, I am starting a new blog, journal, whatever you want to call it.

If you'd like to follow me to Korea, you can find my new musings at a broad in korea. Wish me luck!

latest news

2008-04-22T19:04:00.002-06:00

I'm re-reading one of my favorite books of all time. It's my pick for our book club too, so I'll have an intelligent group of people to discuss it with afterwards, which is nice. I'm sure not everyone will like it as much as I do (some may even dislike it), but that's all part of a good discussion. The book is Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley. It was also one of the 3 finalists in Canada Reads this year (although it lost to a book about hockey - go figure).

I've been busy with application stuff for Korea. I've finally made a decision on who I want to go with. I've decided to apply with EPIK, and I'll be working directly in the school system (rather than a private, after-school program). I should have more info in a month or so, but if all goes well I will be leaving mid-August! I am excited, but also a bit nervous and sad: Dan won't be coming with me. He's going to stay in Edmonton working on his Master's at U of A.

I've also started rehearsals for the one-act that I am directing. Not too intense yet, but still taking up a fair chunk of my time...

date night

2008-04-06T15:04:00.002-06:00

Last night Dan and I had a wonderful date. It was an evening inspired by our recent birthdays. Dan's mom and b/f gave us their tickets to the Opera because they ended up going out of town.

We started off at the Strathcona Keg (where Dan works) for an early dinner at about 5:30. We decided to wait in the bar and have a drink while we waited for a good table. I had a martini (vodka, dirty, extra olives) and Dan had a caesar. We ordered escargot for an appetizer. It was delicious. In almost perfect time our table was ready and we cleared up with the bartender and moved into the dining room.

Since we were celebrating, we decided to go with a more expensive bottle of wine. We had the Masi Amarone. It was wonderful. Typically when we go out for steak I have a sirloin or the prime rib, but I decided that I wanted to have a filet, the blue cheese filet to be specific. Oh my god, it was amazing. The best steak I have had in a long time. Cooked to perfection, the blue cheese and garlic topping was a fantastic complement - delicious, but not too overpowering. I had a baked potato and Dan and I shared a side order of mushrooms. Everything was very good, and thankfully I was hungry enough to clean my plate. Dan had a filet as well, but he ordered his with an "Oscar" topping (seafood in a bearnaise sauce) which he enjoyed very much. We were both quite full after our meals, but wanted to finish off with something sweet. They took our favourite dessert (the chocolate pyramid) off of the menu, and nothing else really appealed that much so we asked for the chocolate mousse (part of the chocolate heaven dessert combo) on its own. Very nice.

In just about perfect time we finished, paid our bill (thankful for the generous staff discount that Dan gets), and set off for the Jubilee Auditorium.

Mozart's Requiem was incredible! I am so glad that we got to go. It had a little bit of everything. The evening started off with an opera singer on stage alone, accompanied by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Beautiful singing. Then the stage was taken over by the Alberta Ballet, and I'm not ashamed to admit that the dancing actually made me cry, it was that beautiful. Then there was a short intermission and the second half was Mozart's Requiem. It was incredible. Mozart in all white, conducting, and dancing throughout, the AB Ballet with incredible dancing, and the Richard Eaton singers (over 100 of them on stage!) provided the vocal accompaniment to the ESO. It was a wonderful performance.

And today I rest.

time for change

2008-04-05T11:38:00.002-06:00

I can't leave that stupid post about being able to post to my blog with my cell phone at the top of the page any longer! That is the real reason for this post. Not that this is that much better.

I've been playing with some new toys on the internet. Twitter rocks. It's kind of like facebook status updates, but not. I'm not sure what the difference is, but there is one. I think. Well, I put different stuff on each. So maybe there's only a difference for me. You can subscribe to twitter posts. You can have them show up on your blog (or your facebook profile). You can post to twitter on line, via im, or with your cell phone. OK, they're pretty much the same. But I like it anyway.

It snowed last night and this morning. April in Edmonton. Pfft!

Dan and I are going to the Opera tonight (Mozart's Requiem). Can't wait. It's going to be awesome.

2008-02-04T20:31:00.001-07:00

I can now post to this blog from my cell phone (although i am not sure how practical this is... )

knitting possibilities

2008-01-23T20:49:00.001-07:00

I just watched the last episode of Grey's Anatomy (Lay Your Hands on Me) and I couldn't believe it when I saw George's mother knitting a little baby toque for Tuck. There is no one on this planet who would knit a toque like that: started with the pom pom?!?! And then knit down?!?! That's ridiculous!

(and so am I for noticing and freaking out about it).

PSA

2008-01-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

Bad memories of changing high lightbulbs at RR from a rickety ladder.

musing on only working part-time:

2008-01-16T18:35:00.001-07:00

If time is money and money is power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then is having too much (free) time corruptive?

Complaint

2008-01-10T10:20:00.001-07:00

Winter sucks away my energy. All I want to do when it's cold out is curl up in bed and sleep, or curl up on the couch with a blanket and a book and read. I don't want to go outside. I don't want to go to work. I don't want to walk to the store, walk to the bank, walk anywhere! I want to hole up and hibernate until it's warm again.
I put on weight every winter. No, it's not a mystery as to why. And I certainly know how to stop it, but I can't seem to take control of my body. My mind and my snuggly instincts are too much for me some days.

Chills and thrills (but not the good kind)

2008-01-09T15:57:00.001-07:00

Winter is back in full force. It's cold out again. Welcome back January!

We had the first meeting of our book club last night and I think it went very well. People seemed to have a good time, and we didn't have too much trouble choosing our first book The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I actually just read this a couple of weeks ago, but it will be fun to go through it again and I really look forward to discussing it in our group.

Things aren't great on the home front today since Dan found out that the damage done to his foot is a lot worse than we (or the doctor) had thought. Something is broken in there and it sounds like he's going to have to stay off of it for 6-8 weeks. Not good. His job requires walking.

My new hair

2008-01-05T14:59:00.001-07:00

A Picture/Video Message!, originally uploaded by amanova.

I got my hair done today. It's red. Really red. I love it. I hope it doesn't fade too quickly.

I'm having issues uploading photos from my phone. I found what I thought would be a great app (ShoZu), but it's not working.

New toys are fun. And often frutstrating.

ring in the new year

2008-01-03T16:43:00.001-07:00

My mom and dad sent me a cheque for Christmas. I hate the idea of just putting the money in my bank account and using it for "whatever," so I like to try to think of something specific that I'd like to have and use the money to buy it as though that item were the gift. This year I used my Christmas money to buy a new cell phone.

I've been wanting one for a while now, I've had my old phone for almost 3 years and it wasn't keeping a charge very well, not to mention that it didn't have all of the cool features that come standard on phones these days.

So yesterday I went out and picked up a Samsung m510. It's pretty and fun and I can do so much stuff with it! A new toy for the new year! Thanks mom and dad :)

2008-01-02T08:57:00.001-07:00

I'm going to write every day. I'm aiming for 30 minutes right now. It won't always be here. I have a few different places that I can write.

I'm not sure why writing regularily has always been such a problem for me. I like writing. I enjoy reading over what I've written in the past (near or distant). Sometimes I think I have a hard time convinicing myself that I have anything to say. But we all have things to say. And my head is always buzzing with thoughts, I just need to put them into words and let them out.

Back to work today. I'm looking forward to it. I know that H will be there, and I assume that we will have someone as a bartender/manager, but I have no clue who that might be. I wonder if it will be busy. Or maybe super dead. In a couple of weeks I should know if it's a job worth keeping. Until then, I will learn as much as I can, have some fun, and keep looking for another part-time job.

bring on the new year

2007-12-30T13:15:00.001-07:00

I think I'm finally getting sick of being on vacation. If you think that sounds strange, believe me, it sounds much stranger to me. Maybe I'm missing the money, I don't know, but I'm about ready to get to work. Of course, I'm sure that once I start again I'll be ready for another vacation, and I do plan on getting a second job, so I will be working a bit more than I'm used to these past couple of months...

In case you're curious, I decided that it was time for me to leave RR for good. I had been planning to leave when we left for Japan (obviously), but when that fell through I didn't really know what to do next. So I went out on a limb, gave my notice at RR, and started job hunting. Now, I must admit, I'm not really sure what came over me, but I applied for a lot of office work. This isn't strange in and of itself, but it is strange when you understand that in 2005 I quit RR for 3 months and worked reception in a small office and absolutely hated it. And promptly went back to serving at RR.

So I applied for a bunch of jobs at the U of A (because I thought it would be great to work on campus), and I applied with the city. I was offered a job as a mobile patrol officer (glorified meter maid?) at the U, but I decided not to take it. The major downside? Working at 6:30am every day. I then decided to take a temp position with the city. I had this thought that temping would be interesting, exciting, and that I could do a different job every day or every few days. Nope. Temps are screwed. And the assignments can last up to 13 weeks. It was a shitty job and I was stupid to take it. Once I realized this, I quit.

I also realized that there is really no need for me to fight the service industry. The fact is, I like it. True, I have no desire to continue on with RR, and let's be honest, I should have left there years ago. But I do have good friends there and they are like a family to me. But that's besides the point. I need to start looking to my future. Serving tables is fine for now, but I will need more. Another conclusion that I came to is that I would really like to own my own business. That part might be a little more difficult, but I am an intelligent, driven, hard working, creative woman, and I believe that I can do it (convincing the bank might be another story, but I've got a few years to work on that).

I considered B&B, but I decided to think bigger. I want to be an innkeeper! Own and operate my own inn. Location is important, and ideally I'd like to relocate to the maritimes, but that is certainly negotiable. And so now I am going to focus on getting some experience in the hotel industry. Ideally management experience.

And for now I've got a new serving job, at a more upscale restaurant downtown. Regular schedule: monday to friday lunches. It's only part-time, but that will leave me with time to pursue my other career aspirations. Stay tuned for the next chapter! I am ready to welcome 2008 and many changes with open arms!

sick for the holidays (for, not of)

2007-12-26T09:14:00.001-07:00

Ugh. It must be the shock to the system of being around so many different people. Although I work in a restaurant, so I'm always around a lot of people. Maybe it's the proximity. The "Merry Christmas" hugs, the "Thank-you for the lovely gift" hugs, the "I haven't seen you in ages" hugs that get me. I always end up with some kind of ill. It's arrived in the manner of a cold this year, and I just feel like curling up in a ball and sleeping it off. And when sleep fails me, reading, watching a movie or tv show or knitting. So I plan to be a bit of a lump for the next few days and hope this thing passes.

Happy day-before-Christmas!

2007-12-24T11:10:00.001-07:00

I love Christmas. I am bravely going out to the mall to pick up a few last minute items. We had our first Christmas yesterday with Dan's dad's family, and tomorrow we're with his mom's side. Today is our day - and we started by cleaning up the apartment from Saturday's party (which, in my opinion, was a great success), and now we're off to do our separate tasks, and tonight we relax, eat leftovers, watch movies, and just enjoy each other's company!

feeling it

2007-12-21T08:01:00.001-07:00

I woke up with a bit of a sore throat today. Please, Santa, don't let me get sick for the holidays. I want to be well!
I work today and then I'm off for 5 days! Wee!
I can't wait for the days to start getting longer again. I'm so sick of waking up in the dark and getting tired so early...

possible New Year's resolution

2007-12-20T17:10:00.001-07:00

Maybe, just maybe, I will begin to write on a more regular basis. No promises, but it's certainly something to consider. It's good to have goals. Although this is a goal that I have had in the past and failed at. And I have been writing more regularily in a notebook lately. Hmm...

disappointment

2007-09-27T08:16:00.000-06:00

You may or may not know that Dan and I are all set to go to Japan to teach English on November 13. We still don't know what city we'd be going to, but our visas are being processed and we've been reserved seats on a group flight to Osaka (that's all good news).
Here's the problem: the company that's hired us is experiencing massive difficulties. They have a severe shortage of funds and have been late in paying (or have yet to pay) many of their employees, including some teachers. We still have a little more time before we need to make a decision, but we do need to decide: what do we do? Give up our dream? Scratch the plan we've been making for the past year? Stick with the safe bet and find something else to do for the next year? Or risk it all and go anyway?
I doubt that we'll be going with the latter. Not unless there are some very bright days ahead and positive news about the company in the next month. But it's so hard to give up this dream. I'm devastated right now. And I have absolutely no idea what to do now...

blogging?! how very passe...

2007-09-03T13:59:00.000-06:00

If it seems I've completely given up on blogging for the wonders of facebook, don't worry. I always come back. And besides, my blog posts are automatically inserted into my facebook account!

I am feeling great these days. I recently took two weeks and went to Nova Scotia for a vacation and to visit my mom and dad. The only thing missing from that trip was Dan. But now the two of us are spending a week at Sun Peaks - all alone! It's wonderful. We are very fortunate to have this beautiful place to come to, and very grateful to Al and Shelley for graciously allowing us to stay here!

The other exciting thing that's going on right now is that Dan and I are going to be leaving shortly to teach English in Japan! This is something that I've been wanting to do for years, and it is finally becoming a reality.

We have both been hired by Nova Group, and have filed our paperwork for our Visas and such. Now we wait. We still don't know exactly when we leave (anywhere from mid-October to late Novemer) or what city we will be posted in (we've requested the south, but we won't find out exactly where we'll be for a bit). The main reason that we decided to go with Nova over some other companies out there is that they will allow us to live together, in fact, we will have an apartment all to ourselves, and while we may or may not be teaching in the same branch, we will be guaranteed at least one of our two days off together.

I don't think I can quite express how excited I am about this. It's going to be quite an adventure, and right now I just can't wait to find out when we leave and where we're going. Then it will start to feel more real.

Another big deal is that I've decided to sell my condo (well, it's technically my parents', but they "sold" it to me last year). Although the real estate market in Edmonton has dropped a bit in the past few months, I feel that it will be less stressful to sell it than to try to rent it out from across the world. Besides, I've pretty much decided that when I return to Canada, I will not be settling down in Edmonton. It's time for me to move on.

there are so many useless things on the internet

2007-04-21T10:18:00.001-06:00

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

many minutes of entertainment

2007-04-08T11:24:00.001-06:00

While on the subject of classic novels...

I came across this site today and it has me in fits of giggles. For literature nerds like myself: book-a-minute .

daily lit

2007-04-08T08:39:00.001-06:00

For many months now I have been reading small chunks of Jane Eyre in my inbox. It was one of those books that I had always meant to read, but had never gotten around to it. A while ago a friend (I think it was Wade - correct me if I'm wrong!) told me about a site called Daily Lit, which breaks up (non-copywrite) books and sends them to you daily (or as often as you like) at your email address.

"What a great idea," I thought, "I'll have to check it out."

And I did, and I must say that it worked out very well. You can request your pieces of the book early if there is a part you don't want to wait to get through, so I finished earlier than I would have at only one piece per day, but it's nice to have that flexibility.

Now I can say that I have (finally) read Jane Eyre. I'm going right now to sign up for another book. Don't you have something on your list of always-wanted-to-read-but-haven't-gotten-around-to-it? I recommend you check it out.

Sunning at Sun Peaks

2007-04-07T11:50:00.001-06:00

A year ago I came to Sun Peaks with Dan on our first vacation together. We've done some more traveling together since, but we haven't made it back here until now. It is such a beautiful spot - perfect for a getaway. The drive out was far less exciting this time (thank god) and I've already made it through one entire relaxing and wonderful day of sunshine, a lovely walk, beer on the patio, naptime, hot tubbing, delicious chili, comfy-chair reading, and a fantastic sleep. Everyone else is off skiing this morning, hoping to get a few good runs in before the snow gets way too melty, and I am doing more of what I do best: relaxing. I've finished one book and started on another, I'm working on season 2 of Lost (so good!), and getting a bit of sun and enjoying the spectacular view through the enormous windows. I love it here!

shh!

2007-03-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

It's called The Secret Conspiracy, but it isn't really a secret. And no one is conspiring to keep you in the dark about it. You'll get it when you're ready. In fact, you're probably already aware of it: The Law of Attraction, or The Power of Positive Thinking. Call it whatever you like.

You can watch this (well done) video online (or download it) for free. I highly recommend it.

The Secret (which isn't so secret after all).

Special thanks and good vibes to Jodie for sharing this link.

getting it over with early this year

2007-03-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

I just filed my 2006 tax return. What a relief! And I'm getting a decent refund, which is always nice :)

If you do your taxes yourself, I highly recommend CuteTax. It's easy to use, available online for both Mac and Windows, and best of all... it's CHEAP!

turning water into wine

2007-02-25T13:26:00.001-07:00

making wine (3)
Originally uploaded by amanova.

Dan and I have finally embarked on our vintners journey. Our first batch is an Italian Sangiovese!

My dad gave me all of his wine making supplies a couple of years ago and since then I've been meaning to try it out. This is the first batch. Our fingers are crossed!

(this post is a test. I want to see how things work out posting from flickr)

2007-02-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

What a week! If you want to forecast my tiredness, all you need to do is look at my flickr photostream and notice how many days I've been wearing my glasses. Although my contacts have been bothering my eyes, so there's that too.

I've been busy. Work, rehearsals, attempts to spend quality time with my live-in boyfriend (which can be more difficult than it sounds). There were a few interesting events, however. On Wednesday night we went to the Barenaked Ladies concert. Wow. It was a fantastic show. Wade had scored us great seats back in September (floor, row 15) and it was a treat to see a big stadium show up close. Rafaella managed to get some great shots before her camera was confiscated - check them out here.

Last night I got together with Wade and Phil for pizza/beer and theatre. We saw The Clink at Studio Theatre. Thinking about it still makes me laugh. Not that the play is that funny, but the experience certainly was. It was so bad it was good. No complaints about the actors, and I think the director did as well as she could, but I think the play itself was a dud.

I'm off to work my long shift. As most people are enjoying their weekend, I'm just beginning my work week.

i'm sick of thinking up titles

2007-02-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to do exactly what I had planned to get done yesterday: went to work, started up a batch of sourdough (which I will finish today), bake banana bread, watch a movie...

Clerks II is fantastic. I was one of those Kevin Smith fans who thought he might be making a mistake returning to Clerks, but I was wrong. I should have had more faith. The sequel was hilarious. I loved it. It's a very different film that the original, but they managed to keep its integrity intact while improving on the overall quality and updating the story.

It was an enjoyable day. I expect that today will be more of the same. I don't really feel like working out, but I took two days off so I'm going to drag my butt down there anyway. Some cleaning up, some cooking, and then ready for guests tonight.

pining away in the snow

2007-02-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

That snow that I wrote about yesterday? Yeah, it stayed. And the wind picked up again too. Winter is definitely back.

Normally Thursday would be the start of my weekend, but I picked up a lunch shift for today. Lunch shifts are great - go in for a few hours, work your ass off, make money, get off. So I'll still have most of the afternoon free. I've got people coming over tomorrow night for a play reading, so I have some house cleaning to do, and I'm thinking of doing some baking as well. Nothing wrong with pretending to be suzy homemaker!

I want my camera back. I had taken it in to the repair shop (instead of going out to buy a new one when I accidentally dropped it on the floor and broke it), and they're going to fix it for $100, but it's taking a long time and I miss it. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate Dan letting me use his in the interim, but I want my littler, lighter, cuter camera back!

snow replaces wind

2007-01-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

As I sit in front of my blue light this morning, it starts to snow. Really light snow. I'm not sure if it will even last once it hits the ground, but it probably will. I don't mind the snow, really. What I hate is what we've had the past couple of days: wind. Icy cold, blowing right through your winter coat and skin like a knife wind. By the looks of the snow falling gently down, it appears to have stopped for the time being.

Good rehearsal last night, and now we're off until Sunday (don't even ask me about next week's rehearsal schedule - it sucks).

I have laundry to do before I go to work tonight, but other than that, I'm planning on taking it pretty easy today.

a rare treat

2007-01-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine that I'll usually be blogging on Tuesday morning. It's going to be my early shift (managing at 9am), but I'm not starting until next week.

Today I have plans to have lunch with a friend who is moving to Toronto this weekend. I've not seen much of her in the last few years, as she's been living overseas, but we try to get together for a visit whenever she's in town.

Rehearsal actually went quite well last night. I didn't feel prepared, but everything came together in the end. Dan gave me a ride to the south side (saving me a 45 minute walk) and I was able to spend a half hour in Second Cup sipping on a delicious chocolate chai latte (regular is plenty big. there was no way i could finish a large - it's too sweet) and going over my lines. Hopefully tonight goes as well, and then we'll have finished putting together the second half!

writing for the sake of writing

2007-01-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

Groggy this morning. I had a good shift last night. I hate Monday mornings though. And I have rehearsal tonight and I'm not off-book for the second half which we're going to be working on and I need to figure out a costume before 5:45 tonight. I may be out of school, but I'm still procrastinating a lot.

Dan and I had lunch with his dad yesterday at the High Level Diner (great food). We talked a bit about Costa Rica. I suppose I haven't mentioned that we're considering moving there for a year. I'll write more about that another time. Right now I'm still half asleep...

back on track

2007-01-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Way to miss a day of posting on my second day! It's not that I didn't have time; it's because I got distracted. When I opened my laptop to write my morning blog, I found a comment on my flickr account from someone wanting to know where I went in Mexico, and I spent 20 minutes trying to find it on a map. Silly. But sometimes things get in the way of our plans - that's called "life"!

I went back to work yesterday after having had 10 days off. What a day to return - it was busy! I guess there's some conference going on downtown and we got a few hits from that. It wasn't so bad at night because we had lots of people working, but it was pretty hectic during the afternoon when we were short-staffed. To be honest - it wasn't a lot of fun. But I did make decent money so I can't complain too much.

I would have written about our Friday night date if I had written yesterday morning. Dan and I had a very nice dinner out on Friday. His dad had given us a gift certificate for La Ronde, a rooftop revolving restaurant. It's not too often that we have the opportunity to go out on a Friday night, so we decided it would be a good chance to use our gift certificate. We got all dressed up and enjoyed a fabulous dinner with a fantastic view of the city at night.

who needs a new year for resolutions?

2007-01-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from Texas - the vacation is officially over. I've got quite a busy schedule (for me, anyway) and I'm attempting to incorporate some healthy changes - a routine if you will - that will help me feel more balanced and centered.

One of the things that is changing is my schedule at work. With the dropping of one shift and picking up another I have moved things around so that I now have two days off in a row, rather than having Tuesdays and Thursdays off in the middle of the week. My weekend is now Thursday and Friday, and I am so looking forward to having this chunk of time. My evenings are still pretty much taken up, but at least I have a couple of days away from work to recharge.

I'm back on the blue light again now too. I'm feeling much better after my trip (even though there was hardly any sun in Texas this year), but I want to keep feeling this way. So I'm going to try to sit in front of the light each morning for 15-30 minutes. This is the perfect time for me to compose and post a little blog post each day as well. After my "light time" it's exercise time. At least 30 minutes (sometimes more) of anything from yoga postures to pilates to walking/running on the treadmill or riding the bike or climbing the stairmaster (I plan to use the condo's workout room a lot more now that I've donated my treadmill to them). Then breakfast and shower and I can move on with my day.

I imagine that this morning routine will be difficult to maintain on those days that I work at 9 or 10 in the morning (a joke to many of you, I'm sure, but I'm used to working nights!), but everyone needs a day off, and if I only do one or two of my planned activities I'm still doing pretty well in my books.

So that's that. I guess that you can now look forward to (be annoyed by?) my increased presence and mundane musings here.

sad in a winter wonderland

2007-01-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

It's damn cold here again. Like it was back in November. We had a nice break in December, but now it's that real wintery weather again. Apparently it's supposed to be nicer again next week, but I'm leaving for Texas on Wednesday, so I don't really care all that much.

Can't wait to go somewhere warm. I mean, I'm really going to visit my parents, but let's be honest, the trip will be a whole lot better if it's warm and sunny.

I put on some fake nails yesterday. I've been wanting to try them out, and since I had bitten off all of my real nails and I had a day off, it seemed like a good day to try it. I really like the look of them, but there are some annoyances. It's kind of hard to type, for one thing. A couple of them are hurting a bit, well, not so much hurting as sensitive. Anyway, I'm going to try out these do-it-yourselfers for a few days and then decide if I want to get some professional ones done.

I'm still having a hard time getting up in the mornings. I'm going to bed at a reasonable time, I'm sleeping well, I'm waking up at around the same time every morning, and still I'm finding it so hard to drag my ass out of bed. I hate this. I'm even using Dan's blue light every morning, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I guess there's nothing I can do but keep trying.

I went to Japanese Village for dinner last night with a friend from work (well, technically my boss) and her boyfriend (Dan was working). It was fun. The food was really good except that our chef pretty much over-cooked all of our meat. Oh well. It was nice to go out and I haven't been to Japanese Village for a long time.

Don't stop

2007-01-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm really good in the short term. I love to start projects. It's just that along the way I - I don't know what happens - do I lose interest? get bored? Whatever it is that happens, I lose my motivation, and if the project isn't important enough to me, I end up leaving it incomplete. I see this in all areas of my life and it's extremely frustrating. If it's a quick, small, or short term project - great - it gets done. But if it's something that I want to work on for a while, forever, for a long time - it doesn't seem to happen.

I can see this starting to happen with my 365days project. I'm nearly at 100 days - almost a quarter of a year, and I'm fading. But I really enjoy it! I want to keep going. Is this just a hump that I need to get over, or is it going to be this difficult for me for the rest of the year?

I love to start things for myself, almost daily or weekly resolutions: I'm going to start getting up earlier and exercise regularly and write more and blah, blah, blah... And I do. For awhile. And then...?

This is a part of me that I don't like. Well, I like the starting things part, I just don't like the lack of follow-through and finish part. I don't want to be a quitter. I want to do things that are good for me. I want to do things that I enjoy. I want to finish what I start.

Maybe what I need to do, rather than trying to force myself into this role, is to make a series of short-term goals. Trick myself into believing that it's just a tiny project. Try to do something for one week, or one month. And then when that time period is up, repeat it. Stop worrying about "forever." Maybe then I won't get overwhelmed.

These thoughts brought to you by Marsha's Morning Musings.

desire

2007-01-09T13:55:00.001-07:00

Oh My God: iPhone

I want one. Bad. But I have a bad feeling about the damn thing working/becoming available in Canada any time soon.

i do not like them on a train, i do not like them in the rain

2007-01-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to come together around the house. Dan has his room about 85% set-up. We've pretty much got the kitchen taken care of (and I cleaned the heck out of it yesterday). The living area still has a lot of stuff in it, but it's getting better. Most of what needs to be done now is my shit. I need to go through stuff and figure out what I can toss out, what I should donate, and what needs to go into storage. I've been trying to pare down my material goods for some time now, but they just seem to keep adding up. It's frustrating!

Rehearsal again tonight, and I made an appointment with the playwright whose show I'm directing this spring for tomorrow afternoon. Busy, busy!

Interesting tidbit: I made green eggs and ham this morning for breakfast. Evidence to show up on flickr eventually...

2007-01-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that yesterday was hell at work. It was the longest, busiest, craziest shift ever. But I made it through alive and made some pretty good money as well, so now that it's behind me I guess it wasn't so bad.

The apartment looks like something exploded in it. My year-long roommate and friend has moved on to bigger and better things, and Dan and I have decided to co-habitate. All of his stuff is in the apartment, we're just not sure where everything is going to fit now. We've both been so busy lately that we haven't had much of a chance to get things organized yet. It's happening slowly, but surely. I think. I am pretty excited to have him living with me though, and I think he's feeling the same way.

Back to rehearsals tonight after a 2 week break. I'm supposed to be off-book for the first half of the play, but I'm only about 85% there. I just need to put some more time into it, but I seem to be running short on time these days.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's 9am on New Year's Day and I am actually awake (sort of). I have to work this morning. I am very groggy. Didn't end up going out last night because Dan ended up working until 11:50pm. Oh well. He came home afterwards and we had our own little New Year's celebration. It was nice.

Here's to a great 2007!

minor update

2006-12-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

I am sick. I got sick on Friday with a very heavy feeling in my chest, dizziness, and a fever. I took the night off work in order to get better so that I could work yesterday (which I did). Not fully recovered, still a lot of chest pain, but things seem to be breaking up a bit in there. I hate being sick. The only good thing about it is that it reminds me how much I appreciate being well. I've got to take better care of myself.

The weather is decent, but not feeling well I don't really want to venture out. Dan and I went to his mom's for brunch today (jumbo peach pancake and ham) and it was very good. He has to work at 3pm, so it was a quick lunch. I think I'm going to go nap before my shift tonight.

Only two weeks until Christmas. I've got a lot to do before then. Things are going badly for Dan right now (car troubles, money troubles, job troubles...) and it's hard to get excited about anything right now, but hopefully things will take a turn for the better soon.

so much for blogging every day.

2006-11-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's been so damn cold here the past week or so, that I've basically been hibernating (or wishing I was). Dan has had some complicated car troubles, so I've really only been leaving the house to go to work. Fortunately it's warmed up a bit today, because I need to take a trip to the bank. It's that time of the month, you know.

Tonight I'm doing another murder mystery. I did the first one on Saturday and it was an absolute blast! I had so much fun (and I got paid!). I'm doing my second one tonight, and it's a different script (one that, imo seems a bit more complicated) so I hope it goes ok. I don't have the perfect costume, but what I do have will just have to do.

We've had two rehearsals for the one-act so far, and it's coming along nicely. I really enjoy the company of the people I'm working with, so that makes it nice.

And work is, of course, work. It's actually a lot slower than it usually is this time of year, but it's also been A LOT colder than it usually is. I think it's keeping a lot of people home. Hopefully it picks up soon. 'Tis the season to make lots of money :)

2006-11-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

The boss had to have a root canal this week, so she's been off for a couple of days. I was nice and agreed to work her shift today. Usually I'm off on Thursdays, and I was looking forward to my day off. I was going to make a batch of bread and relax and clean up the house a bit. But instead I dragged my butt out of bed this morning and trudged through a ton of freshly fallen snow. It was a pretty easy day, so I shouldn't really complain, but I really don't like shift leading.

On Tuesday Dan and I spent the whole day together. It was really nice. We picked up his car, dropped off his dad's car, went for lunch, went to Costco (where I bought new glasses!), went back to his place. I was supposed to have rehearsal, but it was canceled due to the director being sick, but Dan had band practice, so while he was gone I just read my book. When he returned we decided to go out for dinner (I was craving Greek salad) and then to Murietta's for wine and dessert. It was a great date day. And then we slept in until about one in the afternoon on Wednesday - it was lazy and luxurious - I loved it.

Right now I really want to have a bath to warm up. I wish I could safely take my laptop into the bathtub with me, but there's no way that's a good idea!

this is boring. don't bother reading.

2006-11-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

I really haven't had much interest in blogging lately. I'm trying, really I am, but life keeps getting in the way. I hope that soon I'll snap out of whatever funk I'm in and be interested in writing again, but until then I'm totally struggling.

I've got 4 scripts to work on right now. To be honest, it's a little overwhelming, and (no surprise to me) I'm procrastinating more than just a little bit. I've got work to do, and suddenly I have no time. Which is bullshit, because I've got plenty of time, I'm just wasting the time that I do have.

It's been a rough week, and I'm hoping to get my life a bit more on track this week. We'll see what happens.

turn out the lights

2006-11-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

I walked home last night in the dark. No, not just dark, but dark dark. The power was out for at least a 3-block radius from my apartment building last night. I could tell as I approached Jasper Ave. Cities look so damn eerie when all the lights are out. I considered turning around and going back to work to hang for a bit, but I decided that it might actually be nice to rely on candlelight for awhile (plus, my iBook would still be fully charged), and I was sure that I could entertain myself for awhile. As I entered the building through the front doors I noticed the cleaner and the building bitch sitting in the lobby so I asked how long the power had been out for. About a half an hour. I walked up the stairs (lit by emergency lighting), opened my hall door, opened my apartment door, switched on the lights... wait a minute?! The power came back on pretty much exactly when I opened my door.

I must admit, part of me was disappointed.

So I had a bath and watched some tv. Pretty boring Friday night. It would have been so much cooler if I had to bathe by candlelight.

blah

2006-11-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

I slept most of the day today. It was nice and relaxing, although now I'm groggy and I have to go to work. I've really gotten nothing done so far this week. There are things that I need to do. I need to start going over my scripts. And I want to, but I just haven't had the energy. I think the winter blahs are already getting to me, and it's not even that cold out right now!

Anyway, I'm off to work tonight. I hope it's busy, but it probably won't be. My Friday night shift has been getting slower and slower...

testing out a new blogging tool

2006-11-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am definitely enjoying my day off today. Dan slept over last night, and it's always nice to wake up to the one you love. I flickred a bit this morning, got cleaned up and went for my free massage from my co-worker this afternoon, walked home and picked up some groceries, transfered one of my loan balances to get a lower interest rate, called the people at cia to find out where the hell my shipment is, and then played online. I'm having some fun with firefox and extensions. In fact, this post is coming to you from my browser. We'll see how it goes.

update: well, how it goes is apparently with an auto link. Not sure how I'm feeling about that one...

waterless

2006-11-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

I missed another post. Oopsie!

I had a really lazy day yesterday. I hadn't slept very well on Monday night. Dan called to tell me that he was coming over at around 11:00 pm, but he ended up having so much car trouble that he didn't make it here until after 1:00 am. By that time I was exhausted, and I pretty much went straight to sleep, but it was a restless sleep. I spent all day yesterday on the couch, knitting and watching tv. I had a busy night last night though. It was the first read-through for the one-act I'm acting in, and we met way up in Clareview, so I took the LRT there. It was great to meet everybody, and I think we're going to have a pretty good little show on our hands. I'm happy with the play and with my character, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Afterwards I took the train downtown and got on a bus to Millwoods to go to Caitlin's going away party. It was a dinner party and I got there really late, so most everybody from work had already left. But I still had a really good time (and they saved me a bit of food too). I shared a cab back downtown with Dick and made it to bed by 2. Pretty groggy this morning.

The plan today was to get up, put on a load of laundry, and head to the back to make my first mortgage payment. I'm officially buying the condo from my parents. Unfortunately I forgot that there was a scheduled water shut-off in the building so I have to wait to do my laundry (and shower). I just hope it comes back on soon. I did get to the bank though, and made a little side shopping trip to the drug store.

Work tonight and hopefully Dan is coming over again tonight.

guess what?

2006-11-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

I don't have the energy to give this information the treatment it deserves right now, but I have to at least mention it...

I got the part in the one-act that I auditioned for last week. First read-through is tomorrow night.
I got an email offer to perform in a murder mystery out of town that I had to turn down because of work, BUT then I got another offer (from a different company) that I CAN do! Nov. 25. Paid acting gig. Can't beat that :)
And then, I got an email offering me a directing job. I'm floored and totally excited about this. I haven't even read the script yet, but I'm really looking forward to it!

So yeah, things are coming up roses all of a sudden. I'm happy.

I'm also really tired. I didn't get much sleep last night.

Oh yeah, and the latin club that we went dancing at on Saturday night? Arsons burnt it down the next morning. Really.

teeny weeny

2006-11-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

Despite my reservations about going to the club last night, I actually ended up having a blast. I even danced!

Worked a long hard shift yesterday (10 hours), hardly ate, and then went drinking and dancing. Surprisingly, I don't really feel all that bad. I feel as though I ought to feel worse.

I do, however, have to go to work pretty damn quick. So this is an itsy bitsy entry...

miscellaneous

2006-11-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to write about, so I'll just muse about a few things (I seem to do this best anyway).

I still haven't heard back either way about my audition from last Monday.

I don't know what happened to the building managers of my condo. They disappeared a while ago (I assumed they were on vacation) but they haven't come back. The building seems to be being run by the bitch that I hate. This woman is intolerably arrogant and rude. I can't stand her. I think every apartment building/complex has a person like this. Always in everyone's business, thinks she owns the place, loves to find fault with others. I can't stand her.

The cold is already getting to me. I hope I don't regret my decision to skip x-mas in Texas this year. Apparently my parents are already en route, but I haven't talked to them in a few weeks and I have no idea what they're up to.

After work tonight there is a going away party being held for one of the girls at a Latin club (her favourite nightclub). I don't want to go, but I do want to say my farewells and such. What a pain. I guess the solution is to just go for a bit ( i.e. make an appearance) and then catch a cab home fairly early (midnight?). Or the other alternative would be to get drunk :)

a pretty eventful thursday

2006-11-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

Last night was fantastic. After cleaning for most of the afternoon (and it did warm me up, thank-you very much!) I had a quick shower, got ready and started on dinner. We had the strangest dinner last night. I call it raclette stir-fry. I have one of those swiss raclette things and Dan and I have been talking about using it, so last night was the night. I got some shrimp, some veggies, I made rice, and we heated up a variety of sauces in the pans. It was interesting to say the least. And it was tasty, which is the most important part.

After dinner we went to the Opera. It was my very first Opera and I loved it. We saw Don Giovanni, and I thought it was fantastic. I'm so excited to see the rest of the season (Dan joined this club which gets us really cheap tickets and good seats).

Today is a lazy day and a work night. Not much else going on for the time being...

brr!

2006-11-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'm freezing. It's cold in the apartment. I like to keep the heat up, but my poor roommate sleeps in the warmest room in the apartment and I think he finds it necessary to turn the heat down in order to survive at night. Nonetheless, I've cranked it up a couple of degrees and still my hands are ice cold and I'm shivering a bit. Know what that means? It means that it's time for me to get up out of my comfy computer chair ( i.e. get off my ass) and move around a bit. I think it's about time for a little bit of cleaning. Normally I'd bake something to get warm, and I'm actually planning to make dinner for the boy tonight, but in all honesty, the apartment needs to be cleaned more than it needs cookies. Well, more than I need cookies, anyway.

damn!

2006-11-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

I missed a day already. That sucks. The old me would become discouraged at this and quit, but the new me says, "fuck it. Just pick up where you left off and keep going."

So the audition on Monday night went well. I enjoyed myself. We'll see (hopefully) by the end of the week if anything comes of it. Afterwards I went over to Dan's, where he was just putting on a batch of chili - yummy. The whole house smelt of onions, so I hung out in his room and knit for awhile. We ended up just hanging out - drinking tea, chatting, me knitting, Dan typing emails, and eating chili. I spent most of yesterday in bed. Dan had to get up early for a lab appointment, so I slept in. Then once he came back and had breakfast he was ready for a nap and I was ready to get up. So I got online and took care of some housekeeping things while he slept. We were both awake for a couple of hours when we talked a bit, but then I wanted a nap. Yes, it was a napping day. Finally Dan got up to get some work done and I read for a bit before we walked to my place, ordered pizza and got ready for the Goo Goo Dolls concert. It was pretty good. We watched the whole thing from the licensed area at the back of the venue. We met up with Trevor and a couple of his friends and had a really good time. The show was over pretty early so we ended up going for drinks and pool at the Garneau Pub. Home shortly after midnight.

I won't be discouraged

2006-11-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

I just got home from work. I smell like a burger. Ewww. I'm planning to shower and dress and head uptown for an audition. I didn't get anything in the last show I auditioned for (I found out officially yesteday, but I had pretty much figured it out a week and a half ago), so I figured that the best thing to do is to jump back on the horse. And even if nothing comes of this one... well, there's always the next one.

Yes, if nothing else, I'm building up a callous on my ego.

can't sleep...

2006-11-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

I'm finally giving up. After getting up to pee at 4:30am I've tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep and I can't do it. No sense wasting my time, so I figured I might as well accept the fact that I'm awake and get something done. I've only got about 90 pages left in my book so I'm planning to read. I really hope that I can manage to have a nap later on today...

you know it's winter when...

2006-11-05T04:50:00.000-07:00

you wake up in the middle of the night and your eyes are DRY, even though you've been sleeping soundly for 3.5 hours. Even though you have your humidifier on. It's been happening a lot lately.

saturday night's alright for fighting

2006-11-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

Long day at work today. Nine hours. I'm usually pretty tired on Saturday nights. I arrived home to guests tonight though, which is nice. It's nice to have a little company. Especially friends who let you drink their wine. So I haven't showered yet, we've got Moulin Rouge on the tv, 3/4 of us are knitting... Crazy.

I really liked how my 365 photo turned out today. There's some kind of crazy lens flare or something (click photo for larger size):

no title

2006-11-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

I spent the whole day laying around the house with Dan, reading and talking. It was a really good day. I worked tonight in the lounge - it was pretty quiet, probably due to the Oilers game, but I still had a good night and made a some cash. Can't complain about that.

Yesterday we ended up taking the bus to West Edmonton Mall. It was kind of fun, not something that we would normally do. I did some shopping (replaced the winter coat that was stolen from the parkade in my building), we had lunch in the food court, I took some pictures, you know - typical mallrat stuff. We took the bus home and had dinner at the Thai restaurant down the street from my place. I can't believe I've never eaten there before! It's really close, and the food is really good. We ended up staying in the rest of the evening, just hanging out and chatting with Wade.

Yes, that's right. Another mundane entry.

safety net

2006-11-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm posting now to make sure that I get one in today. I plan to be pretty occupied today as Dan and I both have the day off and are spending it together. We haven't made plans for our afternoon or evening as of yet, and it's quite possible that we will end up lounging around the house (it's freaking cold outside and we are both sans vehicle at the moment), but I don't want to lose focus and end up missing a post on day two.

I am in the middle of reading The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger right now, and all I can say is that I love this book. I'm not even halfway through and it's already made its way onto my top 10 list (i'm not exactly sure what the other nine are - maybe I should make an actual list - but I hate favourites lists. too structured and inflexible). Read it. I can't stop reading it, but I really don't want it to end. It's amazing.

That's it for now. Have a great Thursday (I will!)

NaBloPoMo

2006-11-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, I'm going to blog again. Yes, that's right. That funny looking title up there, well, that's the name of a blogging challenge. It's based on NaNoWriMo (which I thought I'd attempt last year, but quit before I even started). So this year I'm going smaller. National Blog Posting Month. At least one post, every day, for the whole month of November. No promises of quality. None. But I will write something here every day this month dammit!

In other news, I seem to have become exceedingly obsessive-compulsive lately. Or maybe it's just obsessive. Or compulsive? I don't know. What I do know is that I keep latching on very tightly to things (in the metaphoric sense) and I cannot let go. As I've complained about myself many times before, I seem to have no balance in my life. Too much black and white, and not enough grey.

My latest obsessions?

Self-portraits and the 365days flickr group.
Reading.

I'm not really complaining. These are great things for me to be doing. It's just that feeling of uncontrollable desire and my lack of enthusiasm for anything else that bothers me. And when I move on to the next thing? Then what happens?

(This post is extremely poorly written. This is me not caring. If I start out badly, we'll all notice even more improvement, won't we?)

a new obsession

2006-10-15T10:58:00.000-06:00

I'm over my eBay-itis. I have moved on to bigger and better fascinations. I suppose the two are related, because I did end up buying a new camera from eBay, but my new camera has gotten me flickr-obsessed. And, more specifically, obsessed with a group within flickr: 365 days. The goal is to take and post one new self-portrait every day for a year. I am entirely intrigued with the idea and I've decided to go for it. If you actually visit my blog (rather than reading in an rss reader) you will see the photos in the sidebar. If not, I will point you to my flickr photostream . You can also check out my 365 days set directly.

(many, many links today)

my morning giggle

2006-10-11T09:50:00.000-06:00

From today's National Post:

Windsor police officers may use 'personal transporters' to put crime on the run
Bad guys beware: In a few months, Windsor police officers could be chasing you on a Segway Personal Transporter. The self-balancing two-wheeler, with a maximum speed of 20 km/h, will spare the officers from running or pedalling in pursuit of crime, said Sergeant Bill Hunt, Windsor police fleet manager. "You can imagine what it's like ... to have to pedal on a bike or run four, five blocks to a bar fight,'' he said yesterday. "[The officers] are using all of their physical strength and you want to make sure that you have enough strength when you get there.'' Windsor's police department would be the first in Canada to use the motorized scooters.

from CanWest News Service

Oh.my.God. How ridiculous will that be?!

thanks for the food!

2006-10-10T15:42:00.000-06:00

The Thanksgiving feast was fabulous. Ok, so not everything turned out exactly as I had hoped, but it was still a damn fine meal, and I was able to share it with my favourite person.

The menu:

Jost (a Nova Scotian winery) 2003 Reserve Marechal Foche
caesar salad (with Dan's amazing dressing and homemade croutons)
homemade dinner buns
chicken (rotisserie roasted)
whipped potatoes
stuffing (a combination of mine and dan's mothers' recipes)
gravy
pumpkin pie (although the ww recipe called it cheesecake, it really tasted more like pie)
Jost maple wine

It was delicious. I had really wanted to make my mom's dressing, and I thought I had some summer savory, but it turns out I don't. And you can't buy this stuff in Alberta, it's a maritime thing. So I'm going to have to get my mom to mail me some. Both wines were delicious. I had brought them back from NS and they were the perfect compliment to our dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

addictive personality

2006-10-08T14:11:00.000-06:00

It seems I've picked up a case of eBay-itis this weekend. I'm not sure how it started, and I'm fortunate that it hasn't gotten out of hand (yet), but I can't stop bidding on eBay. I've shopped there before, but last night I got the idea into my head and I spent hours browsing around and bidding on things. I've purchased a new duvet cover (microfiber), perfume (Trouble by Boucheron), and some lingerie (none of your damn business!). I'm considering a new digital camera and a few other things. It's just so much fun! It really does feel like an addiction like gambling or something. The strange thing is that I'm not really much of a shopper. I usually say that I hate shopping (although that's a bit of an exaggeration). I do, however, love a good deal. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't worry too much as long as the spending doesn't get out of control.

I've also been planning for the big dinner tomorrow. Lots to do. I'm going to spend pretty much the whole day tomorrow shopping, cooking and cleaning. Dan's dad won't be joining us, so it will be just the two of us, which is nice because there's a lot less pressure that way.

Work probably won't be very busy tonight. Thanksgiving is one of those "eating holidays" that pretty much keeps people out of the restaurants.

father knows best

2006-10-06T14:49:00.000-06:00

I'm attempting to post via email, since my preferred posting client, MarsEdit, is not functioning properly. A quick inquiry determines that it is a blogger problem. Personally I don't care whose fault it is, I'm just annoyed that I can't use the program that I want to use. So here I am composing an email in gmail and planning to send it to my blog. I suppose if it works well, it may be an even better way for me to post. This way I can draft posts and I will be able to post the way that I want to from any computer.

It's rainy and cool today. This after a nearly perfect autumn day yesterday. Yesterday was very warm (in the twenties), beautiful clear blue sky, and I had the day off! My dad was in town (he had come out to go hunting with his buddies for a week) and we spent the day together. He treated me to lunch, and in the evening he showed me how to make his famous pickled garlic. To escape the smelly house we walked to The Keg (Strathcona) where Dan had reserved us a table for 2 in his section (he had to work). We had an excellent meal, fabulous wine, and a really good visit. I've promised Dad that I would review the restaurant - for practice if nothing else - and let him read what I come up with. So I guess I officially have a writing assignment.

A side note about the garlic pickling: This summer I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with family. I decided that it would be the perfect time to get lessons from some relatives regarding their cooking specialties. I am perfectly capable of following a recipe, but so often when you want to make something "just like mom used to" it's best to have mom show you how she does it. This way you learn the subtle nuances that simply can't be written into a recipe. So this summer I had a bread/bun making lesson with my Aunt Marilyn, I made pie crusts with my mom, and I wanted to make garlic with my dad. Unfortunately we didn't have the garlic or the time, so dad said he'd make it with me when he came out to Alberta. Mission accomplished (although we won't know how it tastes for two weeks)!

Wade is gone to Fort St. John for the Thanksgiving weekend so I have the apartment to myself all weekend. I am planning a feast for dinner on Monday and am pretty excited about it. I have really gotten into this whole cooking thing. I thouroughly enjoy it, and I think that the best part is sharing it with others. Not sure yet if it will just be Dan and I for dinner or if his dad will be joining us, but either way I'm really looking forward to preparing (and eating!) the meal.

back to the daily grind

2006-10-04T13:35:00.000-06:00

It's been nearly 3 months since I've posted here. Although I had the best intentions of blogging my way across Canada (and continuing once I arrived at my destination), the lack of a permanent, high-speed internet connection foiled those plans. Yes, it's true, that's merely an excuse (i.e. there was nothing stopping me from writing daily and posting all of my posts whenever I did manage to connect), I guess the real reason I didn't blog more was because I didn't feel like it.

I did do a bit of paper writing (as in writing on paper, not writing "papers"), which was really nice for a change, and I did have an idea for a new blog late one night in a hotel room in Halifax, but overall I spent much more time relaxing and enjoying rather than writing about my experiences. I would like to go back and fill in some of the blanks on the crossing canada blog, as well as continue posting photos to my flickr account, but that will come in time.

I've been home for nearly 3 weeks now, and I've decided that it's about time I ended my "vacation from my vacation." I'm back at work at the restaurant, keeping very busy there, I caught a nasty cold last week that I am finally getting over (only a nagging cough and occasional nose-blowing stubbornly hanging on), I've managed to lose the 10 lbs that I gained on my 2 month vacation, and now I'm ready to get back into my regular day-to-day thing.

As I've been saying for ever, I really want to try to write for a bit every day. That may or may not be here, in this space, but some of it will. As always, no promises on interesting content - these days I'm just happy if I get some words out of my mind and onto paper (or keyboard, website, whatever). That is my first challenge. Once I the actual act becomes a habit that I can stick to - that's when I'll start worrying about content. Until then, you (my solitary reader) will have to content yourself with my mundane musings.

on the road

2006-07-14T11:09:00.000-06:00

I've been pretty slack in posting here. Things have been rather busy getting ready for my two month vacation! We leave this afternoon, and you can keep up with me on the road on our travel blog: http://crossing-canada.blogspot.com/

Hopefully, many posts and photos will be compiled there.

Have a great summer (I will!)

enjoying a day off

2006-06-06T14:37:00.000-06:00

I have had an absolutely lovely day today. I got up at a reasonable hour and decided to do a few of the things that I have had on my to-do list for awhile.

First I rounded up all of the bottles and cans and took them to the bottle depot ($18.25). I went to the bank. Then I went to the liquor store and spent the bottle money on a case of beer.

When I got home I tackled the balcony. It's been in dire need of a spring cleaning, and since spring is almost over, I figured I'd best get to it. The amount of dust I must have breathed in while sweeping and cleaning disgusts me. But it's clean now. And ready to be used (not that its dirty state has stopped us from using it thus far).

I uploaded some picnic photos to flickr. They're not great. It would have been nice to have a third person along to take pictures and add some variety, but they are pictures, and that's what counts.

Then I decided to treat myself to lunch. I walked down to the Mongolie Grill and had a fabulous stir fry, as well as their delicious hot and sour soup. Yes, I dined alone, just me and my book. I'm planning to finish it today. After lunch I grabbed a frappacino from Starbucks, walked home, and read for a bit longer in the park.

It's nice outside, but not too hot. Perfect weather for me. I am content.

picnic!

2006-06-02T13:31:00.000-06:00

The picnic is on. Dan has an interview today at 2pm, which is unfortunate as it's right in the middle of this glorious afternoon, but it shouldn't take too long, which will allow us to go for the first picnic of the season. I'm going to the grocery store to pick up some eats and then we're headed to the park to eat. outside. which is sort of the definition of a picnic. I'm bringing my camera, so hopefully I will be inspired to take some pictures. Although it will be a quick picnic (that sounds cool - go ahead - say it out loud) because I have to work, I'm still excited.

something cold and fruity

2006-06-02T09:31:00.000-06:00

Work was really good last night. I haven't done a bar shift in quite a long time and I kind of miss it. I certainly got my fill of blender drinks though. There's something about good weather that seems to make everyone say, "I'll have a milkshake (or smoothie, or margarita etc.)." So that kept me busy, and I had a few tables as well. Which was great. I ended up making really good money too, which is always nice.

Not sure what I'm going to do with my day today. It's already 21 degrees and it's only 9:30am. It's supposed to get up to 28. I don't work until 5:30 tonight, so there's plenty of time to enjoy the weather before then. I'm thinking a picnic might be in order...

afternoon delight

2006-06-01T15:58:00.000-06:00

I love surprises. Dan showed up at my place this afternoon unannounced, because he knew he wouldn't get to see me tonight. Those were his words. I love that boy. And he's got amazing timing!

close call

2006-06-01T09:40:00.000-06:00

I almost ended up working all day and night today. I got a call at 9:00am from work saying that our manager is sick and needs someone to run the floor today. They called me not realizing that I'm closing the bar tonight. I would have done it (it's not like I'm going to do anything productive today anyway), but happily they found someone else to come in. So I still have the day off. yay!

obnoxious

2006-06-01T01:07:00.000-06:00

Someone who lives in (or has been visiting) my neighborhood has the most obnoxious car alarm I have ever heard. It just went off twice in a row. Last night Wade and I must have heard it go off 10 times at least. It is insanely loud. It honks randomly (as opposed to a steady beep, beep, beep) and has the whooping siren sound that car alarms often have. I don't know who this person is, but I have a serious hate on for him or her. grr.

My life isn't boring, just my writing

2006-05-31T23:52:00.000-06:00

I've feel like I don't have anything to write. Which is absolute crap, because there's always something to write. It's not like I have high standards about what I will or will not write about. I can write about anything no matter how mundane. So I guess it's just an excuse.

I've had a couple of days off and not really done anything exciting with it. Very typical of me. I was somewhat productive today. I restored my iBook to factory settings, installed tiger and iPhoto 6, and just basically worked on getting it ready for our trip this summer. The computer cleansing continued as I backed up a bunch of stuff from my eMac onto my external drive (my fingers are crossed that it doesn't crap out on me again) and cleaned up 30 Gb of space on my hard drive. Nice. It's about time! I've still got lots of computer-cleaning type things to do, but I got a large chunk done today.

Wade and Andrea and I went down to AMA this evening to order a triptik and pick up a bunch of maps and stuff for our trip this summer. It's only 6 weeks away now! Crazy. It's going to be a blast. We went out to Montana's for a drink and a bite to eat afterwards. I've been eating out too much lately. I think it's the working-in-a-restaurant syndrome. A bad habit is what it really is. I really should try to start eating like a normal person again.

summer in may

2006-05-18T13:23:00.000-06:00

Work was ridiculous on Tuesday. I ended up working 11 hours and not getting home until 3:45 am. Ugh. We had to stay late and do a whack of extra cleaning due to head office coming in to our kitchen to do a menu rollout the following morning. It's not the work that I minded, but it would have been nice to know in advance that I was going to be responsible for that. I didn't find out until I came in to work my shift.

Oh well, thankfully I had yesterday off so I could sleep in. Well, sort of. It was so hot yesterday that once the sun came up I had a really hard time sleeping. So I got up. I was feeling pretty grumpy (lack of sleep, the heat, the fact that my summer skin irritation was acting up, and that plans for last night were not working out the way that I wanted), so I decided on some retail therapy. I went to the mall. I did manage to pick up a few things (a new skirt, some tops, some jeans), but I think the best part was the air conditioned mall.

Last night turned out ok, even though it wasn't my original plan. We went over to a friend's for a bbq and to watch the hockey game (which we won - go oilers go!). The food was good and the game was fun. We made it a fairly early night last night.

This morning my mission was to get the oil changed in the caddy and buy groceries. I got both of these things accomplished by noon. And I've got the afternoon to just relax before going in to work tonight. I hope the damn air conditioning is fixed - it's freaking hot in there and makes it tough to work.

weekend wrap-up

2006-05-16T10:13:00.000-06:00

It is absolutely gorgeous out today (it's already 18 degrees at 10:00 am). Yesterday was as well. It seems that summer has arrived in our fair city.

Now that the show is over, I'll be working more regularly at the restaurant. I really don't mind that much. Only two months until we leave on our trip and I can use all the extra money I can get. I've got four shifts this week (I'm hoping to work four or five days - enough to stay busy, but not too much).

The show ended on a high note. Our performance on Saturday night was our best yet. We really all came together and it felt great. We had a good cast party too - fun, but not out of hand. Actually a funny thing happened on Friday night - I was injured by the bell! The tradition at the Walterdale is that the actors get a chance to ring the firehouse bell 10 minutes before the show. Friday was my night (along with Cory - one of the actors from the other show). I got to start it off and I reached up really high and hauled down on the rope. As I reached the bottom, I was kind of leaning over. I guess it was a bit heavier than I expected, and on the up turn the rope pulled up faster than I was ready for. As I was leaning over, my thumb nail struck me on the cheek and hit my brow bone. It kind of hurt, but I didn't think it was a big deal - I just laughed because I had hit myself in the face. It turns out that my long nails (which I had just been saying that I needed to cut) actually sliced me open a bit! As I returned to the dressing room I checked my face out in the mirror and was shocked to see blood. Oh no! And I had to be onstage in 5 minutes! Thankfully I was able to mostly cover up the damage with heavy makeup - the show must go on. Although I admit I was a bit thrown off by the incident.

Mother's Day was pretty good - I worked all day and made some decent money, and although I was tired (didn't get much sleep due to the cast party), after work Dan and I went over to his mom's for dinner. I also met his aunt, cousins, a couple of his uncles and his grandma. We watched the game afterwards - it was a pretty exciting 3rd period - and fell asleep.

I didn't do too much yesterday. I stopped in to work to get my schedule (which wasn't done) and lazed around. Last night was the Strokes show. It was pretty good. We had a good time, and had a few laughs at the lead singer's expense. The crowd was awesome though. It was a good show to go to.

I'm working tonight, so I'm hoping to get some cleaning up done around the apartment and I have to run out later to pick up a few things from the drugstore (mainly sunscreen).

friday random ten

2006-05-12T10:12:00.000-06:00

1. Darkness - Third Eye Blind
2. Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
3. Call Me - Blondie
4. May It Be - Enya
5. Fitter Happier - Radiohead
6. Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young
7. In a Flash - Ron Sexsmith
8. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
9. Leave - Barenaked Ladies
10. Cain - Patty Griffin

My selection today is more interesting than it was when I was posting from work. I only have 4.5 GB of music on my iPod (although it holds 20), but I've got nearly 30 on my eMac, which also means there's a higher chance for crap. But the whole point is to be honest about it - no cheating! Although I admit that if I come across a spoken word track or something I skip it.

only two shows left

2006-05-12T09:23:00.000-06:00

The show has been going well, and everything I've heard has been positive. Dan came with his mom to the show on Wednesday. They seemed to really like it. Dan said that he was "impressed" by me, which is very nice to hear. Last night was a bit shaky (for me). I think my best performance was on Tuesday, which, of course, no one I know saw! I'm hoping to really pull it together for the weekend - our final two performances!

Part of the frustration is having the script. I know my lines, but I'm not off-book, if that even makes sense. I can't ditch the script in the middle of the run, but it's really holding me back at times. Oh well. C'est la vie.

I worked all day yesterday, and I'm on for the next 3 days as well. Today is just a quick lunch shift. It's rainy today, so I'm not sure if it will be busier or not. Friday lunches are usually decent. Then I have the afternoon off to prepare for tonight (or goof off or nap or whatever).

Have a great day!

hump day

2006-05-10T09:10:00.000-06:00

The show last night was great (at least from my pov - I didn't actually hear from anyone in the audience). We all sort of took off right afterwards. A combination of tiredness and not wanting to get worn out or sick of each other. Tonight Dan comes with his mom, so I will probably join them at intermission and watch the last play. I really hope they like it. It's so hard to tell with friends. They want to be supportive and positive, and occasionally that keeps honesty out of the equation. Oh well, there's also something to be said for getting lots of praise :)

I had a great day yesterday. I really didn't accomplish much, but it was good nonetheless. Dan came over (with drag queen makeup!) in the afternoon and we had lunch, spent the afternoon together and made dinner before I had to go to the theatre. The makeup was a result of his volunteering his male self for an unknown class project. It was for his gender and sexuality theory class. It ended up being made up by a drag queen and professional makeup artist! He, of course, didn't mention it to me, so I was a bit taken by surprise when he showed up at my door. I must say though, my boyfriend is very pretty!

I've been going through iPhoto and editing some older photos. It's supposed to be my inspiration to take more pictures. So there will be many new things to see at my flickr site over the next little while (see sidebar).

one down, five to go!

2006-05-09T11:51:00.000-06:00

Opening night went really well last night. I think we did a really good show (although improvements can always be made). There was a pretty decent sized audience as well, which was nice. I was a bit worried, since there was a hockey game last night and no media showed up for the media call.

It was a fun show. I didn't really feel nervous, but I think I was - I found that I needed the security of my script more than usual. I kept feeling like I didn't know what was coming up next. Hopefully that fades as the week goes on.

After our show was over the four of us went over to the Next Act for a drink to celebrate. We wanted to relax until it was time to return to the theatre for the opening night reception after the show. It was a good time, and the cast from the second play came in not long after their show ended. I also invited Dan to join us - although he's not seeing the show until Wednesday, I wanted him to come to the reception with me. It was fun, I had some very nice comments on my performance, which is always nice to hear. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to meet our playwright though. Apparently she was in the audience, but she didn't stay for the reception. Someone said that she's quite shy. I would really like to meet her though.

Today is another day off. I've had a nice morning so far. The weather is crappy, but that suits me fine, as I plan to spend the day inside anyway: reading, maybe editing a few more photos, and just generally relaxing.

low stress

2006-05-08T12:10:00.000-06:00

Ahh. I may not be making much money, but I sure am having a nice time. I haven't been doing a heck of a lot - I only worked 10.5 hours last week - and I'm loving it. Opening night for the One-Acts is tonight, and I'm going in early for the media call. I only have two scheduled shifts to work this week, but with the play going up every night, I'm totally OK with that.

Last night we got together at Andrea's for dinner and hockey (although most of us didn't watch the game at all). It was fun, and we did some preliminary planning for our trip. I'm thinking of starting a new blog for the trip, but we'll see. I'll let you know.

Saturday's dress rehearsal went fairly well. Far from perfect, but still pretty good. I'm finally looking forward to the show. We actually got to watch the other two plays as well, and they're quite good. All in all, it's quite a heartwarming group of plays. Now I just hope that we manage to have some kind of audience.

I could definitely get used to this.

2006-05-03T13:46:00.000-06:00

I am loving my new hardly working at all schedule. A bit too much I'm afraid. I do still need to make a living after all. I worked a quick lunch shift yesterday. Fun. I love the weekday lunch shifts. You're in and out and make decent money. I do that again tomorrow, and then I'm shift leading on Friday. Not sure about next week's schedule yet...

The cue-to-cue rehearsal on Monday was actually quite fun. We were all in a good mood, and acted silly in between do-overs and technical difficulties. Monday was a great day for me: Dan came over in the afternoon and brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine. A couple of hours later we went out for dinner at the Keg before I had rehearsal. We don't eat out very often anymore, so it's especially nice when we do. I ended up walking over to his place after rehearsal and spending the night. Oh yeah, Monday night was absolutely insane on Whyte Ave. I was a block away from the madness the whole time, but I could see the masses of people and hear the constant roar of the crowd beneath the honking horns and shouts. The Oilers won their series. That's really all I need to say about that. I don't mind hockey, but I don't really follow it. When I cheer, I cheer for the home team, but that's about as far as it goes for me. It would be great if they did well, but it's not a big deal to me if they don't.

Last night was a tech rehearsal and we squeezed in two run-throughs. I wasn't very happy with myself and my performance, but I'm chalking it up to the fact that it was a tech run. I can do better, and I intend to. It will be fine. Our final dress is on Saturday, and that's it until opening night! Scary.

Today has been nice. The weather yesterday was completely shitty (cold, wet, super windy), but today the sun is shining. Dan came over this morning and we took a walk downtown. He wanted to go to the library, and we also stopped at a couple of bookstores along the way. I was hoping to snag a couple of preview passes for MI:3 from Sonic at Churchill Square at noon, but there were too many people who were more eager than me (i.e. willing to run and push) and I missed out. Oh well.

The bookstore/library excursion has thrown my world into a tizzy. I haven't had a library card (except while I was a student, but then that was work, not recreational) for years and years. I used to be an avid library member and book borrower. Lately I have become a used book junkie. The difference is that I now acquire books rather than just reading them. I am a book lover in both senses. I love the content, but I also love the book itself. Here's my current dilemma: I have too much stuff. In the spirit of diminishing my material belongings, I am considering getting rid of some of my books. On one hand it will be refreshing - the chances of me ever reading most of the books on my shelf a second time are slim to none (there are far too many books that I haven't read yet for me to spend time re-reading old favorites), but on the other hand the thought of getting rid of a single book nearly breaks my heart. I need to think more on this.

temporarily unemployed

2006-05-01T08:44:00.000-06:00

...but not for long.

I really enjoyed my weekend of unemployment. Friday night was kind of a bust, but I went to bed early and had a full day on Saturday. It was our last real rehearsal before we enter tech week this week. We had to do a few more cuts to get the time down, but hopefully we're on track now. I got a wedding dress to wear, and it's pretty fabulous.

Saturday night was the keg party at Dan's house. There were tons of people there, and I had a good time, but again, Dan and I kind of pooped out early and were sleeping by 1:30 or so. Woke up with slight hangovers and took a trip to McDonalds. I spent a lazy Sunday at home. I had a nap and read for most of the evening.

Although I'm not working today, I got up bright and early this morning, and I have lots of stuff that I want to get done today. I'm going to go shopping and hopefully find some shoes to wear to work at the restaurant, and I've got to go to the bank and buy groceries. I'm planning to stop by the restaurant to talk with Suzy about work and what she needs and what I want to do. Tonight we have a cue to cue rehearsal, which should be long and boring (hurry up and wait!).

countdown: 1 day and one hour

2006-04-27T16:01:00.000-06:00

I am almost finished working here. I am so glad. It's not that the job is that horrible, and truthfully, I've been slacking off all week, but I am so done with this. You know what it's like when you make up your mind about something, but then you have to wait for it to happen? It's like that. And I've been waiting two weeks now.

I am so looking forward to enjoying some serious free time again. Lazy mornings, late nights, whatever. Maybe writing more (I'm thinking of starting yet another blog - I'm addicted to these things).

Tonight the ex comes over for a visit. And later I have a costume fitting at the theatre - the costume designer (really more of a costume scavenger) thinks she may have found me a wedding dress.

good things

2006-04-25T15:24:00.000-06:00

Tonight is the Deathcab for Cutie / Franz Ferdinand show. Yay! I just hope it doesn't suck being at the Shaw.

My boy finished his last exam today. He called me at lunch to tell me that he's going to come over tonight and make dinner.

It's beautiful and sunny outside.

My boss left town today for the rest of the week. Before he left (since he won't be seeing me before my last day) he gave me a great big hug. It was very surprising. Very. But it made me smile.

stiff shirt shivers

2006-04-24T14:52:00.000-06:00

I'm cold. I shouldn't be cold. It's a nice day and the thermostat here at work says 22, which is not cold. I'm also dressed warmly enough - dress pants, stockings, shoes and a long sleeved dress shirt. I'm even wearing a sweater over top. But dammit - brr! Maybe it's this stupid starchy shirt. It is so stiff. It's rather uncomfortable. It's a nice shirt, but I'm really unhappy with the stiffness of it. I hope it goes away when I wash it.

I can't wait until the end of the week when I'm finished this job. I'm getting sick of pretending that I'm working. Upside? I think my boss is pretty much out of the office for the rest of the week. It was hell this morning - I forgot my ipod at home, and after getting used to having it all last week, I was very sad to have no music all morning. But I remembered to grab it at lunch, so aside from being cold and bored, things are good this afternoon.

Weekend Update

2006-04-24T13:02:00.000-06:00

Friday night was a lot of fun, but I drank too much. Which was stupid. I don't usually do that anymore. I paid for it on Saturday.

Dan came over after work and we went shopping for dinner with Wade. We made a veritable BBQ feast: steaks, potatoes, mushrooms, grilled red peppers, garlic bread. We all stuffed ourselves. After drinking a few at home (not too much) we went out to Bud's for karaoke. Dan wanted to go back and say hi to some people, since he left there so abruptly. It was quite busy, and we had a good time, but I shouldn't have had so much to drink. The two shots of tequila at the end of the night were just stupid.

Saturday I had to drag my sorry ass out of bed to go to rehearsal. It actually went well, as all I had to do was put on a nightie, lay on the cot, and act like a crazy person - no problem! I spent Saturday night on the couch, recovering, watching movies and eating pizza and wings.

Sunday Dan came with me to my first year English instructor's poetry reading and book launch. It was fun. I haven't seen Olga for quite a while and I really enjoy her poetry. I was quite pleased that she thought to invite me, and it was really good to see her again. I have always found her to be motivational and inspirational. Now, of course, I'm thinking about writing again. Instead I just spent the evening reading.

what to do...

2006-04-21T15:58:00.000-06:00

What should you do when you're bored at work and you only have one hour left? On a Friday? With only one week left at said job?

blog.

Definitely. But the big question is - what to write about?

I could tell you how I had a weird psychic dream two nights ago.

I don't really watch tv. But Wade and I decided that the $20 for cable deal that Shaw was offering was just too good to pass by. So we now have tv. But I still never watch it. A waste of $20? Indeed. Anyway, back when we first got cable I started watching some tv. Some American Idol. This was back when they had 12 boys and 12 girls (at least I think that's how many). Anyway, it was kind of cool because I got to meet all of the contestants in those two weeks of tv watching, and now when people talk about AI I know who's who, even though I don't watch anymore. So on Thursday morning when I woke up, Wade announced the previous night's loser from his semi-permanent position in front of his rss feeds: Ace.

And then I remembered my dream from the night before. I totally dreamed (dreamt?) that Ace went home on American Idol. Weird. Of course, my dream was a bit stranger than that. I also dreamed that Ace was from Edmonton. And that when Ryan Seacrest announced that he was the big loser he called Ace "E-town". As in, "E-town, you're going home!" I also dreamed that I ran up onstage and gave Ace a big hug and we started making out. So yeah, it was a bit of a strange dream. And I did have a bit of a crush on Ace. And now he's gone. Oh well.

Friday random ten

2006-04-21T09:28:00.000-06:00

1. Conventioneers - Barenaked Ladies
2. Taylor - Jack Johnson
3. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
4. Against the Grain - Bad Religion
5. Blame it on Me - Barenaked Ladies
6. Psychobabble - Frou Frou
7. Underwater - Tegan & Sara
8. Inside Wants Out - John Mayer
9. Baby Got Going - Liz Phair
10. I Can't Wait - The White Stripes

Not a bad set this week. Kind of fun, which is nice for a Friday. I hope the remainder of my day isn't too bad.

Set me free!

2006-04-20T16:47:00.000-06:00

Not a real fun day today. It's so sunny outside that I can't wait to be finished work. I have the evening off and plan to spend it at home for the first time in over a week. I'm making dinner tonight too (I've been spoiled lately by Wade's BBQing frenzy).

Rehearsal went well last night. We're only cutting stuff (from my scenes, anyway) that I'm happy to see go. I think it will still make sense, but then again, maybe it won't. What the hell do I know? I'm the lunatic after all.

It's only a four-day work week this week, but I still wish it was Friday today. Ugh. Only 15 minutes and I'm outta here!

visited countries map

2006-04-19T15:35:00.000-06:00

This just reminds me that I need to travel more. Soon!

create your own visited countries map.

Thanks Wade.

Back to the grindstone (temporarily)

2006-04-19T11:09:00.000-06:00

After a fabulous weekend, a relatively uneventful drive home (although it was a lot of fun, and took us a bit longer than anticipated, it was nothing compared to the drive out there), and a tired-from-vacation day yesterday, I seem to be back to normal.

It was nice to sleep in my own bed again, but I must say that I have been waking up in the middle of the night a lot lately. My sleep patterns are disturbed. I might have to start sleeping with the fan (to Dan's dismay I'm sure). I should try that tonight and see if it works.

I'm back into rehearsals again as well, with only 3 weeks left until we open. I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this process. It's been enjoyable, but staging a not-quite-finished rough work of a play is, in many ways, very frustrating. We did our first sort of run last night, and we're running a lot longer than anticipated. The one-acts are supposed to be 30 minutes. Our play isn't really a one-act, well, maybe it is, technically, but it seems to be a lot bigger than traditional one-act plays (at least as far as my very limited experience tells me). We've already cut quite a few chunks. Now we're going to lose more. Hopefully we'll still have some kind of cohesive piece of theatre when we're finished.

So, I didn't get around to writing about my change of employment last week. The simple story is just that I'm really sick of this job. It is so boring. I had pretty much talked myself into just sticking it out until our trip this summer (only 3 more months!), but last week I kind of couldn't take it anymore. Getting a bunch of grief about taking Easter Monday off work didn't help much either. I may have been a bit hasty (it really is a pretty easy job for the money), but I think I need at least a bit of a challenge to be happy. Part of me fears going back to having such an irregular schedule, but another part of me is happy about it too. I'm not really a M-F days kind of girl, even though I quite like it. I like a bit of variety. I don't know. Anyway, what's done is done - I gave my two-weeks last Thursday before I left, so my last day is the 28th. I'll be back at RR until we leave on our trip. I still want to make money, but I don't want to have to work too hard - it's almost summer!

More from Sun Peaks

2006-04-16T15:05:00.000-06:00

Well, the remainder of the trip (thus far), has been far less eventful, although we did have another minor adventure the day that we arrived.

After our nap (well, it was a nap for me - Dan actually slept for about 4 or 5 hours). I got up and settled in to the comfy chair in the living room (a.k.a. the "people eating" chair") which has been my home away from home since we got here. I got in a couple of hours of reading while sporadically making conversation with Al and Shelley.

Eventually, I decided that it was time for my boy to get out of bed (if left to his own devices, he may have stayed there all evening, into the night, and right through the next day). He was pretty groggy, so I talked him into having a shower. Right about this time, the power decided to go out! Luckily for us, we still had a few hours of daylight left. Dan managed to shower with the door open, letting in the natural light. I continued to read for a bit. Shelley dug out some candles in case the power didn't come back on right away. We made a plan for dinner: we were going to have chili, but with no stove we decided that we could easily put it in a pot on the barbeque. Everything worked out quite nicely in the end. We had a candlelight dinner and a very nice, quiet evening without power. We didn't have to worry about getting too cold, because the gas fireplaces throughout the house kept us very toasty. It ended up being a very early night since everyone was quite tired, and right before bed the power came back on!

Yesterday Al and Shelley went skiing in the morning while Dan and I laid around and read. He joined them for skiing after lunch and seemed to have a really good time. I finished my book and took a little nap. When the skiiers returned we had a bit of a snack and then Dan, Shelley and I went into the hot tub. It was great - it had started to snow and was just beautiful outside.

Easter dinner was last night - we had ham and mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. Another early night last night. Being up here on the mountain is so relaxing, but it seems to make me tired!

This morning I got up and made breakfast - with help from Dan (he makes the best bacon) - and then they went off to ski again. It snowed quite a bit last night: 6 cms or so - and the day looked perfect for skiing. I went for a walk down to the village to pick up a few groceries and came back and read. They were a bit later for lunch today, so I had started without them, but they soon joined me and we ate together. Then the skiiers were off for the afternoon. The weather is not as good this afternoon as it was this morning, but I hope the skiing is still good. The plan is for me to drive down to the village to meet them for a beer on the patio so they don't have to walk up the hill.

The trip is turning out very well. Just exactly what I needed.