Baby It's Cold Outside

It's also cold inside. I think the people downstairs left for Christmas holidays and turned all the heat off when they left. It's bearable for the moment, but if it gets much colder, I'm going to be able to see my breath!

Anyway, I was going to write about my Christmas. And what a Christmas it has been. I knew this year was going to be great. On Christmas Eve Day, Dan and I got up and I packed some things up to go to Nanaimo. When I was pretty much done, Dan and I opened presents. I bought him a little gadget toy, the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game, and a t-shirt that has the evil monkey from Family Guy on it. He couldn't actually get this last gift till I came back from Nanaimo, cuz I had left it there for safe keeping.

Dan got me a little crystal kitty, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, and a beautiful pendant. I can't find a picture of it, so if you want to know what it looks like, I guess you'll have to come see me. It's a stylized heart in yellow and white gold with diamonds. I won't be able to describe it very well, so you'll have to wait until I either take a picture of it, or until you see me next.

I got even more spoiled when I got to Nanaimo. My parents got me the last of the Lord of the Rings Extended DVD's. My collection is finally complete! They also got me a nice set of lamps for the house, some new pajamas, and a new ornament for my Christmas tree. My mom started a new tradition last year, where she's going to give each of us a new decoration for our trees every year. I also got a twenty dollar gift certificate for my favourite hairstylist. My sister Robyn got me a gorgeous set of martini glasses and Bonnie and Nick got me Lord of the Rings Risk and a martini shaker set. These were actually joint gift for both me and Dan, so I shouldn't say that it's all mine.

My parents got Dan a remote control truck, which he mostly tortures our cat with. Poor Sam...

Anyway, my entire holiday was spent partying, eating and drinking! My mom had an untraditional Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (mostly because everyone had to go to the other parents' house for dinner on Christmas Day.) I say untraditional, not because it was on Christmas Eve, but because dinner was roast beef with mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. This is one of my ultimate favourite meals. Right up there with the good old Turkey dinner (which we had on Christmas day, but at my Aunty Sherri's house in Parksville).

On boxing day, I got up at stupid o'clock so that I could do some shopping with my sister, Nick and Nick's brother Josh. Bonnie wanted to be at Woodgrove mall by 8:30. This ended up being stupid, because the mall didn't open until like nine or nine thirty. We spent a lot of time walking in circles around the mall, I can tell you.

When thing finally did open, I went and bought the few things I actually needed, but didn't get for Christmas (mostly because they either fell apart or ran out days before I left for Nanaimo). I had to buy some jeans, and some personal hygiene things and also a pair of black work pants. I found everything but the black pants. I have to go get them today at Hillside mall.

After the mall adventure, we went back home to Mom and Dad's house, where there was yet another party happening with more people we hadn't seen yet. Namely, my cousin's Bob and Suzanne as well as Great Aunty Madeline. It was insane how many people I talked to and ate with. When everyone left I completely crashed. I put on my new PJ's and watched movies all night till I went to bed. Nick and Bonnie drove me home to Victoria the next day and that was the end of my Christmas adventure.

It was an excellent Christmas, and I can't wait for next year! But I have to go wake Dan up now so we can have those pancakes he promised me yesterday.

"God Bless us, Every One!"

I'm going to Nanaimo tomorrow, and I'm ridiculously excited about it.

Seriously! I'm just so damn excited for Christmas this year! I feel like I'm a little kid. I'm so revved up about waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents. I know that sounds shallow, but I don't really care. Christmas is gonna rock!

Since I have to leave Dan to his own devices for Christmas (his parents are here in Victoria), we're gonna open our presents tomorrow morning. And then I'm gonna be gone for like 4 or 5 days. It's going to be so lonely with out him there. Oh well, I'll be home soon enough. And when I do get back, Dan and I are going to go see A Series of Unfortunate Events. It looks good. Dan and I have been seeing so many movies intended for kids lately. I swear, that last 4 movies we've seen in theatres were Shrek 2, Shark Tale, Anchorman, and The Incredibles. OK...I admit that Anchorman wasn't a kid's movie....But it was damn funny.

By the way, I got to see Bonnie's engagement ring....

...

I don't think I've ever seen that many diamonds on one hand before! Seriously! It's a little hard to describe, but the basic idea is that there's a cluster of seven diamonds in a kind of flower pattern, and then two more clusters of seven slightly smaller diamonds on either side of the first one. Apparently that's Bonnie's only Christmas present from Nick.

I'm not surprised. He probably doesn't have anymore money!

A Wonderfully Happy Occasion!

MY SISTER'S GETTING MARRIED!!!

As of last night Bonnie and Nick have become engaged! I'm horribly excited for them. Bonnie couldn't stop giggling.

She tells me Nick took her out to dinner to celibrate an "anniversary" (on the 18th of every month Nick likes to go out for dinner and call it an anniversary) and then they went on a carriage ride. They got to the top of some little lookout and Nick told Bonnie to close her eyes. When he said she could open them again, he was keeling in front of her and had a ring box in his hand. Apparently he was pretty nervous about the whole thing.

I must say that when I heard the news I started squealing, myself. About that time, Dan asked if he was now in trouble.

Apparently when she told sister Robyn, Robyn said that she had better be one of the bride's maids. She also "requested" that the dresses not be hideous. All I said is that I had better start to lose some weight so that I can look nice, especailly if I'm to be in the wedding party. Dan piped up and announced that it was the bride's maid's job to make the bride look better. Bonnie thought this was pretty funny. She was just giddy with excitment, and I think I was a little, too.

I don't know when the wedding is yet. Bonnie says probably not for a couple of years yet.

This is all horribly exciting for me. I guess I get a new brother, eh?

Congradulations to Bonnie and Nick!

Johnny and the Chocolate Factory??

I saw on TV they're making a new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie. Johnny Depp's gonna play Willy Wonka. Now, I have nothing against Johnny Depp. In fact I don't think I've ever not enjoyed a movie he was in. But he is one scary-looking mofo in this movie. Honestly, I think he looks a little like a cracked-out vampire.

However, the more I look into this movie, the more I really want to see it. I always liked the original movie and I remember liking the book when it was read aloud to me as a kid.

We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Happy Holi-daze

I've been meaning to write about my weekend for days, but every time I think about it, I think that sleeping would be a lot more fun. Then I take a nap on the couch for a couple of hours and wake up in time to eat dinner and watch like an hour and a half of TV and then go back to bed.

Anyway, this weekend was a lot of fun. Dan's parents came and got us, and we got to Nanaimo by about 4. Dan and I hung out at the house for a couple of hours and just generally schmoozed around.

People started showing up to the party at about 6:30 or 7, and my dad started up his "famous" martinis. I swear, half the people who show up to these parties, only show up because of my dad's martinis. He told us all that he'd had to drink thousands of them to get the recipes just right. I'm sure it was all for the sake of the perfect martini, too.

They were to die for, as usual, though...So I guess it paid off. There's one that he makes every year called "the Grinch", which is essentially creme de menthe and other alcohol mixed together, with a candy cane garnish. It tastes a little like drinking mouthwash, but boy does your breath smell great when you're finished! There were a bunch of others, but the only other one I had myself was something called a "Coffee Twist", I think. I'm not sure what was in that one. I think there was some kind of coffee liquor. It was rather tasty though.

Ward came and we had a good talk about all kinds of things. He talked about his trip to Vancouver for the Thornley concert (which he thoroughly enjoyed) and I talked about...everything, really. There was some personal stuff too, but I won't get into it.

Ward and I went for a walk later in the night (he was tired and needed to get home). We talked some more, and then I took a cab back to my parents' place (my mom is nervous about me walking alone in the dark, I didn't feel like walking all the way back in the cold, and the hill was becoming super-icy).

On Sunday, I tried to go shopping with Bonnie, sister Robyn, and Andrea (a friend of Bonnie's from Subway), but was unsuccessful at finding anything. It didn't help that we went so late in the day, and I had to be home again cuz Dan's mom was coming to get us.

During the short adventure to the Woodgrove mall, I ended up seeing friend Robyn, who stopped to talk to. Shortly after that, Wilson came along! Wilson is a chap that I went to school with since about grade 7. He was in my 6/7 split class at Uplands Park. I haven't seen him since I graduated, I'm sure. It's too bad I had to run off so quickly. I would have really like to stay and chat some more.

Unfortunately, I had to go home and make sure all my things were packed for Victoria. Dan's mom came and got us, and we stopped by to see Dan's grandparents for a short while at Long Lake Chateau. We had to leave so that we would be over the Malahat before it got too dark.

By the way, Sunday was also Dan and mine's 2 year anniversary. Crazy, huh? We couldn't do anything, on account of the craziness of the weekend, but we're trying to plan something for next weekend.

Also, I ended up finding my last couple gifts I needed here in Victoria. I went all the way to Nanaimo and to Woodgrove Mall (which I hate) for nothing!

:-P

Outlook is Promising?

I'm heading to Nanaimo today with Dan and his parents. My parents are throwing a Christmas party and I can't wait! This will even be the first time my parents and Dan's parents have met. We've been living together for 2 years, and they've never met!

I've found myself feeling homesick a lot lately. I miss my friends in Nanaimo like nobody's business, and I feel like I might be wasting my time and money in Victoria. If it wasn't for Dan, I would have packed up and left long ago, I think. I think there might be a small amount of pride involved as well. I'm determined to be able to make it on my own and not have to go crawling back to Nanaimo. I think I have to prove to myself that I'm capable of being an adult.

You know what? Being an adult sucks. I'm not any good at it at all. I miss high school. I'm probably like the only person who's ever said that, but I do. I had a lot of friends, and I enjoyed learning when it didn't cost me one red cent. True, some of the friends I have now, I wouldn't have if I was still in hig school, but I miss the comfort of knowing what I was doing in life. I was going to school, being social, and having fun. None of this paying bills, buying groceries, working at crappy jobs stuff.

I think I especially miss Musical Theatre and Choir (for all the stress it casued me, being one of the only ones there that was taking my part seriously). I can't do any of that now. I have to be up too early in the morning to be able to go to any kind of a rehearsal. All of my creative outlets are gone. And I'm really depressed.

I meant this to be a positive entry, so I'm going to try and look on the bright side of things. I have a job. I have a boyfriend who loves me. A lot. I have a decent place to live that's close to eveything important (work/grocery store/mall/school for Dan). I'm healthy (depending on your definition). I have many people who care about me, and will help me if I'm in a major jam. Most of my Christmas shopping is done. I'm going to a party tonight, and I'm going to have a lot of fun.

I have to go get ready before Dan's mom comes to get us. I'll update again soon.

CSI: Nanaimo

So I heard this story on the news today at work:

A lady was waiting for a bus on Victoria street in downtown Nanaimo. She notices an abandoned tote bag on the bench, and, being a good samaritan, looks inside to find some ID and return the tote to its rightful owner. What does she find inside the bag? A HUMAN SKULL!!!!!

If any of you have ever seen an episode of any of the CSI series, ever, that's excactly how any given episode would start! Well, any one containing a skull. Freaking awesome!

My favourite part about this story is that the police are hoping the publicity of this incident will jog someone's memeory!

Really? Like someone was listening to the news and heard that and was like "Oh dammit! I knew I forgot something!"

It's just so insane!

I was going to write about something else as well, but I've forgotten what it was. If I remember, I'll write again.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I've spent this weekend watching the Evil Dead movies, putting up my Christmas tree that I didn't even know I had, and compiling a list of Christmas songs I don't hate. Amoung these songs are classics such as The Carol of the Bells, Pie Jesu (pronounced "pee-yay yay-zoo" for those of you not well versed in Latin), and Holly Jolly Christmas. I also found Bob and Doug McKenzie's 12 Days of Christmas, so I've thrown that on as well.

As for the Evil Dead movies, I'd never seen either of them, and I enjoy Army of Darkness so much, I thought I should see the precursors to it. I thought they were well done, actually. I don't normally like horror movies, but lately, I've found that I've lossened up a little towards them. Although last night I had a dream that zombies were chasing me through a series of different dimensions and I couldn't lose them. It was a little frighening.

Other than all of that, Dan and I have been attempting (unsucessfully) to do some Chrismas shopping. I've actually got a couple of people done, but I won't say what I've gotten them, for fear that they might be reading this. But I still a lot fo people to buy for and I'm running out of time. So I guess I shoudl got off the computer and do that...

Bye

Whoa...

I know I kinda went off the other day. It's been an unfortunate week for me. My boss moved everyone's schedule around again, so now I have to work Fridays, which is a huge pain in the ass. Sometimes I wonder if he knows what he's doing. I mean half the time (based on the stuff he tells me) he just sounds like he's flailing around trying to figure out what to do with everything.

I mean, just this week, I've had to deal with keys going missing (one of which was the washroom key, which is an emergency when I'm not allowed to leave the premises), I've had to call the police about a pathetically small baggie of pot someone found outside, and I've had my boss flip out on me because some guy shorted us a friggin' cookie.

Sometimes I think this job is fine, but lately I've been feeling rather unfullfilled in life. Nothing seems to want to work for me, school-wise and it's becoming depressing. Job-wise, I have no useful skills at the moment to get me anything better than working in retail (which I despise). I'm working on that course for Genreal Insurance, but even that feels like pulling teeth sometimes.

So you'll have to excuse me if my only scapegoat is some crazy religious man telling me that Jesus will solve all my problems. Clearly that hasn't happened yet, so I'm in some doubt on that particular subject. You know, I used to be semi-religious too, but, just like Santa Claus, I figured out that most of the good things I recieve actually come from my family and friends...Not some magical man with a long white beard in Coca-Cola garb (yay for American corporationism).

Hmm, well....

I suppose I did end up ranting about that whole thing after all.

OMGWTF?!?

OK, so I was at work, and I came up with this rant that I wanted to put up. But when I got home, I thought a little more about my plans. Maybe I should explain what the rant would be about. It's about Christianity, folks. My big question is, how many people are friggin' sick to death about the "Christianity/Athiests/Agnostics argument"?

Everytime I talk to someone, or look around on the internet, or read a book, some form of religion is brought up sooner or later.

For instance, the reason I came up with this rant at work, was because a man came into the store to pay for his gas. The following conversation ensued:

Me: Hi there! Are you paying for the gas?

Crazy Christian: I sure am.

Me: Is there anything else I can do for you today?

Crazy Christian: World peace.

Me (taking it as a joke): You know, if I could do that, I would.

Crazy Christian: Jesus will do it for us.

Me:...

Crazy Christian: *random muttering about Jesus* He didn't die for nothing, you know.

Me:...

Well what does that mean? Did anyone else who ever died on a crucifix die for nothing? Do people today die for nothing? I know that the answer in some cases is "yes," but that doesn't change my point. What makes Jesus so special? Is it the whole immaculate conception thing? How do we know that even really happened? What if good old Joe was nothing more than the most gullible man in the world. Either that, or he was too blinded by "faith" that he didn't bother to think about the whole "I've never had sex with her, but she still got pregnant" thing. It's not possible she lied? Who would believe that? Seriously?

If God killed His own son to rid the world of sin, why is it still here? Is it because not enough people believe? Is it because not enough of the people who do believe, believe in the same thing? The Christian answer would be, "Well you see, God loves us so much, He gave us free will."

Well woop-dee-freaking-doo! Look what we do with free will! Do I even need to give examples? I don't think I'll bother. It's just too depressing for me.

The saddest part of the whole thing is, according to my (very) limited understanding of the Bible, you don't even need to be a good person to go to Heaven. All you need to do is accept Jesus as your saviour, and up you go. That means any one can get in! Murderers, Rapists, Bigots that rape their own children to keep the bloodline "racially pure." As long as they're sorry and they accept Jesus into their hearts...they're all set. What about their victims? The ones that are so screwed in the head (or dead)? Do they go to Hell because they were good people, but weren't Christians? What the hell kind of God would hand out reward and punishment like this? That's all you get?

"Good try, but not good enough!"

It shocks me that such a backwards religion has the following it does. Not only that, it's completely intolerant of any other faith. They're all heathens as far as the various sects of Christians are concerned.

I really should stop before I put my foot so far in my mouth it starts coming out my ass (unless that's already happened). I wonder if this will generate any flames at all?

As a final note, I hope I haven't alienated any of my friends or family with this little rant. As I've said, my understanding of the Bible is pretty limited. I'm sorry if I've gotten something wrong, but it doesn't change how I feel about the thousands of people who think I'm a bad person for the simple reason that I love someone and live with him out of wedlock.

I'm done now.

Whew...

Hey! I'm ridiculously good-looking!

(*said in classic Zoolander voice* *throw in a Magnum look*)

So, I was working away at my job the other day, and a lady comes in to use the washroom. She took the key and went in search of the door outside. I decided it would be a good time to start mopping the floor.

When she came back in to return the key, she looked at me and said, "You have a very pretty face." Then she went on this big spiel about how I should look up some proffessional photographers and get some headshots done. Then she said I should look up some modeling agencies!

The entire time she was saying this, I was just standing there smiling like an idiot. I often don't know how to take compliments like that, so all I said was "Thank you very much." When she left, I went back to my mopping.

She made me promise her before she left that I would look into it. This all just totally made my day. Especially since earlier that same day some guy had been yelling at me over the phone about the gas prices. It also was really nice of her to say that, just because I've been feeling kinda down about myself lately. It was a little boost in confidence, for sure.

Well, I did promise her I'd look into it. Maybe, one day, you all might see me in the magazines!

hahahaha....

Bits and Bites

I was very flattered to see that the good Sir Jonathon Brown put me under his "comrades" list. I think that's kinda neat, since I know him mostly from his blog. I think we've only ever met twice in real life. But I suppose that's what happens in such a world where computers can make contact to anyone else who happens to be online at the same time as you. It's kind of amazing to think about. I would never have imagined (even while I was in High School) the vastness of what we call "the web".

OOOOoooo....I just realized that I never mentioned the coolest thing about my last trip to Nanaimo. My mom and I were shopping, looking for a last minute costume for a party (this was the Halloween weekend, just so everone's up to speed). We decided to try good old Rutherford mall, even though it's slowly becoming deserted. When we drove into the parking lot, I actually saw the Ghostbusters' car! That's right, Ecto 1! It was the greatest thing I'd ever seen! I was praying that the passengers were wearing jumpsuits, and was not dissapointed at all when they got out of the car!

What I think is so very awesome about this, is that someone actually took the time to dress up their car! I mean, what other holiday lets you do great stuff like that without making you look like a consumer whore?

The answer: None of them!

Nothing of Interest to Note

Well, I did get a LiveJournal account, but really only so I could post on everyone's LiveJournals without having to prove I'm human all the time. What a pain in the ass. Half the time, the test isn't even legible!

But also, I got to make myself a freaking adorable little icon. Mwahahahahahaha!



Anyway, I have to go to bed now.

Night!

w00t!

href="http://www.liquidgeneration.com" target="_blank">

I love this website. It's far more entertaining than I thought it would be at first.

Stupid God...

This blasphemic statement brought to you by me.

Dan and I were talking while we were walking home from the grocery store, and I started this topic about body fat. Why is it, our bodies store fat for the purpose of burning in case to fend off starvation, but the first thing the body goes for is the muscle mass. The Hell? If our bodies worked properly I could drop all this weight by taking some multi-vitamins and drinking some water. Bit no! Instead I get to keep the fat and nearly kill myself instead. Stupid God doesn't know how to make people properly. Seriously, how stupid can you get. You store fat for the specific purpose of back-up energy in case of emegency, and instead God decides to use the important stuff first! Dammit!

OK, I'm done now.

Bye.

Grad 2004

So Dan graduated today. He now has a Bachelor of Science with distinction (Esentially he graduated with honours).

I have to be honest. When I got in the hall and sat down, I was expecting a lot of really boring speeches and tradition type stuff. I didn't realize that FREAKING RAFFI was getting an honerary degree and graduating with Dan! That's right, I said Raffi. The man famous for writing and singing Baby Beluga! He's now got a PhD in music! Dr. Raffi Cavoukian! He even sang for us!

I must say, I didn't realise what a cool guy he was until I was actually sitting only like 10 feet away from him. He's a very charismatic person. I enjoyed him a lot.

Anyway, after Dan was done with all the grad stuff, his parents took us out for dinner at th Keg.

There's not much else to write about, really. I was so tired by the time dinner was done, I was just kinda sitting quietly, waiting to go home.

Oh, but Dan's finally got all the components for his new computer, so I'm now blogging to you from my "new" computer. It's about 100 times better than the laptop I've used for the last year or so.

How I've missed a proper keyboard!! It's a wonderful thing, really...

"I'm Gettin' Nuttin' For Christmas"

Does anyone remember this song? I learned this way back when I was still living in Burnaby and going to good old Inman Elementary School. Dan tells me he's never heard it, and that makes me sad.

I know it's still too early for Christmas songs, but I couldn't resist putting this one up for all to enjoy. Mostly it makes me think of a time when Christmas meant singing songs for all the adults in November.

So here are the words to this beautiful, beautiful song (you can find a midi of the melody here):

"Nuttin' For Christmas"
By S. Tepper, R. Bennett (c) 1955

I broke my bat on Johnny's head;
Somebody snitched on me.
I hid a frog in sister's bed;
Somebody snitched on me.
I spilled some ink on Mommy's rug;
I made Tommy eat a bug;
Bought some gum with a penny slug;
Somebody snitched on me.

Oh, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.

I put a tack on teacher's chair
somebody snitched on me.
I tied a knot in Susie's hair
somebody snitched on me.
I did a dance on Mommy's plants
climbed a tree and tore my pants
Filled the sugar bowl with ants
somebody snitched on me.

So, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.

I won't be seeing Santa Claus;
Somebody snitched on me.
He won't come visit me because
Somebody snitched on me.
Next year I'll be going straight;
Next year I'll be good, just wait
I'd start now, but it's too late;
Somebody snitched on me.

So you better be good whatever you do
'Cause if you're bad, I'm warning you,
You'll get nuttin' for Christmas.

So, So True...And Funny!

Anyone who's EVER worked in retail knows this is 100% true. Sigh....Another comic to add the the mass I already read... 

Sweet as Salt

I was looking at other peoples' blogs today, and found on both my friend Robyn's site and also on the infamous Jonathon's that they've got this little trend for the hottest celebrities are. I actually think this is kinda funny. I don't think anyone would care about who I thought was booty-licious anyway.

I think I'm kind of over the whole "worshipping movie stars for their looks" stage of my life. When I was in high school I had all kinds of crushes on the hotties of the week. I really think I'm over that now. Not to insult anybody. It's not like I don't think there are attractive people in show business. I just don't obsess over them anymore (I should state now, that I don't think my friends are obsessing, just sharing).

I will say this though: Billy Boyd has got the sexiest accent in the world! Dan tells me I'm not allowed to go to Scotland without him to chaperone, which makes me laugh.

Blargh! My Inards!!

Ever since Thanksgiving, my digestive system has been on the fritz. Sometimes I feel fine, sometimes I have irritating heartburn, sometimes I feel just plain sick. I thought I'd just overeaten the turkey and all the other fine things made for that evening, but when it started lasting for more than a week, I began to worry. I haven't been to a doctor though. I hate doctors. I'm terrified they're gonna find something horribly wrong and that I'll die in a week. I probably fine anyway.

I'll be coming to Nanaimo this weekend for a haircut, and maybe some good ole fashioned Halloween fun! You may be asking why I can't just stay in Victoria, and get my hair cut here. Well, it's sorta simple. I've been going to the same guy for years and years. Both my sisters and my mom also go to him. Quite frankly, he's the best hairstylist ever! I would gladly spend the money on travel costs just to get back to Nanaimo to see him. Richard is the Awesome!! I wish I could find his site, but I've forgotten the URL. I'll try to find out on Saturday.

Also, Dan's graduating on the 10th of November. He'll officially be a Grad Student now. My boss was nice enough to let me go home early that day so that I don't have to wear my uniform to the convocation ceremony. Wouldn't that look great in the pictures? Dan in his fancy robes, and me, in my dirty Petro-Can shirt and a carelessly thrown in pony tail? MMmmm...Sexy!

And in other news, we finally, finally made it to the Eternal Egypt exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum. I didn't realize they'd actually flown in statues and pieces of statues from London. These things were actually in the ground and dug up...It blows my mind!

I had kind of expected there to be some similations of Egyptian work, but they actually had huge granite statues of lions and pharoes' heads and the like (pictures are in the link above). I have no idea how they got that stuff in there! They were huge! I was also surprised by how intact some of them were. I thought that much would have done more damage...But I guess that's why they were made of granite, huh?

If you get a chance to see it before it closes on Halloween, you totally should. It'll be ridiculously busy, but it's really worth the trip. And the many hours of line-standing.

Anyway, I don't think I have anymore to say now. I'm tired and it's going to be my bed-time soon. Isn't that sad? He he he...

The Dieties of the Forgotten

*NOTE*- I started writing this a week ago, but got side tracked. That's why the date and some of tenses may not agree with eachother.

God, I hate it when I don't write for weeks in my blog. I always feel like I'm going to leave out massive pieces of my life. On the other hand, if nothing's happening, then there's nothing to write about, yes-no?

Anyway, I went home to my beloved Nanaimo for Thanksgiving and, of course, had a hell of a great time. Ward and I went to see The Forgotten, which was as great as I thought it would be. Maybe a little strange, but great. I had dinner with my family, which is always hilarious. I think it was Alan's (my sister Robyn's boyfriend) first time at a family dinner like that, and he ended up seated between Bonnie and Robyn. I think he now knows the true meaning of "f*cking crazy". Bonnie and Robyn are indeed the "kooky sisters" of my family. I laughed so hard that night, I actually had to leave the table in order to regain my breath.

Although I had a wonderful weekend, I did have some difficulty sleeping. My schedule is now all screwed up thanks to Petro-Can and getting up at quarter to five most mornings. Anyway, one of these mornings, I turned on the TV and watched a show called Maximum Exposure. You may have heard of it. It's a program which showcases people doing stupid/dangerous things. Usually it's home videos or outtakes from the news. Anyway, there was one clip that was the security camera from a convenience store or gas station type of place. I watched a woman nearly get shot in the head during a robbery. Seriously, you could see the hair on her head move from the wind of the bullet! This has now made me paranoid when I walk to work in the morning. It's dark and quiet and I have plenty of time to make up some terrible mugger/killer hiding in the bushes.

The morning after I got back to Victoria, I was walking to work, as I usually do, and suddenly saw some very large animals in my path. The next couple thoughts happened in the space of maybe a second. First I though it was a freaking huge dog, then I thought it was a freaking huge cougar. Finally when my eyes focused in the bad light, I realised it was a deer. Three deer, actually. That still kinda feaked me out, cuz I was worried they might bolt in the wrong direction and gore me or something. What they did, was just stand there and stare at me. I continued walking, and then started wondering what I would have done if it had been a cougar. My answer is, I don't know...probably flip out and bang of the door of the house closest to me. I honestly don't know how calm I would have stayed.

On Tuesday night, Ayla and Ward came to see us and watch Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. It was really nice to see them again so quickly after I'd been to Nanaimo. They spent the night, and left in the morning. I don't know when, cuz I was already at work.

Other than all of that, there's just been the crazy ladie's at work, who don't seem to understand the concept of a self serve gas station, or how business hours work.

Oh, and I've lost my Friday shift to the guy who said he only wanted to work weekends. This is the reason I was hired. To take week day morning shifts. Oh well, I kinda like having Fridays off. I find that by Thursday, I'm ready to start ripping a few faces off.

I Don't Know the Same Things You Don't Know

So yesterday was one of the best days of late.

My entire family came together for a Victoria Rebels football game. Now, I'm not normally a sportsfan of any kind, but Bonnie's boyfriend, Nick, plays for them. This transforms the whole game for me. Now I'm totally interested in what happens. If Nick gets the ball, or is involved in the play somehow, I become totally enthralled. It's all gotta do with the fact that I personally know someone that out on that field.

Anyway, we all came to the game, and watched the Rebels bitch-slap the South Fraser Rams into submission. After the game, we all went back to Bonnie and Nicks and just kinda talked....and drank....We also gave our Mom her birthday gift since it was her birthday as well. The gift was fancy cutlery. That's what she wanted....I know.....It's boring isn't it?

My mom also brought down the insurance course books Bonnie and I are going to be studying. It's a HUGE binder full of very unstimulating information. Oh well, I guess it's better than working at the Petro-Can for the rest of my life.

Then it was time for Mom and Dad to leave us youngins to what most youngins do best: get wasted and go bowling.

The bowling was fun. It was ten pin bowling, which I'm not particularly good at. And Dan had never ten pin bowled in his life. He was also rather inebriated, so the ball kept throwing him off balance. And he still beat me! I had only had like two drinks the entire night and he beat me!

After two games of bowling, Nick and I went and played some pool that was also at Mayfair Lanes. I like pool. I'm definitely not any kind of pool shark, but I like the game anyway. If someone is kicking my ass at it, I'm just happy to hit the ball I wanted to hit.

Anyway, the lanes were closing after we had a couple of games, and everyone decided it was time to head home. Bonnie, Nick, Robyn, Alan, and Ashley all went back to Bonnie and Nick's place, since that's where all the cars were, and Dan and I went home.

I had so much fun! It's not often I see both my sisters at the same time anymore. I loved it!

Kittens!!

Dan found the coolest link last night, and I just HAD to share with all my fellow cat lovers out there. Some guy did a consumer review of kittens as a computer accessory.


I recommend that you not just read the article, but also click on some of those links that he's put in as well. Like the standard configuration for cats.

Go check it out!

Deep Thoughts

Here, I was all geared up to talk about anything and everything that's happened to me in the last few weeks, and all of a sudden I'm drawing a blank!

Well, I can start with the disaster that is my kitchen. I'm painting it, so everything that was previously against a wall is now in the middle of the room. Good lord, but the painting needed to be done!! Anyone who has seen my kitchen knows the hideous shade of organge it is. I don't know what the guy who was living here before us thought he was doing. He didn't even paint very well. You could easily see the colour the wall used to be underneath.

I'm not even done painting and the whole kitchen looks a hundred times better! It's so much brighter! The whole room's been opened up just because of a couple coats of paint on half of the walls! It's awesome!

Moving away from that subject, I heard something interesting on the radio. Apparently some group did a survey of women in Canada, and only one woman in one hundred thinks she's beautiful. This, of course caused me to think of myself and if I thought I was beautiful. How tough is that? Can I honestly say to myself that I think I'm beautiful? And trying not to be modest?

Beautiful seems like a word that should be reserved for the fictional, the immaterial, or the unatainable. Movie stars are beautiful. Paintings are beautiful. Rainbows, sunsets, the night sky, a song, a poem, fairies, and various faye folk. These things are "beautiful" in the way that most people think of the word.

Beauty has so many meanings, if you really stop to think about it. It can mean physical appearance, or it can mean inner beauty; compasion, kindness, charity, selflessness...all those good things about the people we care about. Any person I'm friends with doesn't care about what I look like. They see what's inside. And obviously they like what they see, or they wouldn't befriend me in the first place.

And the same goes for me and what I see in my friends. The shiney feeling I get from them is was draws me to them. Not the package it comes in. That's stupid.
would you seriously buy a broken computer/car/anything just because the packaging was pretty? I didn't think so.

That's my beauty.

What to Do?

I've been thinking about getting myself a LiveJournal account. Everyone I know with a blog at all has one at LiveJournal. Well, that's not entirely true. Gwen has a blog on Blogger, and the ever-interesting J-Bro has one at DiaryLand. Then there's Kerrie, who has three blogs (though one is at LiveJournal).

My reasoning is, if I get an account at LiveJournal, maybe someone with finally post a comment on my blog. Maybe it's some kind of LiveJournal elitist thing that causes no one to ever post. I mean, I have an annonymous option too, guys.

I'm iffy about swiching accounts. I like this one just fine. It caters to all of my blogging needs. I don't have an amazing amount of pictures I need published, and I don't know how to design anything for a site that could be considered "Kick-Ass". I know nothing about the HTML, so it would probably end up just being generic LiveJournal preset. Much like it is here.

Of course the scary thing is, I could go and set up an account at LiveJournal and find out that nobody posts because nobody likes me.

Boo Hoo!

DAMMIT!

Well, I know I've left this for a long time now. Something would come up that I wanted to blog about, but by the time I'd get home, I was either too tired or to preoccupied with something else to write about it.

So here we go...This is what the previous week was like.

I got up at ungodly hours to go to work every single morning and dealt with some rather......let's call them "interesting" people. While most of the clientele were actually fine, there are always those couple of people that make you go "Hmm". I won't really get into it though. I still like my job, and I'm glad I've got something that doesn't make me want to puke with rage.

Well, maybe I'll just let you know about Tuesday. About half way through my shift, a man walks in and goes, "Is Stephen here?". To which I replied, "No, he's in Parksville for a meeting".

The guy went on to explain that he was there for maintenance on the computer system, and that to check on it would require him to shut down not only the store's computer, but also all the pumps. When the time came to shut everything down, the code wouldn't work. And when I tried to phone Stephen about it, his phone was off. All the while I had to tell people that the pumps were down. I'm a little surprised at how many people will run their cars right to empty before bothering to go get gas. Finally, Stephen got back to us, and the guy could finish up. It was hectic to say the least.

I also go my first pay cheque in over four months. I can't tell you how excited I was to have that little slip of paper in my hand, and know that I'd be getting another one like it in a few more weeks! I feel like I'm actually doing something. I'm so glad.

On Thursday, I watched the finally of Canadian Idol. I know that months and months ago, I spoke out against reality TV and how much it sucked, but I find that this is not like other reality shows. Maybe I think it's different because there's a talent involved. I really only ever watch the beginning of the season, when all the people who think they can sing get put down, and then have all kinds of attitude. Then I usually just wait until they've weeded all the mediocre out of the group and it's down to the top 10.

In any case, I was mildly disappointed that Theresa didn't win (which is the meaning behind my title for this entry). But I think that's because I despise screaming fan girls (of which Kalan had far too many). I have no doubt both of them will receive record deals, along with the rest of the top 10, since that almost always seems to happen.

And finally, yesterday, Dan and I went to go see Hero (my treat, cuz I have money now). I enjoyed it a lot. Some of the ass-kickery that I missed in Kill Bill Vol. 2 was supplied in this movie. This also seems like the only movie in theatres at the moment worth seeing. Everything else looks like crap, or at best, rent-worthy. There is a movie coming out next week that I'd really like to see however. The Forgotten looks pretty sweet. I don't think I can even describe the plot properly, so I won't even try. Just watch the trailer.

I think Dan and I are going out for dinner tonight. I'm a little excited about going out and having fun, and not having to worry about paying my share! It's awesome!

Come One, Come All...

To wonderful, stupendous, exciting Victoria!

I feel like I've been spoiled over the last week. I had all kinds of different people show up at my door!

On Wednesday, Ward and Ayla decided on a whim to drive down to Victoria and drink wheatgrass. Why Victoria's wheatgrass is so much better than Nanaimo's we may never know. Apparently, the place they went to get this strange brew gave them massive glasses of the stuff, where they thought all they'd be getting is a small shot of it. By the time Ward and Ayla actually made it to our place, they were both feeling somewhat sick. Meanwhile, Dan and I were ravenous because we hadn't eaten yet, thinking they were meeting us closer to supper time. We all went to Boston Pizza, so that Dan and I could get some eats, and Ward and Ayla could essentially sit and watch. They ended up getting some food anyway.

After dinner, we came home again and watched a DVD of Will Ferrell from SNL. He has got to be one of my favourite actors from one of my (used to be) favourite shows. He's just crazy! By the way, if you haven't seen Anchorman, do. You'll laugh your ass right off!

When the DVD was over though, I really, really had to go to bed. It was already way past my bed time when we had started watching it. Ward and Ayla spent the night, but I didn't get to see them the next morning, because I had to leave the house by 5:30 for work.

Then, yesterday, as I was reading Friend Robyn's blog, I found out that she was heading down this way for the Eternal Egypt exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum. I gave her a call, and we made plans to meet up when she was done her tour. During that time, Dan and I had all kinds of shopping to do, as well as get Dan a haircut.

When Robyn and her friend, "Dreamy Matt" were done at the museum, they come over to our place for the first time ever. Robyn seemed to have a nervous breakdown at the sight of my cat who still walks funny due to his earlier incident this summer. But honestly, if she thought that was heartbreaking, I'm glad she didn't see him way back in May! I'm positive she would have broken into tears.

Anyway, after Robyn's trauma of seeing my cat, she was put through the trauma of listening to Dan. I'm sure she went home last night and curled up into the fetal position for hours, possibly mumbling something like, "Can't sleep...Dan will get me..."

Word of advice, never mention lesbians to Dan.

Anyway, we had a long chat about life, but then, alas, it was time for Friend Robyn and Dreamy Matt to go. They left shortly after Robyn made Dan promise to visit Nanaimo with me more often.

I'll probably be headed back Nanaimo way sooner or later. I never can stay away for very long. I'll just have to see what my first pay cheque is like to make some solid plans.

Here Comes Another One

So, once again, there is a wedding afoot. This time it is my friend Kerrie (one, two, three), getting married to her long-time beau, Nolan. They'll be getting married tomorrow at Piper's Lagoon. Sadly, I cannot make this blessed event. Mostly due to the fact that I was not invited. But I'm not bitter. ;-)

Anyway, I would like to say congratulations to the soon-to-be-newlyweds, and also, Good luck!

What a Kick-Ass Job I Have!

Just as it says above, this is a friggin awsome job! It's ridiculously easy! Plus I'm getting paid more than minimum wage, working full-time hours, and I get my weekends off! This is gonna make for some much more awesome trips to Nanaimo.

I'm so excited about this job! I work early mornings, but I'm out of there by 1:45 every day. My boss doesn't mind of I sit down when it's not busy, so I do get a kind-of-break. All I do all day is take people's money.

The only thing that kinda sucks is that it's hard to go to the bathroom, because I have to wait till it's really dead and lock the store while I'm away.

I'm getting paid to do nearly nothing! It's ridiculous! But oh so Awesome!

Anyway, other than that, I picked up Hellboy at Rogers for relatively cheap. Go used DVDs! I still think that movie's one of my favourite comic book movies. It's great stuff. Now I'll have to pick up Shrek 2 and the extended DVD of Return of the King in November, and I'll be content for months!

Horrible, Horrible, Horrible

NOTE - Those who are sensitive to issues of animal cruelty may want to skip the link I'm giving in this entry (possibly this entry altogether).

So I was checking my Hotmail account and cleaning up my inbox a little. When I finished, I came to the all too familiar page that Hotmail automatically goes to when you sign out. Sometimes I check the articles if they catch my eye.

Today, there was an article about a film festival that will be showing a documentary about 3 young men who tortured and killed a cat in 2001.

It's not necessarily the fact that they'll be showing this documentary that's so horrible, as the fact that there are people who are will to do something like that to any living thing just for a frigging (there would be stronger language, but my mom may be reading) laugh. Not only that, they recorded it for posterity! What, were they all gonna sit around later and watch it again to make sure they didn't miss anything do draw out the poor things suffering a little longer? That's just sick! The whole affair is just sick!

If karma exists (and I sincerely hope is does), I wouldn't want to be in any of their shoes (Not that I would EVER do that to anything, EVER!).

Just reading that article made me want to cry. It really make me scared for my cat. Just the thought of him being scared and alone, and then also being put through terrible pain for no other reason than that he was there...

It just breaks my heart.

I'm Such a Loser!

Web-comics have struck again, I'm afraid.

A while ago, I found a web-comic that I can't stop reading and it's all because of this stupid little cat in the comic, that for some strange reason, I find totally frigging adorable. The comic itself is pretty crass, and is full of foul language. I find the only reason I like it at all is because of that damn cat!

www.somethingpositive.net

Help me! I don't know what's wrong with me!

So, It's Finally Happened

I got a job!!!

The other day, when I was half-heartedly throwing resumes out and about the streets of Victoria, I got an unexpected call from one of the companies I applied at. The manager asked me to come in that evening, so we could talk. As soon as I showed up, he pretty much said, "So I'll schedule you for tommorow morning to train with Roger." And that was that.

Where's the job, you ask? Why, I am now a brand new employee at Petro-Canada. That's right, I am a vendor of death; Gasoline and cigarettes. I'm also a vendor of broken dreams, also known as the lottery.

The two first days have been pretty damn easy. But I haven't actually worked on my own yet, and from the sounds of things, the new manager is a bit of a slave-driver. We're talking 9 and a half hour shifts without any kind of break. I've been told that I get paid for all of the time I'm there, but they don't even let you sit down. In fact, I was told by my trainer, Roger, that they used to have a chair to sit in, but the new manager took it away.

I can handle not getting a break. I can eat when it's not busy. But I don't think it's physically possible for me to stand for 9 hours strait. I don't see why having a chair would affect my productivity either. So far, my sister and my mom have said it'll be something I'll just have to get used to. That after a while, my feet will be fine. But I've already had jobs where I have to stand for 8 hours at a time (and that was with breaks) and my feet still made me want to cry in pain. That's after years of doing the same job.

I'm going to look for another job anyway. I would really like it if the library called me and offered me a job as a page or something (the libraries in Victoria pay really well). I swear, I never enjoyed any of my other jobs as much as I did being a page at the library. It was so easy, and I always had access to interesting books. Plus the library in Victoria pays a full dollar-and-some more than any other job I've ever had.

But in the mean-time... I have money again!! Thank God, cuz I was beginning to feel like a slob. Oh, wait...
;)

There, this one should enlarge once you click on it. I don't know why the other one didn't.

A Comic that Mirrors my Thoughts and Emotions?

I found another comic that I'm sure Kerrie (I'm not sure which blog to link, so here: one, two, three) will obsess over for the next little while.

www.queenofwands.net

Example:


This here? This is my life right now. Just dye my hair red! I laughed my ass right off when I read this.

Library.........Science?

Did you know that in order to become a Librarian in Victoria (and I'm going to assume, everywhere else) you need a Masters in Library Science? Did any of you even know that there was a "Library Science"?

The only reason I know this is because I was looking up some information on the local Public library, looking for a job. I thought, "Hey, I loved working at the library in Nanaimo. I bet it would be cool to work at another one. I wonder what you need to be a librarian?" That's when I came across the Greater Victoria Public Library site and found this:

Librarian Positions
To provide information services and readers' advisory assistance, to select library material, and to promote and interpret the collection.

Qualifications include a Master of Library Science degree from an accredited library school. May be required to possess courses in serving special publics such as children and/or have knowledge of special areas such as the sciences or children's literature. Previous library experience in a public service capacity with responsibility for collection development or promotion of library service an asset.

Huh...and here, I've worked at a library, and I never thought that being a librarian would ever require that much schooling. I just thought you had to have a good knowledge of the dewey decimal system, and maybe have a love of books.

This is an article I found while looking for some kind of description on what a Master in Library Science is. While I'm aware it's not the most "educated" of articles on the subject, it kinda sums up my thoughts on it.

Here's one of the pictures from my cousin's wedding at the end of July. Stacey and Jack are obviously in the middle, while Stacey's sister, Kelsy is the young lady standing furthest to the left. My second cousin, Anders is the Ring Barer (sp?). I don't know what happened to the flower girl in this picture. Kinda creepy if you look at the full sized version (click on the picture for full size).

I'll try to get a couple more shots of the wedding out later.

"Sweet Zombie Jesus!"

~Professor Farnsworth, Futurama
So I had a good weekend.

I took off to good ol' Nanaimo on Friday, and found my way back on Sunday. Apologies to those I was supposed to hang out with on Saturday night, I was feeling really awful by the time I had thought to give you a call. I just ended up going to sleep instead.

Anyway, as per usual when I get to town on Friday nights, everyone was busy by the time I got to town and couldn't hang out. So I did a little laundry that I had brought up with me. Then I went to bed. I know...My life is so exciting, that I just passed out.

On Saturday, I got a call from Ward, and we made some plans for the day. As he had a few things to do before he was free for the day, he said he would call me a few hours later. I then called sister Robyn, in order to see what she was up to. As Ward and Robyn get along fairly well, I thought that we could all hang out together.

No one got back to me until around noon, so I went and helped my mom with a couple of errands that she needed done. Robyn came over to the house, and then we went to pick up Ward. We then went to Kelsey's for some lunch, and I received what everyone thought to be basically an entire fish just thrown into a deep fryer. That sucker was HUGE!

After lunch, I hung out with Ward for a while, and Robyn took off to do some things. We talked about lots of stuff, but I can't seem to remember most of the conversation now. I seem to remember talk of TV series and movies. And something about Ward's roommate’s cat, who hates Ward for no apparent reason.

We soon had to leave, because Ward was participating in a musical in Qualicum. He was playing guitar for Jesus Christ Superstar. Robyn came and picked us up, and we headed out.

When we got there, I saw way more people I knew than I really ever expected to see. Mostly people I went to high school with, and I knew were into acting (so I don't know why I was so surprised to see them). But honestly, some of these people, I had never expected to see again! And all before the show had even started!

On old friend, Darryn (who was playing synthesizer for the show) found me and we chatted. Somehow we got into a discussion of how I was the Good Child of the three sisters, while Robyn was the Evil Child of us. I disagreed saying that Bonnie was obviously the Evil Child. We eventually settled on Bonnie being more of a Satan Evil, while Robyn was more of a Petty Crime Evil. But 'twas all in good fun.

The play itself was excellent. I knew from friend Robyn's Live Journal, that another person I've know for a long time was in it as well. Richard, whom I haven't seen in years, did a great job. But for the longest time, I couldn't figure out where he was. Only after about 15 minutes into the show, did I realize that he was one of the bad guys who was beating the ever-loving crap out of Apostles and Jesus himself.

After the show, we all went back to town, and Ward rented the movie, 21 Grams. I tried calling friend Robyn, but she was way out of town and told me to call her back later. Instead, we all went over to my parents’ house, and watched the movie Ward had rented. It's a good movie, but make sure when you watch it, you don't watch it with some one who like to talk during movies. The plot is hard enough to follow without any interruptions.

By the time the movie was done, I had one of the worst headaches I ever had, and I was starting to feel nauseous. Ward and sister Robyn went home, and I had to go to bed before I fell over.

I didn't wake up until almost noon on Sunday, and my parents were going to give me a ride at around 3. Instead, they took me out for lunch, and headed back to Victoria earlier than predicted.

It was a nice weekend, but I wish I could have stayed longer. Maybe I'll be able to get back again before everyone takes off for school. We'll see.

Ah HAHAHAHAHAHA!

This is a picture of Gordon Campbell getting a Pineapple enima. This picture comes courtesy of Jon, a friend of Friend Robyn's I had the pleasure of meeting on my birthday. A very nice fellow indeed.

Oops!

I spelled "Blenz Coffee" wrong. Sorry, coffee fans.

It's like Subway for Ice Cream

So I didn't get the Chapters job due to the fact that they found someone "better suited to the job". It sucks a lot when you begin to suspect that everyone's better than you. In every way!

Anyway, the day after I found out that I wouldn't be working with prestigious Chapters, I got a phone call from an ice cream shop that I'd faxed my resume to. It's called Marble Slab Creamery, and it's not actually open yet. So when they called, they asked me to meet them at the Blendz Coffee. However, there are like 5 Blendz Coffees downtown, and I went to the wrong one at first. You know how people make fun of there being a Starbucks on every corner? That's Blendz Coffee in downtown Victoria.

So anyway, I realize I'm at the wrong coffee shop about 10 minutes before the interview is supposed to start, so I boot it down to the one that's practically on top to the soon-to-be ice cream store. I wait, and wait, and wait.....and wait....and at exactly 2:00 (the time of the interview) a guy drives up in his van and gets my attention. He calls my name and then tells me he's gotta go find someone first. Then he asks if I want to get in the van with him. I politely declined while thinking, "My momma didn't raise no fool".

So he drives away, and I sit there, and wait, and wait, and wait....Just when I was starting to think that I was part of some failed abduction plot, the guy shows up again, and sits down like nothing happened. This is 15 minutes after the time we were supposed to have started the interview.

When he finally starts the interview, all he says is, "Tell me about yourself" he doesn't actually ask me any questions, he just wants to hear what I have to say about myself. He then tells me that he'll be paying me $6.50 and hour (as per the training wages) and that if I want to make more, I'll have to work at it. If somebody knows the deal with the training wages, can you please fill me in, cuz I was under the impression that that after a certain amount of work experience in any job, they couldn't pay you the training wages any more.

And throughout the entire "interview" this guy mumbled, and kept looking off to the side as if there was somebody behind the pillar giving him cues or something. It didn't help that we were outside, and therefore, also had to deal with the street noise. It was a really weird interview in general.

It was a neat idea for an ice cream store though. What happens is the customer chooses their ice cream. Then the ice cream artist (?) takes the ice cream to a marble slab, and the customer asks for what they want in it (as in Smarties, sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc). Then it's all folded into the ice cream, and put in a cone.

It's a cool idea, but I don't think I'd work there for $6.50 and hour. And I'm not even guaranteed the job yet.

It's pooring rain today. I'm gonna end up completely soaked before I even get downtown for the interview!

Reading is Fun!

I've got a second interview at Chapters today. It's at 2:00 today and I'm getting a little antsy. I really need this job.

I like the idea of selling books. It seems like an intelligent thing to sell. It's not clothes. It's not something "fashionable". People either read, or they don't. And if they don't, they won't be coming into a book store. I'm hoping this will weed out some of the bigger idiots that like to go shopping and make my life Hell. Though I'm sure I'll still get people who aren't happy with that tiny tear on page 87 and want a discount. That's saying I even get the job, of course.

I seem to remember some people saying that Chapters wasn't the greatest place to work, and I wonder how true that is. I know it held true with Addition-Elle, but in my first interview with Chapters, the guy listed off a ton of benefits for themselves. First of all, the employees are all paid more than minimum wage (a lot like Winners). They also get a 30% discount on their books, something like 10% on their DVD's and CD's, and like 20% on Starbucks (conveniently located on the upper floor). I also seem to remember something about health benefits and such, being offered to all employees (incuding part-timers) after a certain number of months...not years, but months.

I really hope this works out for me. I'm sick of being unemployed. I've done nothing all summer (with the exception of last week's trip, of course). I've played an ungodly number of video games, and once again, I seemed to have gained weight instead of lose it, like I had planned. All in all, it's been a fairly depressing summer, and I really can't wait for it to be over.

But here's a spot of good news. Sam is up an walking properly on at least one foot. His other one's still coming along, but he's doing so much better now. It's really exciting. I was beginning to wonder if he'd ever be his old rambunctious self, but he seems to be just as crazy as ever thses days.

Yay for Sam!

Here Comes the Bride

So I'm back from my adventure to Prince George. Hopefully I can link some pictures if Dan ever decides to put them on his computer. I can't believe how many pictures we took! I swear, here's like almost 90 pictures on that digital camera right now!

Anyway, there's too many things for me to write about in story format, so I'm gonna pull a Robyn, and just list off some memorable points about the trip.

~ Rented an SUV that held 7, and still ended up cramped up in the very back seat.

~ Made it to Prince George (hereafter known as "PG") in one day at the cost of sleep and nerves.

~ Watched my oldest female cousin get married to someone she loves so much, they are barely ever apart (almost including her stagette/his stag party), and look absolutely beautiful doing it.

~ Got Dan drunk and dancing all night long (I'm told that's a rarity, especially the dancing).

~ Dragged Dan to bed, where he quickly fell asleep.

~ Watched most of my family get up and dance like fools (myself included), and saw that my Uncle Mark knew all the words to Eminem songs.

~ Watched one of the sweetest little old ladies I know, swing the groom's vest around her head like she was at a strip club

~ Visited with so many relatives, my head is still spinning.

~ Introduced Dan to so many relatives, his head is still spinning.

~ Spilled food on my outfit for the wedding just before the reception.

~ Had brunch with my mom's side of the family, and then quickly went out to Jack and Stacey's (the newlyweds) for a barbeque the gift opening, and the airshow that was happening practically in their back yard.

~ Dan was bitten by Stacey and Jack's rottweiler when he tried to keep her from eating a chicken bone. It was a little nip on the finger, but those are still sharp teeth!

~ We started home after the barbeque and stopped in 100 Mile to sleep. Got up today at 6:15 and left for home at 7:00.

~ Got home at about 4:00.

~ Generally laughed and had an excellent time!

I'm so glad I got to go to this. And I'm so glad Dan could come as well. I'm probably gonna have to remind him of most of the names that were flung at him over the weekend. But at least now he has some faces to put to the people I'm talking about.

Stupidly Tired

So the last couple days have been more eventful than the last couple months.

I had my group interview at Chapters on Monday, where I found my good friend, Natalia there for the same interview. We spent a good deal of time talking, as I never see her, even though she lives all of three blocks away from me (maybe not even that). The interviewer was nice, though I got the impression that he was nervous about speaking to so many at one time. He just kept talking...Mostly about how he'd just moved from Toronto and how beautiful Victoria was. It was a little odd, that's all. We're supposed to get a call on Monday to let us know if we're invited back for a second interview or not, which is nice. Though I'll be in a car for most of Monday, on my way back from Prince George.

Bonnie came over after work yesterday, and offered up her opinion on some of the clothes I bought on Sunday. I ended up returning one of my skirts, but then promptly buying several shirts and a pair of shorts in its place. I spent way too much money on stuff. I know I needed some new things, but I might have gone a little overboard. All that shopping really wore me down though. I got home and just about fell over.

I really love the fact that Old Navy has come to Victoria. So many nice things that fit me, while not pricey like Addition-Elle. For some reason, Addition-Elle (as well as many "specially sized" stores) assume that because you're overweight, you're rich. Old Navy has firgured out that that's not always the case. It's nice to know that I don't have to spend all of my savings to buy some shirts and a pair of pants (though I still like Addition-Elle for some things).

So I think I'm ready for my trip this weekend. Dan's mom is picking up our kitty tonight, so that he's not too lonely, and tomorrow, we're all (me, Bonnie and Dan) taking the bus up to Nanaimo in the evening, crashing for the night, and taking off for Prince George first thing in the morning.

I can't wait!

What do you say when there's nothing to say?

Well, Dan and I are off to Prince George as of this Thurday, where he will be meeting all of my relatives simultaniously.

I was hoping to get a chance to see some people before we headed off to the ferry on Friday morning, but it looks like the bus we'll be taking to Nanaimo won't be in till late. And we have to be up at 7:30 in the morning to catch the 8:30 ferry. Dan has a class on Thursday that goes till 4:10 or so, and he'll still have to get his stuff together to go after that, so the only bus we can take is the last one at 7:20 That means it'll get to Nanaimo at around 9:30. And by the time eveything is settled for the night, it'll be time to get to bed for the early start the next morning. It makes me a little sad, cuz I finally come back to Nanaimo for a bit, and I can't even really enjoy it. Maybe on the way back from Prince George? We'll see.

It's gonna be a small group this time. Sister Robyn won't be coming due to work scheduals, and Nick can't make it because they have to move that weekend. That leaves me, Bonnie and Dan. And we'll all be squished into the back of my parents' Grand Am. Fun times!

I have another inteview. This time it's at Chapters. I wonder if this will be good or not. I haven't heard much about working there. I suppose it must be better than Addition-Elle. People never force books on me when I'm in there. It's supposed to be a group interview. I don't really know how that works, but I guess I'll find out.

Other than that, my life's been pretty dull. I've finally started getting some EI cheques, so my mom's told me that I need to buy new clothes with it. She doesn't think my clothes are appropiate for family gatherings, I guess. Anyway, I went out today and found a couple nice skirts and shirts. Bonnie says she'll come out with me on Tuesday so we can go do some more shopping for myself, and also get a wedding present or two for my cousin Stacey, and her soon-to-be husband, Jack.

I'm getting really excited now. I can't wait to go to Prince George. I guess that tells you just how little I get out these days, huh?

Thoracic Cavity cake, everyone! If you really want the recipe, go to http://www.theyrecoming.com/extras/pumpkinfest03/index.php 

They also have a zombie cake if you're interested.

I'm Still Here!

So, I know I haven't written about anything in some time.  I've already described those reasons in a previous post, so I won't go into it again. 
 
Since I've last blogged, I've received EI info and a lot of run-around crap, a letter from UVic offering a spot in a music/computer science joint bachelor, and notice of an interview for tomorrow at 1:30.  All very exciting, no?
 
My interview is for Larsen Music, just on the edge of downtown Victoria.  They sell musical instruments.  I hope I get this job, then maybe I can try going to school again.  As it is, I'm way to poor to even consider this offer from UVic, so I haven't even given it any thought.  I don't see the point in getting my hopes up yet again.  I don't think I can take it. 
 
By the way...that candy shop I was applying for?  When I went back a few days later, with resume in hand, no one had heard anything about any hiring being done.  Even that same girl Dan and I had talked to before told me, "Oh, well we're not hiring right now".  Way not to look stupid in front of your co-workers, chickie.
 
Anyway, at least there's an interview in my future.  I was beginning to think that there was no hope for me. 
 
Next weekend (as in the 30th of July through to the 1st of August), Dan and I are off to Prince George for my cousin, Stacey's wedding.  This is the second of the grandchildren to marry.  The first was Stacey's brother, Dean.  It's all very exciting, really.  We're all growing up!  This'll be mine and Dan's first "road trip" together.  I hope he doesn't hate it.  It'll be full of driving, and my family...hmmm.... 
 
It should prove interesting to say the least. 

I'm So Lazy!

I know I haven't blogged in like forever, but you have to understand....I'm unemployed. There's only so many times I can talk about the games I'm playing and the progression of my cat before people hate me.

Anyway, Dan asked if I wanted to go out for a walk today, and I said sure. So we went downtown and walked around. A few times we stopped in computer stores, looking for cases. Dan wants to get a new computer (allowing me to take the old one off his hands), so he keeps an eye out for good deals on cases, monitors, hard drives, etc. I just follow behind and look at the pretty designs I see. I know absolutely nothing about computers, short of using the internet and a word processor.

Somewhere in this walk, I also spotted a woman, probably about my age, with a full beard, and also, an older woman, whose hair was the roundest I'd ever seen. Seriously! It looked like one of those bath puffs you use in....well, the bath...but with a head stuck in there for good measure. It was one big, white afro!

Dan also decided he wanted to look for this English sweet shop that his parents took him to as a kid. When we found it, Dan ended up buying this rock candy stuff that looks like sticks of street chalk, and a tin of black currant drops. As we were looking around in this awesome little shop, I commented how it would be so cool to work in a candy store and decided to ask if they were doing any hiring. Yes they were. I could drop off a resume in the next week or so. Sweet (no pun intended)!

Immediately after the sweet shop, Dan and I went to Moxie's for dinner. And what a fantastic dinner it was. I had a pork chop with a baked potato and mocha kalua cheesecake for dessert. I haven't had a baked potato in ages! I forgot how great they are! Dan had a really good looking steak with mashed potatoes and a strawberry and ice cream dessert that I can't remember the name of. It was generally just a really great meal.

Anyway, I'm sure you're not interested in what I ate for dinner, so I'll stop now. We pretty much just went home after dinner, and now I'm writing this. Soo.... Yeah.....

That's it. Bye-Bye!

This is a rather funny comic. Though it might seem overly simple, the actual dialogue that happens between characters is hilarious! 

Time Flies...

I apologize to those that I didn't give any warning to, but I ended up spending the weekend in Nanaimo. In all fairness, I didn't really have much warning myself. My grandpa was in town for sister Robyn's graduation, and my dad talked me into going. Only because he was coming to pick Dan and me up fairly early in the morning was I able to go at all. We also had to bring my poor unsuspecting cat, who is still not quite up to snuff, but is still slowly getting better.

You see, Sam is actually walking on his feet, but he's walking on the wrong side of them. This has resulted in him getting terrible carpet burn on his toes. It doesn't help that most of the flooring in our house is carpet. There are only two rooms in the suite that don't have carpet: the kitchen and the bathroom. Neither are suitable to keep the cat in for various reasons. Anyway, we had to take him to Nanaimo because he still needs physio three times a day, and no one else could do it.

But yes, I got to see my grandpa and my "stepgrandma", Marie, whom I almost never get to see anymore. Dan also got to meet a little more of my family. I think it's good to do it like this, cuz come August, he's gonna be thrown into the middle of my family, and he may have a meltdown with all the talking and the food and the alcohol...and my Uncle Mark....I'll leave that explanation for another day...

The first night (Canada day) we went out to Parksville to see everybody, and had an awesome BBQ dinner. There was salmon, and pork, and french bread and salad and lots of wine. It was great. I played some frisbee with my Uncle Peter, and Dan talked a lot with my family about everything. Being the "computer guy" he got a lot of questions about computers. When we first got there, Uncle Peter recruited him to fix the family computer. It turns out it was something to do with the program and not being able to update properly. There was more talking and more drinking, and then we all went home.

Dan and I watched a lot of TV while in Nanaimo. It was the middle of the day, and it was still during the working week, so we couldn't think of anything else to do. We watched a lot of movies, and sitcoms...It was a pretty uneventful second day.

Saturday, Grandpa took us out for dinner at Shanghai City. Dan and I always mean to have dinner at Shanghai whenever we come back to town. And for whatever reason, we never get to. This was awesome, cuz we didn't even have to pay! It was great stuff! I ate so very much! God, I love smorgasbord!

The next morning, we helped sister Robyn move the rest of her stuff into her new apartment. It’s really a cute little place. Just big enough for her. I was actually a little surprised. She found the place in Townsite, and I expected it to look a little dumpier (no offence Robyn). It was actually really cute!

After we were done with that, Mom and Dad drove us back to Victoria, where we bought some large band-aids to cover the sore on Sam’s foot (to keep it from rubbing too badly). After that, we were pretty much done. We said good-bye to Mom and Dad, and wished them a safe trip home, and we went inside.

I had a lot of fun this weekend. But like I said, I’m sorry for not letting anyone know. It was kind of a family weekend. I need to have one of those every once in a while. My conscience would destroy me if I didn’t have the odd weekend with my relatives.

Untitled (cuz I can't think of anything clever)

So Dan and I went on our picnic on Sunday, and we brought along Bonnie and Nick. It was nice, cuz Nick had his car working again, so we didn't have to fight with the buses.

It was so nice to get out of the house and interact with other people. I feel like some kind of hermit in the middle of a city. I never talk to anyone, and I never see anyone, unless I go to Nanaimo. How ridiculous is that? A lot of the time, it's because I totally broke. So broke that I can't afford some new shorts or summer-wear to go out and play in the sun in. I need a job! But then I wouldn't be able to go out and enjoy this fine weather...Dammit, I need free money!

Anyway, we had our picnic at Beacon Hill Park. And on our picnic, we brought some deli sandwiches, and some juice, and even brought a trifle for dessert. Though it didn't look as good as the one I've linked. Ours was one we bought at Thrifty's and it actually wasn't as good as I had been hoping. Dan and I made a better one on our own before.

After our early dinner, we played some bocci ball, courtesy of Nick. It was good fun, until we rolled one of the balls over a used condom hidden in the grass. Would it have been that much trouble to drop it in a garbage can? Honestly!

Then I had to run and find a bathroom. It's always impossible to find an outhouse or bathroom when you really need one when you're in parks and the like. I don't understand why...Things pretty much finished up after that. Bonnie and Nick had an appointment to look at a new place to rent with Ashley, and so we just packed up and headed home.

I had so much fun doing that..Dan and I should get out more anyway...It's times like this that I wish we had some kind of vehicle to drive to some of other beautiful places on the island. But there's plenty around here too....we just have to find it.

I need to follow my own advice!

A few months ago, I wrote a big post on why everyone needs to spend less time sitting in front of TV's and spend more time outside. I've found that I've slipped into this "sitting on my ass in front of a TV slump" myself, and I want to change that.

Dan and I are going out to get groceries today, and while we're out, I think we're going to get some stuff for a picnic together. Get some juice boxes, and some lunch meat for sandwiches, and maybe something for a little dessert. We'll see what we can find. It's been so beautiful out, I really should enjoy some of it.

My summers always seem to be spent indoors. Either I have to work indoors, or I spend my days off indoors. I want to get a bit of a tan this year. And not one of those fake ones from a tanning bed! I want some proof that I had some fun in the sun....literally!

Then there's the fact that I have to eat better. I received an e-mail from an old teacher at Wellington (well, not old...he's probably younger than I am in a few ways. eg: eating habits, exercise, etc.), talking about the evils of fast food. And really, was that such a big secret to begin with? You must know that what you're ingesting is nothing but grease, fat, carbs, sugar, and general grossness! I mean there's the random idiot who thinks that it's 100% pure beef, and anything that's pure must be good for him. But most people with any kind of common sense must realize that the stuff they're mass producing isn't good for you!

Oh, and speaking of idiots, here's another good one. A man sued his cable company for making his wife fat, and his children lazy!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

The new controversial movie from Micheal Moore, folks. Can't wait to see it, myself. 

Advertisement: WILL DO LITTLE FOR VAST AMOUNTS OF MONEY

I find myself with far too much free time these days. I don't want to go back to the mall, but I don't know what else I can do with the skills I have at the moment either. Dan likes to joke about how, when he wins the lottery, I won't have to worry about any of it. Unfortunately, I can't wait that long.

I find myself getting depressed, and lazier than usual. There's piles of laundry, and a kitchen full of dirty dishes. Every time I think I should do something about them, I get side-tracked, and the work piles up a little more.

Dan says I should apply for the UVic School of Music again, but I really don't know if I can take another rejection. I was thinking about trying at UBC, but if I was going to move, I would want to do it with Dan. If you think I'm depressed and bored now, just watch what happens if I ever live alone!

Yesterday, Dan and I decided to go for a walk to find the place where we would be voting. I needed to register as well, and since neither of us were doing anything, I thought it would at least be a nice walk. Unfortunately, neither of us thought to check the exact whereabouts of this elementary school that was our destination, so we ended up walking down Gordon Head for hours before we finally called Dan's mom for directions. It turns out that we had walked right past it close to the beginning of our walk. Dan's mom was nice enough to come pick us up and drive us there, but the damage was already done. My back was already crispy like bacon, and bright red.

On the way home, Dan's mom dropped us off at the grocery store so that we could find something for dinner that wouldn't require our oven (it was way too hot to be cooking in our little suite). We settled on some deli sandwiches, and macaroni salad. It was pretty damn good, too.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. Except that I finished my second game ever. Final Fantasy IX has now been completed. Now on to Final Fantasy X.

I'm just testing this new function on my blogger. I can add pictures now! Fun! 

There and Back Again: A Diane's Tale

I'll be upset if nobody knows what that title is in reference to. C'mon, people! It's a classic children's story!! (Hint: It's the other title for The Hobbit)

Anyway, the rest of my weekend was pretty good. On Saturday night, I hung out with Ward and watched Big Trouble in Little China. I haven't seen that movie in like 12 years! Possibly longer! It's pretty lame. I think it was mostly the dialogue that was lame...oh, and the neon trimmed skull room...that too.

Ward and I talked a lot, but that's what always happens when we see each other. We can talk about anything for hours. I love it! We'll talk about anything from movies, to music, to grass sometimes. It's great fun!

The next day, Ward had a wedding to go to, so I tried to call Friend Robyn. When I couldn't get a hold of her, I called Jim up, cuz I knew he wanted to see me. We met at the Tempo station (now the Shell station...that gas station has been changed so many times, it's hard to keep strait any more) by Rutherford mall, cuz Jim wanted a slushy. He bought me one as well, and then we went back to his condo. He showed me his Japanese Playstation 2 and a hockey game that was all in Japanese. I had to keep asking him what everything said. Usually he would forget that I don't know that language, so I had to keep reminding him. At about 2, Robyn called my cell phone, and she came to pick me up at 4. Jim had to go house sitting with Aya, so he didn't mind. But before I left, he gave me my birthday present. I got a VHS copy of Kill Bill. I was so excited! I LOVE this movie. In fact, Dan and I just finished watching it.

Robyn had to go pick up Jon downtown, and then we went to a little restaurant called Alice's. I rather liked the food there. All I had was a chicken caesar salad and garlic toast though. We also met a friend of Robyn's called Chris. He seems like a very nice fellow. I hope I get to meet him again. At some point, the discussion of parents and names came up, and when I mentioned that Mom and Dad's real first names were Mary and Joseph, Chris was totally floored. He just thought it was amazing. I always thought it was just amusing. I'd never seen anyone react that way when I'd tell them this little tid-bit before. Neither of my parents go by those names though. My mom has been called Pam since childhood as far as I know, and the same with my dad (No, he wasn't known as Pam...his name's Wayne).

After "lunch" (for lack of a better word), Robyn had to go to a staff barbeque. She dropped me off at home, and said she'd call me when they were done. I didn't actually get a phone call till about 2 in the morning, but I was already asleep by then anyway and didn't hear the phone.

I got a phone call this afternoon, as my parents were driving me back to Victoria. It was Robyn apologizing for not getting back to me till so late. I guess she's finally got a coffee date with "Dreamy Sam". She's so excited, and I couldn't hold a grudge against anybody of I tried. So I've promised her I'd let her know the next time I'm in town (but you can always head down this way too, Robyn. I'd be happy to have you).

Oh, and speaking of the ride back to Vic...There was some guy in a van just in front of our car, and he started drifting all over the road, and then veering back into his lane. He almost hit us. As my dad passed him, we could see that he was attempting to drive down the highway at 110 km/h while playing a trumpet. I'm totally serious too! This guy was holding a trumpet in one hand, while trying to drive with the other! You're not even supposed to talk on a cell phone while you're driving! What makes him think that playing a whole instrument is any better!?!

Honestly, if the only time you have to practice a trumpet is while driving, you have to learn how to manage your time better.