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