My life has revolved around a select few things in the past week or so:

1. My new bike!!!!! Except mine is black and a ladies frame.


2. The Olympics. I love them. I have a bizarre interest in syncronized diving.


3. Patty O'Malley's trivia in Brackley. We reigning champions. We're kind of awesome.


4. Work. Kind of a given as I spend 40ish hours a week there.


5. Tutoring an energetic, ridiculously cute Korean girl. I would so much rather play in the park with her then try to make her sit still and learn.


6. Golf lessons. Seriously.

So yeah. In more detail, I looooove my bike. It wasn't an instantaneous love. I'm kind of a commitment phobe in such matters. Test ride 1 went okay, but it was my first time on a hybrid bike and it felt a bit weird. I was a bit disappointed. Then I did a second test ride the following day and loooooved it. So now I own it! I bought it last Saturday morning and have put about 135 km on it so far. Not too shabby seeing as I do work all day and have some other commitments. Only concern is that there are some random noises coming from it already, but I assume it's the bike "breaking in" and the kind folks who sold me the bike will spiff it back into shape when I take it in. I biked to trivia on Tuesday in Brackley and going down the hill where the Snoopy barn is was a bit scary - not sure I have ever went that fast on a bike before! Somewhat reminded me of the adrenaline rush experienced post-SheiKra at Busch Gardens. Anyway, in conclusion, I love my bike, and I wish I had bought it ages ago. It only took me about 50 minutes to bike to trivia! (~22 km) I dunno, some may consider that slow, but on my old bike it probably would have taken six days. Approximately.

I love the Olympics so much. The opening ceremonies blew me away, specifically the sequence with the drummers, and the large yellow globe (sun?) that people were "running" around. The torch lightening was also impressive. Not so exciting was the parade of nations as the individual countries entered the Birds Nest. However, it makes for a good flag lesson. "Oh, that's what [insert county name]'s flag looks like." Also, I have determined again, that I would love to hang out with Ron MacLean. Was never a huge Don Cherry fan; I always thought he was rude and saying your point more loudly doesn't make it a better point. But Ron? I'd buy him a beer.

Olympic commercials are also entertaining.
Winners:

• Wonderbread, with the kids doing Olympic events in front of a white background. Particularly I enjoy the speedskater, and the bobsledders.
• Aliant's "Believe" commercials supporting Atlantic Canadian athletes.
• Bombardier.

Least favourite commercials are the McDonald's ones. Although I do want Olympic glassware now... So although annoying, somewhat affective.

Every summer I like to try something new, sports wise. Last summer was tennis. Result? Never picked up a tennis racket again, although I would play if someone asked. Maybe I'll play this weekend?! Anyway, this summer I am taking GOLF lessons. So PEI. One of the students at worked proposed it, and it seemed like a good idea. It's only five lessons, and so far "wedging" is my clear favourite. I also felt satisfied when I saw two foxes at the first lesson, confirming that the name "Fox Meadows" is not misleading.

I need to go to the Olympics in Vancouver. Not so much go, but work at them. Then maybe I can somehow get on-board for London 2012. Then Chicago 2014. Then I will put forth a proposal for PEI 2016. We will rename PEI "Olympic Island". It's sounds very majestic and forceful, in a good way though. We will be well suited to host the summer games because, umm.... we have beaches. And we are hosting the 2009 Summer Canada Games so they are digging up the ground at UPEI (again) to build track facilities.

I would like to work at a winery. In France. But as of late I have been disturbingly all talk and no action, and it's slightly bumming me out. Am I getting "comfortable" on PEI? It makes me nervous. I'm actually not getting comfortable, and in the past couple of weeks have been desperate to make a plan to escape... but... eek... nerves.

I would like to learn more about architecture. Like the differences between modern, contemporary, neogothic, post-modern, etc. I spent awhile learning on wikipedia one rainy weekend, but learning via Wikipedia is a wee bit risky.

I think I am going to take up swimming in the fall. I need a decent bathing suit (i.e., probably not a bikini with strings and such) and a nose plug, because I never learned how to properly blow bubbles out my nose. A nose plug will definitely up my sexy factor by at least two points. I believe last winter there were some adult competitive swimming lessons. I already know how to swim, I finished swimming lessons long ago, but I'm sure my form could improve.

I would also like to try squash and fencing.

There is a male gymnast on the telie and he is doing some crazy things on the floor. He's all springy with legs flying every which way. Bounce bounce.

My arms look puney. Apparently cycling and watching the Olympics doesn't build your triceps OR biceps?!

I may cook supper now. Cooking in summer just doesn't really happen. Kind of like wearing pants. I refuse refuse refuse refuse refuse refuse refuse to wear anything longer than mid calf in the summer. And even then I feel awkward, and that's sort of "Oh, have to do laundry" or "It's rainy and cold and your office will be even colder."

I'm still undecided about what I think of the Olympics being in China. I feel like it's the world showing support for China, a "we believe in you". Kind of like an unknown, young actor or actress being nominated for an Oscar. You know he/she won't win, but it's a vote of confidence. Anyway, my least favourite part about the Olympics being in China is the bloody time change. Bah. Stuff doesn't start happening much until 9:00pm here. If I watch Olympic coverage when I wake up, then in the evening... Nothing has changed. Vancover will be better... but Chicago and London will be even BETTER. London especially because if they host a big event in the evening, I can watch it in the afternoon. This is also why we should consider bidding to host the 2016 Olympics: it would be much more convenient for me.

La fin.

Mr. Sunshine?

I've been trying very, very hard not to complain about the weather... but I think the time has come.

What has happened to the sun? Why the wind? Should I build an ark in case the rain continues? I understand it hasn't rained much this summer, but I definitely haven't seen the sun for more than a ten-minute spurt for over a week. I'm fading - I should be fading in the middle of summer! I'm stubborn, and I find it chilly to be outside in just a t-shirt.

I think the rain has, knock on wood, stopped for today, meaning I can test-ride bikes after work, and bike to my GOLFING LESSON later. Every summer I try to play a new sport, and every summer, I learn to hate said sport because I am not good at it instantaneously. Last week during the putting lesson, the instructor said, "You need some work." Well, unless he was talking about my nose or chest, that's kind of, you know, the reason I was at golf lessons.

Anyway, it's time for me to leave! That's pretty exciting.

Remember that time I had a blog?

Oh wee blog, I remember you. Perhaps I shall continue to chronicle my adventures to entertain the masses. There has been writing the past seven months, just in my "real" journal and fictional stories, nothing worthy of a blog. But that shall change, and some day, some day soon, I will shall with you again the life of my.

I got to dress up as an elephant trainer for a party tonight. It was pretty amazing, and I got plenty of stares at Jake's later on.

Charlottetown disappointed me tonight. At & and Jake's, I just felt like not too many people wanted to have fun.

What has happened to fun? Has it become an endangered species?

No. It has not. I recall having great fun only recently.

I'm buying a new bike soon and am super excited. It's going to become my baby. I have become curiously attached to my current bike; we have been through so much together. I bike pretty much everywhere, and Bike has been very reliable. The chain comes off ocassionally, but I can fix that easily. That being sad, Bike is sometimes hard on the knees, and has many, many kilometres on it - perhaps much more than a $120 bike should. It's the wonderful Supercycle 1800... one of the cheapest bikes offered by Canadian Tire. And it has a bit of a following!!! Actual cyclists seem to have a somewhat curious attachment to Creeky(the name of my bike, because it makes many strange noises), seeing how long it tastes to destroy the SC1800. My favourite saga of the SC 1800 is Bike of Doom.

I'm attached to Creeky McClunky for multiple reasons.
1) The seat is the right height, so the (L) knee pain has mostly stopped.
2) Nice seat. Though not the original seat; I don't remember how that one felt as I haven't sat on it in years.
3) McClunky really should be dead by now, and it baffles me that he still works. I don't treat him very well and bump through Charlottetown over curbs, through potholes, etc. It actually makes me question why I'm about to spend close to $500ish on a bike.
4) Creeky has a very low chance of being stolen (knock on wood). When I park by bike at the uni, I easily have the cheapest, dirtiest bike at the bike rack. (Yet I also have an AMAZING bike lock leftover from my backpacking days.) Mine would be the least preferable to steal, unless one was looking to destroy his/her knees.
5) Creeky accompanied on my treck across an ENTIRE PROVINCE. Granted, it was the smallest province, but such a cheap, heavy, questionable bike went 60 km one day, ~100km on each of the following two days, and 43 km on the last day. Some bikes don't see that many kilometres in a lifetime.

This all being said, I am so excited to have a bike that offers a smooth ride. I also kind of want to rip apart ol' Creeky, just to see all the different components required to put together a bicycle. Trying to put it back together will be a difficult puzzle, but New Bike will exist by then, so returning Creeky to it's previous condition isn't critical to the daily commute.

Good night. Love.

Thirsty Sleepy One

This morning as staring confusingly into my closet trying to decide what to wear, my eyes took a downward shift. At the bottom of my closet there is a grand collection of unconsumed beer and coolers. All of a sudden it seemed like the best idea in the world to have a Schmirnoff Ice (Wild Grape, mmm,) before work. I really, really wanted it. It would taste just like a grape freezee. I knew it would taste oh-so delicious, and perk my taste buds for the day, but I refrained because, umm, consuming alcohol before 8:30am seems kind of pathetic and something to be judge negatively for. At the same time, one probably wouldn't be terrible, really, it probably has no more sugar than a glass of apple juice and the alcohol content is probably lower than cough syrup which people consume in mad quantities when fighting off a cold.

Actually, it was probably a bad idea not to have that drink this morning.

almost like the scientology test

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (76%) high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.. Orderliness (13%) very low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment. Extraversion (56%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

This makes me laugh. It kind of reminded me of when Shan and I took personality tests at the Church of Scientology because they were free. Basically they really stressed your negative traits and would try to sell you a book. I recall being, in a nutshell, kind of bitchy and self-centred, but extremely happy! However, I don't think this website was trying to sell me a book. It says word that describe me are, "messy, tough, disorganized, fearless, not rule conscious, likes the unknown, rarely worries, rash, attracted to the counter culture, rarely irritated, positive, resilient, abstract, not a perfectionist, risk taker, strange, weird, self reliant, leisurely, dangerous, anti-authority, trusting, optimistic, positive, thrill seeker, likes bizarre things, sarcastic". I don't know if I'm "tough" (I wouldn't start a fight in the street... except for the McDonalds and chippy incident long ago), but I giggled at "sarcastic" and "weird". Hannah thinks I'm weird. Maybe she was onto something?

Not sure about the perfectionist thing... I am a bit of a control freak, but I guess that's not a perfectionist. I can't delegate well because I'm concerned the person won't complete the task to my standards. Insert issues with excessive group work in the School of Business.

I should go to bed. I stayed up until 2:00 with a racing mind last night and didn't bother trying to shut it down as today was supposed to be a storm day. Alas, when I looked out the window at 2:00, I knew the snow day was not meant to be. But as per usual I made it through the day on 5 1/2 hours of sleep. Once again I rode my emotional rollercoaster for the day, and now I'll hop off and go to sleep and have quirky dreams.

I was thinking today that I have some extra time on my hands and should organize myself a wee bit. Maybe start going to bed a little earlier so I can somehow make it to work before the rest of the world takes their first coffee break. I started cleaning my room on Sunday night, got distracted, and nothing really happened. I also think I'm tired of candy. Actually, I'm tired of food in general. I'm suddenly sick of all my favourite foods (except strawberries which I will eat until the Earth crashes into the sun) and can't be bothered to buy groceries because I feel like I've eaten it all before. Not true, but I may need some inspiration. I have salmon defrosting, maybe I'll get a little crazy with that tomorrow. I remember learning to "cook" in Jr. High. We made cookies, muffins, potato something or other, and .... ? Why didn't we learn to cook something useful? Cooking class didn't even help me get over my fear of hot things. I could barely take stuff out of the oven until I worked in the Food and Wine Festival and was serving hundreds of ridiculously hot soups everyday. Working in a restaurant forces one to rather quickly get over her fear of hot things. Maybe not completely, but let's not be irrational - baby steps all the way.

Poor brain doesn't know how to shut down. She'll keep whirling for a while, it's been a whirly few days for her. She's excited about the World and its unlimited opportunities, but she's disorganized and can't plan ahead any further than a week.

This weekend I'm going cross-country skiing with Shan and am rather excited. See, I can have fun in the winter!!! I suspect people think I hate winter far more than I actually do... It's okay, it's not my favourite, but I'm not afflicted with SAD by any means. Last winter was definitely not the standard - it was too much culture shock too quickly combined with loss of too many friends/job/apartment/home, etc. I haven't lost anything yet this winter! Well, a boyfriend (sad) and THREE FREAKING EARRINGS. How do I keep losing them? Of course, all three belong to different pairs. One I don't care about, actually, I broke it playing with the claspe because apparently I don't know how to sit still, but the other two are lost. One in Victoria Park somewhere, and the other... just somewhere. No idea. The second one MUST be replaced when I head down to Florida in March. I used to wear them everyday, so my ears will go through some sort of withdrawal if they are not replaced.

I also lost a button off my new, wonderful coat, but found that about two seconds after the event occured. Hmm, what else have I misplaced... Oh yes, one of my winter hats, and something else that I remember looking for and not being able to find... But I recall thinking, "Sigh, it's been forever since I've seen _______." Oh yes, hair clips. Nothing major.

And now it's about 1:00am. This is why here needs to be more hours in the day, or people should sleep only four hours a night. I took a wee nap after work, (okay, after work, after the gym, and after shovelling snow,) for almost an hour at 8:30. I kind of wish I hadn't woke up and just slept through til, like, 5:30. That would be pretty amazing. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow night.

she's not a smart one

So I'm trying to distract myself this evening. My first night on PEI since Mr. (Now ex on good terms) Boyfriend departed the Isle. I'm moping. But people are allowed to mope; it shows that at one point they were very happy. I think to feel one extreme emotion, one must have felt the opposite emotion on a very extreme level as well.

I'm a moron and f-ed up my taxes for 2007 already. There is something to be said about not planning ahead and the punishments that come with being a disorganized, scattered-brained lady. Anyway, won't go into detail, we don't need the gov't googling me =P

I don't think I ever finished recapping my NYC adventure. On New Year's Day, Keri and I went to play in Central Park. Loved it! I actually think it was one of the highlights of the trip, just being able to be outside in the grass, trees all around, not overly crowded, and, YES!, going to the zoo!! The Central Park Zoo. I feel like I have somehow filled a secret, unknown-until-now, childhood dream. I know I shouldn't love zoos, captive animals and all, but I do! At least "nice" ones. I don't think I would enjoy seeing a donkey in a cage that was far too small. We saw sea lions, penguins, lots of unique birds (in the "rainforest"), polar bears (maaaaaassive), goats, monkeys, pacas, and more. I loved it all! Then we wandered a bit and giggled at Park Avenue, because neither of us, uh, really belonged there ;) I found the Flat Iron Building, which made me immensely happy. Something about it, I adore it. It was a challenge to get a decent photo of it though. I pretty much ran circles through the park across the street and the surroundings streets. The tall buildings were blocked the sun as it was already setting on the horizon. I don't think any of my photos really do it justice, but I think it's a wonderful building. Probably something about the unique shape and symmetry appeal to me. I love symmetry. So much that I can't even spell it properly - heh.

Eventually Keri and I split up, and I ended up wasting too much time waiting in line for the toilet at Toys R Us in Times Square. Really though, it wasn't a waste of time because I, well, really needed to use the toilet. It was actually a very worthwhile experience. And I stood in line behind a Spanish mother and her ridiculously cute children. I love eavesdropping on Spanish conversations. I think it's a beautiful language and I wish I could speak it with greater skill than I can. I'm proud of what I can do with my limited vocabulary (although it's rusty given I never use it now) but I want to be better.

All seven of us met up to eat before the long bus ride home. I had a salad at the pub we were at, and it was disgusting. So instead I ate on the bus, random bits of food that I had packed.

The bus ride home was very long - about 22 hours. We didn't really drive directly into bad weather, but were kind of behind it so it made for some rather nasty road conditions. The Bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles when we arrived, so shuttles were to take us across. Sitting at the front of the bus, we got on the first shuttle! .... and the only shuttle to take some weird route through Gateway Village and get stuck. Heh. Anyway, while we were crossing, the Bridge opened back up to all traffic, so we hopped back on the bus to return to Ch'town. The bus ride was long, but I didn't really mind it too much. We watched movies, slept some, I did random number puzzles, wrote some, played on my phone, listened to music. It's kind of nice to have some time to oneself!

New York? C'est la fin.

Sheena, Shannon and I went to Halifax this weekend. It was lovely. Halifax still isn't my favourite city, but I had a good time there. Saturday morning involved sleeping in, something I've been lacking as of late.

I need something new. Now something new to buy, but a new challenge. It was hard saying good-bye to Tom for many reasons, one being that he is leaving on an adventure and I'm not. It's supposed to be me that leaves for fun adventures, damn it! I just don't know what to do. I went on some weird Africa kick for a couple of weeks, but I was looking through the internships offered by CIDA and I don't think I qualify because I already have "international experience". However, I do believe I can argue that my international experience is a completely different level of the positions they look to fill. Luckily there are other ways to get to Africa. My only incredibly selfish issue is that I want to get paid, or at least no blow a crapload of money getting there and while there.

I'm also itching for South America or Mexico, mostly due to the Spanish language thing referenced above.

Sometimes I wonder if I like adventures or think about them a lot in an effort to distract myself from some unknown... demon? Element? Can't think of an appropriate word to use. Growing up, perhaps? Adventures are good reasons not to buy houses or nice cars. Or purchase some sort of cell phone "package". Contract of doom, if you will. My wee Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go and I have a wonderful relationship. Although it won't be used so much now as my texting partner in crime has fleed. Fled? Fleed? Fleeddededededed? Probably.

This year I am going to keep track of spending. I threw out a crapload of receipts tonight hoping to find gas receipts, and realized that I charge a lot. It's fine, I pay off my balance, but what the hell do I spend so much money on?! Based on the quantity of receipts, food and liquor. Seriously. Probably 95% of them were from Sobeys/Super Store, the liquor store, or some restaurant. In 2008 I start spending my money on better things, things that will last longer than the digestive cycle. Like my wonderful new, cheap fleece that I already love to bits and pieces and picture myself standing atop a mountain in - or at least a large hill. Hannah I went walking this moring/afternoon in Point Pleasant Park. It was such a nice (but non-typical winter) day out. I bet people thought I was all out-doorsy because I was wearing a lovely fleece and ankle pants rolled up. That are BROWN. Out-doorsy people wear brown, I bet. Because it matches the Earth so they don't stain as easily? I was also wearing sneakers. Clearly I must be some sort of professional hiker, trekker, mountain guide, or something. Or perhaps a sneaker salesperson.

Well, my "real" journal beckons me to take my stress-filled head and smatter it all over her pages in permanent ink. It's funny, I like writing in it, but I don't so much enjoy going back to read it. I like re-reading my old blog entries, perhaps because they record my happy times. Writing on paper records my emotional, probably more negative times. Or completely, immature, "OMG - a hot guy looked at me today! I have a crush on ___________! I like puppy dogs! Like, I can't believe that he totally looked down my shirt and blah blah blah blah blah." Very deep and meaningful. I hope someone finds it someday and comes to the conclusion that all twenty-some-year-old females are completely nuts, insecure, and clearly put on a fake front when pretending to have it all together when facing the public.

Adventure, much?

Tick Tick - NYC

I am killing time at work. I've been killing time for most of the day. If I continue this tomorrow, I'll be on trial for murder by the end of the week.

Christmas break was lovely - it was great to have family and friends home. It's always so rushed, but I love it. Life has such an unfortunate slow pace in the winter months that I want to be ran off my feet over the holidays so that I want at least a few days of peace in January. But only a few.

Six of my friends and I went to New York City for New Years Eve. The NYE thing didn't really matter to me, I just liked the idea of leaving PEI. To make a long story short, the adventure began 7:00pm on Friday, Dec 28th. I was excited, but a bit bummed as I had said good-bye to Tom (which I thought was going to be a perma-foever-and-ever-and-ever good-bye, but wasn't thanks to the PEI Weather Gods), Brother, friends, etc. Then I got forced to sit with a random stranger away from my friends on the bus. Wasn't so bad though, I made myself a little cocoon and spent some hrs immersed in music, writing, and reading. I never read as much as I plan to on long plane/bus trips. In fact, I don't have much focus on reading at all lately. Apparently I would rather stare at grids of numbers and do sudoku or similar puzzles.

About seventeen hours later, we checked into our hotel in New Jersey and had a slight "room issue" on which I will not elaborate here. Sheena, Julie and I trucked to the mall (along with hundreds of other people, apparently) for part of the afternoon and evening, and then pretty much collapsed on our beds in dramatic shopping exhaution. After a treck to the liquor and grocery store of course. I love groceries stores outside of Canada. I know the US isn't that different, but walking around in a non-familiar grocery store with different food enthralls me. As with liquor stores. Plus liquor is much cheaper in the States. For the liquor Sheena and I brought home, we figured it would have cost us $36 CAD for what cost us $15 US. Hardly seems fair.

Sunday we left the hotel at 9:00 for a "four-hour long" bus tour (actually only 3.5 hrs) which was a waste of time. I won't get into it, but I was rather disappointed and chose to skip the night tour. After the tour, a few of us grabbed some food from the greasiest diner ever, and wandered around for the next few hours. I parted ways with the others at about 5:00 (after a note-worthy struggle through Rockefeller Center which was far over-filled with people) and walked around. I felt like a regular New Yorker by the end, cursing at the strollers, sighing at pedestrians that stopped to gawk in the middle of heavy foot or car traffic, etc. It had also been lightly raining since about 4:30, so by the time 9:30 rolled around I was a wee bit wet. However, actually didn't really notice too much - until I sat on the bus at 10:00 and promptly started to freeze from the not-warm air coming out of the air vents. Upon arrival in our room, I pretty much stripped, rushed into my pajamas, blasted the heat, and cuddled into 410 blankets. La fin de dimanche soir.

Monday was the 31st. We took public transit into the city because our free shuttled was mysteriously cancelled. First we went up to the Museum of Natural History to check out the crowd levels. Packed. We snapped some photos of the area, and took a wander through the area just west of the museum. Afterwards we headed to China Town so Sheena could indulge in the "real" knock-off purses. Quite an experience! We dined in Little Italy (which given how the area is changing may need to change its name to "Very Little Italy"). Afterwards I squealed in excitement and bought watches. Yay! Sheena, Julie and I had decided that it would be nice to take a rest before heading into the crowds for NYE and headed back to the hotel. However, before catching the bus (which we unknowingly timed ridiculously perfectly) we decided to take a peak of the crowds at Times Square. Couldn't really get close to the area, but I didn't really care too much. The people you see on TV have to put in pretty much a whole day of waiting to watch the ball drop. I had better things to do with my time [buy watches].

We rested at the hotel for a bit [after a liquor stop] and, not gonna lie, I was a bit mopey for the same reasons as the bus ride down. However, turned out PEI was getting blated by Madame Nature, and Mr. Boyfriend had not departed the province. My mood may have perked up ;)

We ventured back into the city arriving at about 9:30. Our bus dropped off at... I get mixed up, either Penn Station or Port Authority. The one on the corner of 42nd and 8th. We decided to walk around the area around Times Square to soak in some of the atmosphere. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea. There were loads of people, but traffic flow was decent since many roads were blocked off and there were always a couple of cops attempted to direct the crowds and vehicles. After a half-struggle with the crowds, we had our fill and joined the rest of our group at a bar/restaurant close to our bus pick-up point. Great location, great seats, and great fun! So much better than standing with 1.1 million of my closest and new best friends in Times Square!

The following day shall wait because I get to leave work now. Woohoo!

Dirty Floor

You know, there is nothing like being sick to make you notice how badly your bathroom floor needs to be sweeped. Seriously. Yesterday I had an incredibly sick day that involved the fetal position, collapsing dramatically on the bathroom floor, and going down the stairs backwards because I determined it used less energy and was less likely to make me dizzy.

Beware - this definitely falls into the 'too much info' category

Yes, so vomitting has a very consistent pattern with me. Right before it happens, I feel like the temperature has shot up to 48C. Then I puke bunches in the toilet, and dramatically collapse on the floor, sweating, panting, and a tear-stained face. I eventually struggle to stand up, and return to the bed and sprawl out. In a few minutes I start freezing and return to the fetal position, rock back and forth, and try to fall asleep. Exciting. Anyway, during the various "collapse on bathroom floor" events, I noticed that the bottom of our toilet is dirty, and there is a lot of hair on the floor because Sheena and I both shed like wooly beasts. It kind of irked me. To the point I almost thought of cleaning. However, wasting energy like that would not have been efficient as standing was currently even too much to master.

I still have no desire to eat or drink anything, but have concerns about dehydration. I've been eating some freezees, but those were inadvertantly locked away at work as the kitchen was locked while I was in a meeting. Very tragic story.

In wonderful news, the damage to my car in my most recent mishap was... *drumroll* only $40.00!!!! I could have kissed the wonderful man at The Muffler Centre. But I didn't. Should I have? Hmm... Could have saved me another few dollars, potentially.

It's a little blustery outside tonight. I remember telling guests when working in FL how PEI generally no longer has White Christmases due to changes in weather patterns and global warming. Wow, foot in mouth on that one. Lots of snow around, we even had a snow day last week!!! That's one thing that is wonderful about working at UPEI, if classes are cancelled, it's a snowday for employees as well! However, I don't get paid for snow days. Sad. Well, in theory I could have worked, but bumming around and giggling in the snow was a far more favourable option.

If winter stays at this level I'll be okay. I'm just nervous because I remember the excessive cold at various stages of last winter... The cold that makes you consider not leaving the house because it isn't worth the effort to put on thirty layers of clothing but still get blasted by the cold.

In Maine I bought a wonderful pair of winter boots that are serving me quite well. For $40 I feel like I can kick through any snow drift - as long as there isn't a wall of ice enclosed. I believe that would just lead to some sort of cracked ankle.

FYI for the all the hungry Charlottetownies out there - the veggie gyro at Churchill Arms is probably one of the worst meals I have ever eatened at a restaurant. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's kind of funny, generally if I have a couple of bad experiences at a restaurant I don't go back, but I keep returning to Churchill's. Earlier this summer I waited over 45 mins for my chicken sandwich (by this point everyone else at my table HAD FINISHED EATING) because, get this, the cook refused to COOK MY FOOD BECAUSE HE/SHE WAS ANGRY AT MY SERVER. I found this out afterwards from someone I now who works there. Seriously. Anyway, me thinks we need to find a curry alternative (Leo's Thai?! it's good!) because the Churchill's thing is getting old. Charlottetown, considering its size, actually has many good restaurants with an impressive variety of food. So I am temporary ix-naying Churchill's, two-for-one curry or otherwise. Sigh, I wish Bahama Breeze would open a restaurant here. I would DIE of happiness for a salmon tostada salad or an Aruba Red beer. Oooh, or a Koi. Erin, Kerri, and I ate there in LA and it was ridiculously delicious. Anyway, Ms. Stomach is making awful swirly, twisted feelings/noises so I am off to bed.

Zzzz...

Precipitation

Brought to you buy the weather network...

"From Friday Evening to Saturday Afternoon we expect close to 10cm of snow." [in Charlottetown].

Deep breath. And here we go. Welcome to winter. I can't believe it's winter again already. The winter better go over better than last year or I will have to turn into a snow bird at a dreadfully early age.

Spam, much?

Ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa!!!

This evening I spammed MYSELF over 8000 emails.

Genius, thy name is Jennifer.

I was doing a mass emailing at work for a tourism study we are doing for the province. I'm quite new to this, and no one from my team has done it before, so I just kind of went at it on my own. After a disastorous day trying to get it done on Friday, today was the day. With my nifty Excel ad-on, I could conquer the world! or not. I wanted a copy of the email that was to go out, so I selected this wee button that would bcc me on the email.

Unfortunately that meant EVERY email. Hmm. So for about three hours my inbox filled repeatedly with the same, wonderful email over and over and over and over and over and over and over (repeat by 8500) again. I laughed. Because what else can you do? :)

Sometimes learning lessons the hard way ensures you will never, ever make the mistake again.

I also made the foolish decision to "notify"... which turns out that when the panelist opens the invite email, I get an email explaining in great detail that, zut alors, the email had been opened! So me thinks that is what I have to look forward to over the next couple of days.

La fin.

Phones for You, Phones for Me !

I'm going to post lots about this later, but quite the USD-CAD exchange rate, eh?

So noting this new strength of the Canadian dollar, I'm convinced we have to pay more for [some] goods/services just to have the honour of being labelled a Canadian. Case in point for this lovely Sunday afternoon:

$49.99 mobile phone from Virgin in the US.

$49.99 mobile phone from Virgin in CANADA.

Sigh. I would rather buy an American phone. However, I assume it wouldn't work in Canada, as I currently have an American Virgin mobile and it's rather useless here. My US phone is about one step down from the link posted for the Canadian phone. The only real different is my US phone has a black and white screen, and the phone is a nicer colour. Oh, and it was $49.99 cheaper, because it was free provided you purchased $20 in phone credit.

One may argue that the taxes make up some of the difference. However, all prices listed are BEFORE taxes.

Oh, and my first mobile was a Virgin phone from the UK. That was a few years ago, so I can't remember how much I paid. But now, for the equivalent of $50 CAD, you can get this phone, or for about $10 cheaper, this phone.

These all pay-as-you-go phones, I'm quite aware that one can get substantially better phones for cheaper when signing up for a three-year plan in Canada. But wow, three years is a long time. Although perhaps I'm just a wee bit of a Canada-committment phobe.

Usy-bay eek-way?

Things have been pretty busy at work lately, just trying to get stuff done and move forward onto the next project. "My" (ha ha) conference starts tomorrow, and the past couple of days have been very long, (hours per day are supposed to be in the double digits, right?) but I think everything has come together. Scratch, I hope everything has come together! In theory, I probably don't have to be at the conference all day Wed, Thu, Fri, and Sat, but I have control issues and don't like other people doing things I have started. Especially if something does go wrong, I will not be there to defend myself/fix it, and don't want people thinking I'm an idiot.

I had fun picking out the menu for the events. The first important thing I did was enquire if strawberry shortcake was still in season. It was. Excellent. I also noticed there were cookies on the menu. Also excellent. Then I ordered coffee and figure I'll just get everyone through by dosing out caffeine highs. An excellent strategy.

This year in an effort to be a better person I am volunteering to be a program advisor for the Junior Achievement Company Program. Rob is my co-bloke and between his experience and my beauty, we will be rockin' the cp boat, yo.

That's all. I should be in bed. Actually, I should have been in bed awhile ago. Interesting.

LA the Three

In the interest of preserving memories, I am aiming to conclude my three-part series of exciting vacation adventures. I feel this is critical, primarily for me, as when I was watching my parents vacation video of New Orleans I realised that my memories of the trip are a bit hazy. Why did I not write down the names of places we ate? Why did I not write down briefly some interesting facts I learned? Alas, no use crying over spilled milk (unless it was the last glass of milk in the ENTIRE WORLD).

After Kerri and I ate pizza, we parted ways with Erin and bounced off towards the "thrill" rides. I like them because somehow their kinetic energy is transfered to me in EXCITED energy! First we went on the Maliboomer, an attraction that even this nerdy theme park girl could not remember the name of. We weren't sure if it was a good idea to go on this directly after pizza, but it was, because it was so much fun! It's basically a reverse, theme-less Tower of Terror. You get shot up, and descend with less force. We then giggled our way to California Screamin', which I also love to bits and pieces. I don't really know why... Maybe it's the carnie music, the wind in the face, the launch (!!), or the total package, but I quite like it - better than Space Mountain even. We then, umm, secretly went on the ride again since the line was so short! I'm drawing a bit of a blank, but I believe we departed at this point and headed over to Disneyland. I was *quite* excited, along with the others. It was nice to see a big, fake castle again :)

Disneyland was PACKED - it almost reminded me of MK at Xmas. I believe it had to do with the walkways starting to be roped off for the parade, the narrow walkways (compared to WDW), and the abundance of AP holders who hang out at DL every night. Heh. And ps, I enjoy using an excessive amount of accronyms. It's only appropriate. I believe the first attraction we headed for was Pirates of the Carribean. I was quite impressed that the line was only about 15 mins long! We rode it, and partway during the ride I stated that Disneyland is the equivalent of a local mall for teenagers. I'm convinced parents just drop them off mid afternoon and come and pick them up around midnight. Someone sitting in front of us nodded and laughed. After Pirates, we hopped off to It's a Small World. Maybe I'm getting confused, but I think I like the one in WDW better. I find the one in DL looks like it needs some work in parts. Unless my brain is getting spotty, in IASW in MK, the water goes right up to the displays, where as I believe in DL the water is getting in a boarded canal (for lack of a better term) in which the boat travels. As well, in spots you would look to the right and see the attraction, but looking to the left would yield a black wall with glitter flowers pasted on it. Meh? Maybe it's like this at MK as well, but I don't think so. Ah well, there were some different scenes and I did enjoy it overall. Erin, however, is one of those people who hates the ride >=)

After the happiest cruise that ever sailed, it was firework time! I was ridiculously excited!! I'm sorry, but I have never seen a firework display that rivals Disney's. EVER. I've seen pretty good ones (Edinburgh) but Disney's are presented so well. The music, the lasers, the story, etc. The budget definitely helps, of course ;) I loved them. At DL Tinkerbell just keeps flying back and forth for a little while, where as in MK she just "flies" from the Castle down to Tomorrowland. Instead of rambling, here is a link to the fireworks narrated by Julie Andrews with great vocal clips of Walt Disney inserted. Anyway, the children singing at the beginning still give me watery eyes and an enormous smile. I still remember the first time I saw Wishes at MK. It was the first weekend we were there, the day we finished Traditions. I remember Dave (eventually "Server Dave" =P ) saying how great it was when it ended and that no one could not feel happy after watching it. I actually like the DL ones a bit better because they are less focused on the movies and feature the park itself. Sometimes I feel like being in the parks too much is like ODing on Disney movies. Anyway, who couldn't appreciate a Star Wars laser fight that takes place DURING a fireworks display?

So the fireworks eventually ended and I wanted to watch them again. And run up and hug the castle. I refrained though. The crowds were still pretty heavy so we diddled in shops for a bit and watched Disneyland - The First 50 Magical Years which I loved to bits and pieces. A short film about Disneyland starring Steve Martin AND Donald Duck? Yes, please!

I think we left at this point and headed to Downtown Disney. I took the looooong walk to the medicine stand (really a magazine stand with random pharmaceutical items) and spent $10 on a bottle of cough syrup that would generally retail for $4.50 at Walgreens. However, it was one of the best $10 I spend in my LIFE - even though the kid working the stand was an idiot and said they didn't sell cough syrup. ("Umm, isn't that it right there?" "Oh, maybe... Yes. Heh.")

Then met up with the others, and we took the shuttle back to the hotel and craaashed.

Sunday
Up again! We were at DL for opening. Again, took the shuttle over. We went through the gates immediately. I think there was an early entry that morning for resort guests (?? - not sure) so people were already in the parks, but we were still roped off. We snuck into the shops on Main Street to get closer to rope drop. I figure for each person I pass, that is one less person I have to stand behind! The rope dropped, we (and other smart folk) filed out of the shops and took off for Nemo's Submarine Voyage, heading through Fantasyland rather than Tomorrowland. Holy freaking queue. Despite being there mere minutes after rope drop, the queue was still about 45 minutes. The castmembers can't even tell how long the wait will be because the queue itself is so intertwind and lengthy, wrapping around the lagoon. Kerri and I amused ourselves in line and I think Erin thought we were... slightly off. We eventually made it to the ride, and I enjoyed it, although I couldn't justify waiting hours for it. It had some similarities to the Nemo ride at Epcot, but it feels a little more "immersed" since you are actually IN the water, rather than looking obviously from the other side of glass.

Afterwards we went Kerri and I went to Space Mountain for fast passes and then... ummm... I can't remember. We must have done something though? Right, looking at my pictures leads me to believe that Kerri and I went on the Matterhorn. It was fun, and kind of freaked me out. Older rollercoasters tend to do that. We then met up with Erin and rode the Alice in Wonderland Ride. It was, well, what you would expect from an Alice darkride. Then Kerri and I scuttered back to Tomorrowland and went on Space Mountain using our Fastpasses thus having a minimal wait. I believe it's definitely darker than it's MK counterpart, and the starry sky has more of a '3-D' feel to it. And it scares the piss out of me. I think it's due to the extreme darkness and I find myself hunched over in fear I'm going to knock my head off a steal frame somewhere. See trauma A: getting hit with a BASEBALL CAP of the Rock 'n Roller Coaster in the DARK and practically suffering from a broken nose. So yes, I shuddered my way through Space Mountain.

I believe at this point we met up with Erin again at the foot of the monorail (which actually picks guests up INSIDE the park!) and went to the Disneyland Hotel for our character brunch. Definitely NOT a highlight of the trip! It was Goofy's Kitchen, and apparently you only go to meet Goofy if it was your birthday. The food was good, but the characters kept skipping our tables. Our server wasn't really around, so we couldn't tell him. We mentioned this to a character attendant that came to talk to us, but she wasn't concerned. She asked if we had met Donald Duck when coming in. We said no, and she encouraged us to stop and get our picture with him when we left. Well, he wasn't there. Anyway, I ate pizza and ridiculous amounts of canteloupe and pineapple so that was good. I definitely would not repeat the Goofy's Kitchen experience. I dunno, I just wasn't impressed with the overall experience.

We returned to Disneyland via monorail and hit up the other half of the park after taking pictures of the Castle and watching a brief, random Mary Poppins shows that suddenly appeared in front of the castle.

We then went to Tom Sawyer's Island / "Pirate's Lair", pretty much just to meet Captain Jack Sparrow. We couldn't find him, but after exploring caves and what not I saw an area that looked... suspcious. My castmembers flags went up, I could tell it was a photo op set up! I saw a tall fence that had a door "Cast Members Only". My flags got taller. I tried peaking through the cracks but couldn't see anything. Then, Kerri or Erin (sorry ladies, can't remember) looked through and saw him!!! We were quite excited and spied for a bit while he was backstage. Suddenly, unknown to us, Sailing Ship Columbia went by and fired a canon and we jumped about 30 ft in the air in surprise at the nose. We poked around, killed time, and giggled.

THEN HE SAUNTERED OUT. It was a good day. He talked to a couple of kids, then the photos began. I was planning on being all cool and possibly flirting/teasing a wee bit (I know - I'm a moron) but instead got rather ga-ga and stupidly star struck. I think I mumbled something about him having a nice ring and he stated that he had stolen it from a gypsy. Erin was up next. As they were posing for photos I said, "Erin, your shirt is to clean for you to be a pirate!"

Erin: Oh, but I can get dirty.

And I died laughing. I also died some more upon seeing Cpt. Sparrow's reaction... I don't think he knew what to say! He actually said to Kerri when she went up for a photo, "Well, that was awkward."

Afterwards, we were videoing commentary about the event and a couple walked by as we were recapping and said to Erin, "Yeah, he was definitely looking down your shirt!"

And, for a third time, I died. Such great memories! :)

We then went back to Critter Country and went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, mostly because it was there. We also met Eeryoe and Winnie the Pooh and stopped for photos. They are soft, so I like hugging them; however, I want pictures with more interesting characters. They are EVERYWHERE so I feel like I already have their photos 600 or so times. I think we also got fastpasses for Splash Mountain at this point? Regardless we continued towards Adventureland. Went to the Tiki Room, rode Jungle Cruise, and Kerri and I went on the Indianna Jones Ride. Loved it!! We then met up with Erin. I think at this point we returned to Splash Mountain. Umm, I like the MK one better. I just find the audioanamatronics don't look so worn, and ride is a bit slower making it last longer and giving me more time to hum along to the songs. Kerri and I went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which always makes me think of my mum and Keri Shields) and did indeed enjoy the wildest ride in the wilderness. We then met up with Erin at Pinnochio. We road that and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. And, I believe, that was the end. Sad. Actually, really sad now that I think about it... Crap. We left to return to DCA for one last adventure on California Screamin. We also went on Soarin', and Kerri bought a hat and jumper. Crap, it's almost like my trip just ended again and I'm bummed again :( Tear. Soarin' is a good ride to end on, however, it's relaxing, impressive, and always makes me smile, especially the smell of the orange groves.

Whoops, my bad, we actually did return to DL to go to the photopass place. I feel like we MUST have done something else though, perhaps wander in shops?

Oh yes, and I missed it above, but at some point Kerri and I went to Toontown. Hmm. We also saw a bit of the Jedi training thing where I was infatuated with the hot Jedi Master. Probably because he had a light saber. Umm, I guess I like fictional characters.

After we left DL (sad) we went to Downtown Disney. Kerri bought stuff, and we went to HOB to eat. Not gonna lie, I was rather drained. 7:00am - 12:00am makes for a pretty long, busy day. We walked back to our hotel, watched some video, packed, and whined about not wanting to go home.

Sigh.

On Monday we finished packing, had some free brekkie, booked airport transportation and went to a mall since we didn't have very much time to do anything of greatness. Getting a cab back from the mall turned out to be a MASSIVE hassle and Erin and Kerri almost missed their shuttle ride to the airport. I continued my day of exploring and, gasp, ventured away from the Disneyland area. I went to Target, must to the envy of Kerri. (It's a weird Canadian in the US thing for us and Target. I can't explain.) I stocked up on stuff that I missed, such as peanut butter chocolate chip chewy reduced sugar granola bars that are like crack and I want them ALL THE TIME, and stuff that is cheaper in the US, such as my facewash that is about half the price as on PEI. Wankers. I also went to a grocery stores and bought random boring stuff like an apple, orange and banana, but also a cantelope that cost only $.50! I could get used to California.

I then returned to Disneyland Resort area as I wanted to look at the hotels and figure out where the closest liquor store was. I received that critical piece of information and started to walk there. I realised about half-way there that if I continued my journey I *may* miss my shuttle. So I freaking booted it back to the hotel and got there JUST as my shuttle pulled in. Seriously, I'm suprised my flip-flops didn't snap into a thousand pieces at the rate I was going.

Arrive at airport. Drink massive quantities of cough syrup since I can't take it on the plane with me. Go through long security line. Read magazines and books at shops. Eat pizza and salad from Wolfgang Pucks. Buy cough drops. Board plane. Fall asleep about thirty seconds after plane takes off. Eventually wake up and land in Toronto. Guy working customs thinks I'm hungover, but really my cough syrup and Targer cold pills screw me up and make me retardedly drowsy. Plus, umm, I had just taken the red-eye flight and it was apparently 5:30am in Toronto. Please be kind to me. Thank you.

Get to Halifax. Drive to Ch'town (which took almost six hours due to me being a moron and getting confused and thinking I went the wrong way [I didn't though], stopping to eat, and stopping to sleep), arrived at parents to fetch my car, tried to stay awake so I would be able to sleep that night, then can't fall asleep and go to work the next day like a zombie. But a happy-I-went-to-Cali-and-saw-my-friends zombie. That's a good kind of zombie to be :)

Woooo, I shall continue my wee LA story. I left off on Friday.. but in telling the story and the actual story. Heh.

We took a cab from the pharmacy, where I had invested in cold pills, and the others in bandaids, confectionary, and wine, back to our hotel. We zonked out for a wee bit and debated what to do. We "freshened up" and then went for a wander about Santa Monica down to the pier. Quite an event. Saw a couple rather dodgy folks/activities, and wasn't overly impressed. We didn't go on any rides, despite the fact I adore rides. Really though, we would be spending a good chunk of Saturday and all of Sunday on rides, so none of us felt it was necessary. We walked around a bit, half looking around and half looking for a spot to grab a drink. We were all dragging a bit, so retired back to the hotel to sleep / cough excessively while trying to sleep.

The next morning we split all headed to the shopping area one last time to run into those stores we had missed, or had seen things that it turned out we really "needed" (really wanted) something. However, the stores didn't open until 10:00, and we were out and ready at about 9:15. Ah well, there was a lovely farmers market filled with outdoor stalls. I made a wise investment in delicious strawberries and peaches, did some speed shopping in a wee british shop, and a couple of clothing/shoe stores we had skipped earlier. After we made our final purchases we, gasp, actually ventured to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful!! The water wasn't as warm as I thought it would be, but we didn't have time to swim anyway. We half played in the water (as much as one can when wearing clothes) and then pretty much sprinted up to our hotel to meet our drive to Anaheim. The drive to Anaheim didn't take quite as long as I expected (a little over 45 mins) and traffic was quite smooth. We really didn't run into any heavy traffic during our time, I was pretty impressed. We were dropped off at our hotel, and I laughed while watching Kerri and Erin lug their massive lugage up the stairs. To rub a bit of salt in their wounds (not literally, since they actually did have wounds all over their feet from our walking adventures) the front desk lady asked me if we needed help. I said no >=D (Sorry ladies, I don't think I told you this... but it was only one flight and you were half-way up by then. Plus it was hilarious.) We sat around in our room for about 35 minutes and then took the complimentary shuttle to Disneyland. Turns out we really didn't need the complimentary shuttle as the walk to the maingate was only ten minutes!

Disneyland!!!
So obviously us little three former castmembers squealed our way through the parks. This would also be the point where I get very detailed.

First we went to California Adventure. I still felt a bit castmember special since we had our not-for-sale passes and go in for free. First up we went into a merch shop as Kerri needed some sort of Disney head gear for the day. After a bit too long in the shops, we started to do the important things. (Jen is not so much a fan of the merch shops.) We grabbed fastpasses for Soarin' and then took off for whatever ride was closest - Grizzy River Rapids (or something like that). Kind of a standard water raft ride... We got wet, we smiles, we laughed, we stuffed our bags under our shirts to keep our stuff dry, etc. Why the ride doesn't have the "dry bag area" in the middle of the rafts like at Animal Kingdom is beyond me... They are practially carbon copies of each other. We then proceeded to the next closest attraction - Brother Bear play in the forest something wweeee kids play bounce bounce boooooing! It was basically a random play area for children and childish adults. (Cue Kerri and Jen bouncing excessively rope bridge things that made me think of Sand Spit.) We then... did something. I remember stopping so Kerri could buy something... Mickey Mouse ice cream, perhaps? I believe at this point we went back to Soarin' and soared over California. It's still such an impressive ride, and people still clap at the end of it! Then Erin proceeded to stand in an eternal line for the official food of Disney - chicken strips and french fries. The line didn't really move at all, and Kerri and Erin were concerned about missing the High School Musical 2 pep rally / summer vacation sing-a-long show. I watched a bit of it, then wandered off to the toilet and take pictures. Afterwards, Erin got her precious chicken strips. We then poked along to grab fast passes for Tower of Terror, and then to the Aladdin musical, which I quite liked. I also pretty much left a lung on the floor in the theatre as about ten minutes before the end I started hacking like a cat and scampered away to the back of the theatre and basically shook through the rest of the performance trying to swallow coughs.

Ahh, Tower of Terror. I cannot say enough good things about this ride. I love it to bits and pieces!!! The DCA one certainly lacks the atmosphere presented at the Studios by not having the queue wrap through the gardens. The ride is a bit different in that the elevator does not move forward into the "drop shaft" or whatever it is. It also has a different heat-thermal screen thing in which you see yourself and the other passengers, and then you disinegrate (sp?). Then you drop and bounce and scream and love it. Also in the queue for unintentional entertainment, Kerri went to lean against a railing and pretty much fell through because it turned out to be the swinging entrance to an exit ramp. Cue Jen dieing from laughter (after ensuring she was not hurt, of course). After the AMAZING ride, we met up with Erin and rode Monsters Inc. It was fine, but I wasn't blown away by it. C-ticket, for the fellow nerds who know what I'm talking about. The other two sauntered off to watch Muppet Vision, which I do like but have seen about 604 times, and I wandered off to first aid. My first time at a first aid station in any theme park!! Or anywhere, really. I needed cough syrup like maaaad. The nurse could not give me any, but told me where I could buy some (far away in Downtown Disney, unfortunately,) but did give me some cough drops which, to me, were worth more than gold!! We met up again, and proceeding to our next food quest: Disney pizza. Sadly, I was a bit disapointed. DLR does pizza by the slice, WDW does it as mini personal pizzas. WDW definitely wins the pizza challenge. We parted ways again as thrill rides were next up on the itinerary.

WAIT!! At some point before this, I believe on the walk to the pizza spot, I got ran over by an ECV. Seriously. I was pointing off and looking to the right trying to show the others something and a man in an ECV ran over both of my feet. It quite hurt, but I was moreso flabbergasted that SOMEONE IN AN ECV CLEARLY RAN OVER MY FEET!!!!

I feel that is a good spot to end my story for the night. Tomorrow I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the padres. I have never cooked a turkey dinner before. Luckily Dominoes will likely be open for back-up ;) I'm just getting visions from the movie Christmas Vacation when they do the first cut of the turkey, and it basically cracks over and shrivles like chrushing paper machee. That'll be my turkey!! Not turkey related, but at an extended family event about a month ago I saw someone who looked almost EXACTLY like the older Aunt in that movie - the one who pledges her alligiance to the flag when saying grace. I pretty much died laughing and had to point it out to Papa and a couple of other family members. We weren't very good at keeping straight faces afterwards.

La fin.

Ooooh, I am a sleepy one this evening. I feel as though I stayed up til 4:30 and it's 7:30 and I'm just waking up. The past couple of days I have felt ridiculously run down and exhausted all day. Well, for me anyway. To just want to go straight to bed after work isn't very Jen-ish. So I don't do it, but then I fall into my usual routine of having trouble falling asleep, and waking up periodically during the night wondering what time it is. I'm sure that's not the real reason I wake up, but I always look at the clock right away so I'm making assumptions.

I guess I haven't blogged in awhile... No biggie, the Earth is still turning and I'm still here! My adventure to LA with Erin and Kerri was fantastic, and I loved every minute of it! I left Wednesday night at about 11:30pm. It wasn't the best drive to Halifax as it was rather windy, but after I hit the rotary in NB it was smooth sailing. However, I was rather paranoid about hitting a moose in NB. It was actually probably the most nervous I was the entire trip! The drive over was rather unadventurerous. I slept in the car park the Tim Horton's by the park 'n fly for about a half hour. I didn't as much on the plane as I had hoped, and felt rather groggy when I was sitting on the bus to Santa Monica. I met Erin and Kerri at our hotel (The Fairmont Miramar - we were having a 48-hour period of being classy ladies). We then hopped and shopped about the 3rd Street Promenade area. Kerri and I giggled our way through the $15 store (all items were $15 or less) while Erin disapproved of the poor quality clothing. Around 5:00 we all felt like our feet weight 600 lbs so we ventured back to the hotel to nap. I woke up about 45-minutes later feeling like my head was going to explode due to a cold. Luckily, my head didn't explode! Thank God, it would had been quite messy - not to mention I would be missing a head. We primped and then headed to West Hollywood for our dinner reservation at Koi, apparently a new "hot spot". We arrived, and were greeted by the paparatzi at the door. Sadly, they didn't seem too interested in us. I wanted to take a picture of them, but didn't at risk of looking too much like a tourist. We were greeted by a large man with a list. Were we on the list? Yes, yes we were. Sometimes you actually do need to plan ahead! We waited about 35-minutes to be seated (not too bad - the place was packed) and then had a lovely seat on the back patio area. It was a Japanese restaurant, so I had "real" sushi for the first time - and it was absolutely spectacular!! At first I tried some of Erin's (spicy tuna roll, perhaps??) and it was quite good. I had a salad with, umm, some kind of spicy dressing that was quite good. My sushi dish was bay scallop roll, and yuuuuuuuuuuum. I think I ate almost the whole thing despite being full. But it was just soooo good. The whole thing was accompanied by a peach martini that I gave a full thumbs up.

While we had been waiting to be seated earlier in the night we saw Jennifer Coolidge, aka Stifler's Mom from the American Pie movies. I didn't really recognize her, but Kerri and Erin noticed her quite quickly. That was our "big" star sighting.

The next morning Erin and I hopped off for a quick exploration/brekkie while Kerri slept off her martinis ;) We then took a bus into Hollywood, then the metro up to Burbank/Universal City. There, we waited for a bus to take us to the Warner Bros. Studios. Then we waited some more. After waiting, we waited some more. Eventually we trucked up a giant hill (yes - I considered it giant despite living in Edinburgh but 16 months!) to a hotel and hopped in a cab. Thirteen-dollars later we were at the studios! We booked ourselves on a tour to depart at 1:30. We had a little over an hour to kill, so we hussled off to the Disney Studios/headquarters and looked sadly in through the gates, hoping some American blokes would take pity on us, marry us, thus giving us green cards to work in the States. (Disney could also create some sort of Canadian head quarters, that would be acceptable as well. Perhaps easier, from my perspective.) Sadly, we eventually left the area still single, and not a step closer to obtaining that elusive green card. Maybe next year.

The Warner Bros tour was a couple of hours long. It was okay, but I wouldn't do it again. Maybe I just don't watch enough TV or movies anymore... We saw some of the exterior sets, got to go through a museum of memrobilia (lots of Harry Potter stuff!!!!!!!!!) and went to visit the re-located, former Central Perk set from Friends.

After the tour we returned to Hollywood - the nice part. Huuuuuge difference between the nice part and the slummy parts! The nice part is about, oh, three blocks, and the rest is filled with crappy gift shops and, ahem, "adult novelty" shops. Classy. We did the tourist thing and bummed around the Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater, and the various shops in the area. I pulled a Jennifer and immersed myself in the Virgin Megastore for about six days. We also grabbed a quick bit at Mickey's Ice Cream Shoppe Sprinkles Happy Food Poof Restaurant or something like that. We then walked for a bit hoping to get to the Beverley Centre so I could spend my life-long savings at H&M, but alas, the walk was too far, it was getting dark, and the other girls had OPEN WOUNDS/blisters all over their feet. I, in my well broken in sneakers, could have walked for 25 more kilometres ;)

Aaaaand, tired. The end.

Oh, how I should be trying to sleep! However, the kids outside the crack-house next door are being loud, and I just realised it's been over two years since I have left Scotland. Yet I still spell 'realise' with an 's'. It makes me feel cultured.

So two years. Wow. I've adjusted to the fact that I finished uni over three years ago, but to move to the next level and accept it's been over two years since my first "big" adventure ended is quite astonishing. How young I was, just a wee lass of 21 crossing the ocean. Actually, 21 isn't really that young, many people do it when they are younger.

I don't really believe in faith, but I like to think the decisions we make at present affect the outcome of the future. I don't like the idea of faith and the "purpose" of someones life because it makes life seem pre-determined. The idea of my life path already being in place, even if I don't know the plans set before me, does not appeal to me at all. It makes the present seem so irrelevant if you are to reach the same conclusion regardless. We all have the same conclusions eventually (death, boo,) but I don't want the events between birth and death to be in a proper, sequential line. I like to think if I do something stupid, it's because I was temporairly being an idiot and not because it is part of a bigger plan.

Summer is nearing its end. It quite saddens me but I'm trying to remain hopeful that this winter will be better than last. Barring an extremely unfortunate, tragic event, I really don't think this winter could ever be any worse than last winter. Those were dark days. Literally and figuratively. This may sound odd, but winter is inconvenient. I hate having to put on so much clothing before facing the outdoors. I hate wearing socks. I hate wearing pants... I can't even tell you the last time I wore pants that did not involve a uniform or... Well, actually, I just don't recall. Hmm. I remember wearing pants to tennis in May.

So yes, this summer was great! Starting in July I finally had a "Canada" Canada Day. It was great! I took many photos and got to wear a costume!! We had Lynda's hen party, followed by Kiki's wedding the next day. Next Brad came to visit, and I was sooo excited someone "from" Florida found his way here. I also re-learned a valuable lesson regarding drinking that I hadn't experienced since that dreadful pubcrawl back in January 2004. But it was all in honour of B-Rad! Brad also brought the consistent start of summer, as prior to that the warm days were scattered among cold, grey days. The following weekend Raeanne and Jay came to PEI, and I, gasp, actually experienced nightlife in Summerside. Nice for a change, but not my preferred location. *cough* House of Blues *cough*. Dawn also arrived in early July. She was a masters student from Arkansas doing an internship at UPEI for six weeks. It was fun having a long-term tourist around who was up for anything and wanted to experience everything. I also enjoyed listening to her "y'alls". The following weekend (July was amazing - there was literally an event or visitor every weekend) was Lynda's wedding. It was so much that I kind of want Lynda to get married again. To Jamie though, not for her to get divorced or anything. Maybe a giant one-year-anniversary party/"reunion"? Hmm? Brother and Heidi came home around this period too. (Not together though.) The more the merrier on this Gentle Island! Heidi was still home the first weekend in August... Then came the strange weekend: no visitors the following weekend. It was Shan Courtney's b'day, however, which ensured happenings, and probably one of my favourite "bar nights" of the summer! (Save the insane adventure with Brad and Hannah, and my interesting foray into Summerside culture. But those were more so for the people.) For Shan's b'day we went to Piazza Joe's!! It was almost like a real club, music wise. Not so much in decor. (It's an Italian restaurant by day, for those not in the know.) It was just a DJ doing his thing, you know, that thing DJs do. Umm, like mixing music without lyrics and stuff. I dunno, but sober Jen danced so hard in her own little world that she was pretty much dripping in sweat when the bar closed. She was wise and said, "Dancing is really like listening with your feet," but now thinks it's like listening with your whole body. But she wasn't wise enough to say that at the time.

The following weekend was spent in Ottawa. I had so much fun, and the post-holiday blues were quite apparent when I came home. The solution was simple: cut off two-thirds of my hair. Seriously. It was, Monday, mope, Tuesday, mope, Wednesday day, mope, Wednesday evening, cut hair, GREAT!! It's not that I really disliked having long hair, but I felt it had reached its expiry date. It's what I do... Grow my hair out, then chop. Grow hair out again. Chop. Repeat. However, the leaving-O-Town blues weren't really caused by miskept hair - it was saying good-bye to people again. It's neat that the World is so big, different cultures have developed and hundreds of language span the globe, but sometimes I wish the world could be a bit smaller. Make it easier to reach out and literally touch those I care about. It was a bit of a flashback. Like when in Florida, I got to see Charlene every day. Now I shall not see her again for, oh, six months at the earliest.

I kind of wonder what it would be like to live in Ottawa there. The winters are harsh, and Lord knows I despise harsh winters. They grate on my soul and destroy me. I do still know people there, but some of them are leaving so the experience wouldn't be the same I had during my short vacation stint there. I'm not sure if I would like to live there. Lots of greenspace and bike paths, which is great, but I don't know. It's funny, because people comment that it's such a clean city. Guess I'm rather spoiled on PEI, because I find it much cleaner here. However, the market there is amazing! Oh, but yes, it shuts down in the winter. I dunno. That's all I can say.

The weekend just passed was Keri's b'day so more going out fun. When I was younger I thought it would be bad to have your b'day in the summer because you wouldn't see your friends at school to invite them. However, I thought it would be nice not to have your birthday party cancelled due to weather. Now I'm envious of those with birthdays in the summer. During university I spent multiple birthdays either writing exams, (bonjour 19th b'day, Sat night, 7 - 10pm exam,) finishing papers, studying, etc. Bonne fete, eh?

This weekend is Labour Day weekend and... the end. It's an empty feeling, similar to that I had when I graduated high school.

In great events to look forward to: trip to LOS ANGELES!! Justificiation? A seat sale. I'm meeting up with two lovely former Disney co-castmembers and am sooo excited. I was a moron though and thought I could satisfy my travel urges with multiple short trips. While it is nice to have one already in the works when returning from the current vacation, the short trips sometimes feel like they are over before they really "start". I arrive in LA Thu at about 11:00am, and depart Monday at 10:30pm. I'm betting on a one-day lag of jet lag when getting home. It'll be the same time difference as Ch'town to Edinburgh (four hours). I always found flying east much harder than flying west. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do for driving to Halifax. Literally I have (put keys in ignition, turn, place car in "drive", etc.) but my flight leaves Hali at 6:30, I think. I was thinking about sleeping after work, then waking up at 1:30 to drive to Hali. However, I can never sleep before trips at, like, 2:30 in the morning so that won't really work as I'll be bloody knackered by the time I get to the airport. But then there is the prospect of sleeping on the plane....

Regarding sleep, it would be ideal to get some tonight. Funny, I have been quite tired as of late but still can't seem to fall asleep before, at the absolute earliest, 11:30. Now it's pretty much 1:00am and my alarm is going off in six hours. Hmm, kind of a flashback to my Delta days. How on Earth did I ever, ever, EVER manage to work at 6:30 in the morning?!!??!

Visitor!

A fluffy, orange kitty just walked in through our broken door. He was soft. We are friends now.

Ahh, I love the sunshine. I don't even care that I'm inside because eventually I will make the treck outdoors and it will be AMAZING. Hopefully the sun stays out in full force for tennis lessons this evening.

Tennis lessons. Let's discuss. I am still awful at tennis. Pathetically awful. It's very frustrating because I am not good at a single sport. It's almost getting to the point that I want to leave half-way during lessons because I'm so sick of hitting the ball into the net or out that I would rather leave Victoria Park and go take pictures or something somewhere. After Monday's lesson I had to go sit outside by myself for a good thirty minutes to calm down. Thirty minutes actually wasn't enough though, but Janielle called me in because she needed something. Next time I will bring my earplugs when I'm moping outside by myself.

I'm also the only one in class that throws her raquet. Nice.

I saw Harry Potter last night. To re-iterate what I told Candace afterwards, I lapped it up like a thirsty puppy. It had been quite awhie since I read the book so it was a good refresher. I also feel as though I must refresh on the sixth book since I will likely spend all day Sunday inhaling the seventh book. Which brings me to a dilema: do I take my time and savour every chapter or do I plough through the thing to avoid being spoiled by the media and random, overheard conversations in public? These are the problems I face daily.

In a magnificant turn of events, I think I found shoes to wear to Lynda's wedding! And even better, I actually quite like the shoes. They are Jen's signature Jesus shoes. Issue is, they *may* be a bit tight (heading back today for a second try-on) but I may be able to fix that. The heel is also rather high, so perhaps not overly practical of a long day on ones feet. However, no one will notice if I take my shoes off at the reception, right? And although I think it's kind of tacky, it's not uncommon for ladies in heels to remove their shoes at the dance.

The shoe thing was quite a dilema as I don't really like white shoes that much. They are so... starkly blinding. Also, weather pending, the wedding is outside and it may be a challenge to walk down the aisle with heels sinking into the ground every step.

And back to work.

And two more things!

1) Tomorrow is my last tennis lesson for the term. I think I improved quite a bit the first few weeks... and then suddenly regressed substantially. Seriously, it's pathetic that so many of my shots still go in the net. I was told to slow down and take my time, but it's so much more fun to hit them hard! I usually jump the gun. Patience is that I lack.

2) I got a sunburn about a week and a half ago. And my chest is peeling like bloody mad now! This sunburn thing is so new and foreign to me. When will the peeling stop? =(

Oooh, mes pieds!

I forgot what a horrible runner I am today and decided to hop on the treadmill for a 5-km walk/run. (After discussing my bridesmaid dress is "a bit snug". It fits decently, but I look like an enlarge green grape.) I have issues with my right foot; I'm convinced it's attached to my leg on an awful angle. I walk/run on the outside part of my foot which makes running more than two seconds "a special challenge". I also get bad shin splints, but I think those would go away if I ran on a consistant basis. Long story short, it took me about 32 mins to go 5 kilometres, and the tops of my feet ache.

Halifax over the weekend was excellent! Beauty and the Beast was a fantastic show and the cast was brilliant. Would have prefered to see it in NYC, but I guess that childhood dream will die a terrible death =( Tear! I got to see some ex-Disney Castmembers and it was soooo great! It's such a feeling of relief being around people who understand. People who know what's it's like to sit in your own home, in your hometown, and feel so incredibly homesick that you want to rip out your own kidney. Sigh. But it brought back the experience a bit too much, it made me ache to go back for another contract. But then I think about speiling the bread until my jaw was ready to crack and land on the floor. Then not so much.

But THEN I think about PI, HOB, Chillers, Blue Martini, Jellyrolls, sleeping at the Poly, BW, AKL, etc., and I would rip off my left leg (or maybe the right one since my right foot is more sore than the left one) and eat it in exchange for another contract.

In Halifax I got to go to a "real" club which was fantastic. Halifax has a new bar/club/something that opened up, the Coconut Grove and I wanted to go soooo badly. I mean, there was a sign out front promoting two martinis AND a cheeseplate for $10.00. Such a fantastic deal! It had open, outdoor seating on the second floor (technically the roof of the neighbouring building) and was playing great music that reminded me of the boat cruise we went on in San Juan. Alas, it was not meant to be. Maybe next time.

And there is nothing like travelling with non-night people to confirm that one is indeed a creature of the night and "a trooper" in the nightlife scene. ;) (Donde esta mi amigos de Floride cuando los necesito?) Anyway, to sum it up, coming home on Sunday was quite saddening. I'm old by PEI standards and am supposed to be popping out babies or something. Instead I spend most of my time thinking about events that happened at some point in the past three years and wondering how long I'll last on PEI before I start to get a twitch to explore something new. Me thinks it won't be that long...

This is my first complete weekend off since... Well, ever since I started working at the Delta. End of March, I guess. Since then, until I finished at the Delta one week ago today, I think I had two days off... and both of those were in early April, ha ha! So now I feel so free. Yesterday Janielle and I layed on the deck on my parents' house for the afternoon. I was outside pretty much from 12:00 until 7:00. The drastic sunburn on my chest and the 4-square-inch patch on my left thigh show that sunburn is not to be over rated. I put sunscreen on my face, shoulders, and forearms (seemed to make sense since I was cutting the grass in a tank top and kind of forgot about the rest of me. This is actually the worst sunburn I have ever had. Weird, since I recall spending alllll day outside at the beach in the Bahamas and leaving with my nose having a faint red tint, and that was it. However, one could argue that I have been indoors for most of winter, so my skin's, umm, "natural shield" has regressed and no longer stands up to the strength of the sun as it did in Florida.

But to make me feel better, Jannie is about 3x worst than me =P

Today I cut grass, cleaned my car, and vacuumed our stairs. The stair thing doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was because blue lint from someones blanket was pretty much pasted to the carpet. So the next lovely lady of 223 who drags her blue blanket up the stairs will be forced to pick each individual piece of lint off the carpet and eat it. WITHOUT ketchup. Whoa.

It's Father's Day today. Happy Father's Day, Papa~! I guess you're in Calgary, although you and mum never called to say you safetly made it. If *I* hadn't have called I would be disowned from the family.

My hand hurts no more typing.

PS ~ our pirate party was fabulous. Any party that involves costumes is always grand.

Today was a good day. It was *almost* a day off as I worked for only four hours!!! I meant to set my alarm for 9:00 this morning but forgot to actually turn it in - oops. I woke up at 8:45 and rolled back over expecting my alarm to blare shortly. It didn't. And suddenly it was 10:15 and I woke up, gasp, actually refreshed! I had planned to do great things today, but didn't get them all done. My quests to clean both my bedroom and the bathroom were left un-fulfilled, but I did buy groceries. Working at the Delta has quite changed my shopping habits all round, food and otherwise. Keeping ridiculously busy prevents one from spending, well, almost any money. Keeping busy at the Delta means free food, especially when one works in the diningroom and/or kitchen.

Early this afternoon I walked through the new food court at the Confederation Court Mall. It's nicer than it was before... but it still looks kind of ugly. But obviously they couldn't tear down the ugly brick walls - the ceilings probably would have fell in or something. I didn't get anything, but I'm sure it's a nice alternative to those that purchase their lunches and work downtown. It's kind of interesting to think why Chef Gordon Bailey accepted the challenge or re-doing the food court after receiving rave reviews for his work out at high-class Dayboat. Quite a change going from $30 pieces of salmon to $6.00 sandwiches. Nothing wrong with his choice, just a bit curious to why he made it.

I did something I am actually quite proud of tonight: I made salad dressing! A "citrus vinaigrette" to be more precise. I took the receipe from Bahama Breeze's website. I was inspired by my bundle of romaine lettuce purchased last week that, somehow, was still good tonight. I ripped off a couple of odd looking, half-eatened leaves but the rest was fine. I recalled one of the best salads I ever had: Grilled salmon tostada salad from Bahama Breeze. It was, shock, grilled salmon on a salad (that had warm corn on it, mmm,) that was served on top of two small tortilla shells that had been baked with a sprinkle of cheese. I always got the dressing on the side (some chefs put a disgusting amount of dressing on salads) and it was also served with salsa and chimichurri sauce on the side. It was sooo good. Long story short, tonight I made the citrus vinaigrette they use. It's not the exact same as the recipe on the website as I forgot to buy one item (creole seasoning, which I don't even know if they would sell at Sobey's as it's a blend of other seasonings so I just made my own) and couldn't find one. I also put the ingrediants to make Apple Mango Salsa which sounds good. Unfortunately the OJ I bought tastes like McDonald's "orange drink". The stuff that was served at every single elementary school function at West Kent. It is orange juice, but it's reduced sugar and is partially sweetened with splenda instead. I used to drink reduced-calorie OJ in Florida and something similar in Edinburgh, but those both tasted the same as regular OJ. This stuff does not and will be used for recipes only. And possibly the odd splash or two in an unique martini.

(Completely unrelated: but it's really hard to say "an unique". "A unique" sounds better, but clearly breaks the rule for putting "an" before words that starts with vowels or 'h'. Can anyone help me out here or am I just a moron?)

Although not super hungry due to eating at work this evening (such a cost saver) I had to chop up some lettuce and try my first attempt at salad dressing. Munch munch... Success!! It was quite good and has a strong tangy and slightly spicey after taste.

I left my car downtown overnight on Tuesday and was smart enough to park in a two-hour parking spot. No ticket! I let my bike downtown last night and it was still there today so I was excited. No stolen bike! Life is good.

Our schedules at the Delta run from Thursday to Wednesday. I told them almost two weeks ago that I would not longer be able to work days during the weekdays and could work only two shifts a week. The schedule it would first apply to was the schedule starting today. I was originally scheduled for three shifts (almost two... close enough for the time being) but when I arrived today I looked at the schedule again and I had magically gained two shifts. I told my supervisor I would be unable to work them, which was fine with her. So that was good. I felt a bit guilty about being unable to pick them up, (and if I really wanted to I probably could have,) but I did have prior commitments and think I deserve a free evening every now and then.

Hannah just complimented me on my salad dressing. She has good taste.

I had only two tables this evening and still managed to make about $55.00 (I was especially charming and humourous this evening). If that had been breakfast, I would have made about $3.00 having only two tables. Plus I didn't have to wake up at 5:40 this morning. Probably the best reason in the entire world to work evenings rather than brekkie.

I'm still so proud of my salad dressing. Perhaps I just had a lack of things to be proud of lately? ;) Definitely true in the culinary world. I think the last thing I made that I adored was a scallop stir-fry in a mango sauce I bought from the grocery store. Considering how infrequently I have cooked in the past couple of weeks, that scallop thing was ages ago.

Today I learned that there is a big beer festival in Montreal next weekend. Guess I'm a bit late to make plans to attend. However, Toronto has a beer festival the second weekend in August. Basically I'm looking for a reason to go somewhere. Last year on the Thursday night before Memorial Day weekend I was packing to leave for Puerto Rico the following morning. The year prior I was in... either France or Belgium. The year before that we were settling into Edinburgh and exploring the city.

This year I am spending Memorial Day weekend (somewhat irrelevant since we are not in the States) working at the Delta. Hmm. Oh! And starting my new job on Monday :) :) :) :) :)

Today I went through a bun... Ooh! I just looked up a flight on Air Canada and am quite impressed with its new "Preview Seat Availability" feature! But yes, today I went through a bunch of old files on my laptop, deleting the unnecessary ones. I found some old blogs I had written in Florida when I wasn't connected to the Internet. I was so excited about being in Florida, so happy to be there. I am not going to say that I wish I was still there... But I still miss it lots. However, I like, say, not eating out 400+ times per week, not sharing my room, not waking up and walking into the livingroom to discover half-clothed Italians passed out on the floor, not having security follow you around as you go to parties, etc. I do miss the weather, the people, the nice tables at Le Cellier, meeting people from all over the world, having world-class attractions at my finger tips, the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon, going for one-dollar pints at Planet Hollywood after a busy night at work, staying at amazing hotels for a fraction of the cost, getting cheap flights, living in flipflops, having the outlet mall across the street, watching fireworks, etc. I don't really miss the job so much... I liked Le Cellier better than I like the Selkirk, but that's pretty much a given. But there are things at the Selkirk that I like faaaar better than Le Cellier! Examples: space, space, space, space, space, being able to eat at work without the risk of being deported, being able to drink the juice, being home mere minutes after my shift ends rather than waiting for the C bus, the people tend to be a bit more mature (duh, the are mostly older), the kitchen staff isn't nearly as stressed and don't make you feel like an idiot if you make a mistake, no DDP (hee hee.... although than no 18% auto grat, hmm,), no free ice tea or soda refills, no 6-minute, bus-reset rule, no one-minute greeting rule, no five-minute drink rule, etc.

Well, off to bed I go. Hard to believe just fourteen mere hours ago I was pulling myself out of bed this morning and now I get to go sleep again! Wow, exciting! I'm like me-and-Shan-in-Spanish-cady-store excited ;) (Excuse the grammar.)

La fin.

I love the sun. It's been nice here all week and I love it to bits and pieces. I feel like I've been waiting forever for the return of my beloved sunshine. It wasn't a terrible winter, weather wise, but it just wasn't my winter. Other than my great living situation, it was a bit rough factoring in the adios-Florida thing and the vanishing job act. Now the sun is out and I want to hug it I'm so happy. Unfortunately it's kind of dispearing for the weekend and we're dropping back down to single digits, but it'll be back, and I won't have to wait six months this time.

Today I put in my two-weeks notice at JA, which makes me kind of sad =( It was a fun place to work and the people are fantastic and work so hard to deliver programs to Island students. However, the job was only part-time, and, drumroll, I had accepted a full-time position!!! I'm quite surprised by me. I'm still a little nervous about commiting to time on PEI as I was thinking about hopping off after the summer, but it looks like I'll be around for awhile. I think. Hmm. I won't write anything about my future at the Delta as I haven't discussed it with them yet. Things are so much better now than when I first started. I think my first weeks I literally shed tears at night before my 6:30am shifts because I wanted so badly not to go to work there. I wanted my Le Cellier and would have chopped off my left arm to have it back. Although then I thought about doing the bread speil at least 10 times a night and I was oddly relieved at not being there =P Anyway, I'm quite excited about my new job. It'll be on campus, which is the second of my preferred PEI work locations, with the first being downtown.

Complete change of topic, but today I drove to work and felt guilty. I drove to JA this morning because I wanted to go to the gym after work. I went to the gym, followed by the bank and then went home. At about 4:00 I drove to the Delta to work my first evening shift (which went, in my own opinion, quite well although it was slow). In my own defense, by the time I finish at the Delta the sun is gone and I would rather not risk walking/biking home as sometimes the dinner server doesn't finish until midnight. But yes, I do think more people in Ch'town should be walking or driving to work. Or at least use the bus! The winter is a bit different, but with this nice weather now I should not be the only person biking to work. Seriously, I see very few bikes downtown. It takes me seven minutes or so to bike to the Delta. Mind you it's mostly downhill so it takes me longer to get home, but still. I know there are arguments and exceptions that makes it somewhat justifiable to drive (me today) but I think overall cars are overused.

Well, time for bed.

My alarm is going to go off soon. However, I have been up for quite awhile because the crack-head neighbours have taken to early mornings, rather than the previous late-night habits of the winter. So the past few mornings I have been awoken far earlier than I had planned. It's really not a good thing. The main problem is this old truck they have. The keep slamming the bloody doors and starting the engine, which sounds something like a dinosour purring, if dinosours had such talents back in the day. Point is, a very loud, deep growling noise. Oh, my nerves. Then the truck gets turned off, the doors are slammed some more, and heavy-sounding boxes are tossed into the back, then we start the engine encore!! What a fantastic morning!!! YAY!!! I like sleeping with my window open, so cleary that may have to end. At my parents' home I never slept with my window open because I was convinced a robber would crawl through my window. My window in Ottawa didn't open, I don't think, as I had a basement bedroom. My window in Scotland did open, but Scottish windows don't have screens so I tried not to leave it open *too* much. Ha ha, in Florida we weren't allowed to leaves our windows open. Seriously. Probably because of the random, almost-daily rainstorms that occure during certain parts of the year. Those Price Management security guards were a funny breed. "Sir, I have had stuff stolen from my apartment!" "We won't help you because we walked by your building yesterday and your window was open, although you were home. Bad. bad BAAAAD!"

Anyway.

Yay, Monday~!

I know people tend to dislike Mondays, but today was FABULOUS. Possibly one of the best non-holiday Mondays I have had since Girls in Florida.

It started off normal enough: my alarm went off, I looked around my room in a confused daze and tried to figure out what city I was in. (Still Charlottetown? Check.) I eventually stumble out of bed to remember something VERY important about today: the weather forecast!!! I had brekkie, ate some cookies and got to BIKE to work without getting numb hands. Then I had a good day at work, and came home and sat on the patio and studied for my French test. Ahh, brilliance. THEN, we watched the last four eps of the second season of The Office. I went to the gym later on to discover I'm still a miserable, out-of-shape slob, but actually had a pretty decent run on the threadmill. I remember about a year ago when I started running how I basically ran at 6.0 mph and built up to, like, 6.3. Now I generally run at 6.7 and try to do spurts at 7.2 or so. I know those are dismal numbers for some people, but they're pretty good for me! However, my endurance is rather shite and I think it's because I get impatient and a bit bored sometimes so I don't push myself as hard as I should.

Summer is so close I can practically TASTE it. I am so excited. SO so sooooo excited. It's ridiculous how much better the summer is than the winter. It doesn't even COMPARE. Today I didn't wear pantyhose under my skirt. I wore SANDALS on Friday and Saturday. Despite that I love my winter coats, I am thrilled not to wear them again for six months. If I'm ever in a sour mood this summer, just remind me about how much I wanted the summer. I shall be a whole new person! I know we still have some chilly days ahead of us, but we are soooo close that I can almost envision the tan on my pale legs. I do have one small summer fear though: what if we don't have a good summer?? When I was home for a few days last summer it was pretty damn cold. If we have a cold summer I *will* cry. If we have an excessively rainy summer, I will go on strike and start a position to have our wee Island towed to the equator. Hopefully we can avoid hurricaine season, but that is a risk we may have to take.

Oh, and ps, I have been in Canada for over six months now. (Save the week I left for holiday.) That boggles my mind... It's been six-and-a-half months since I finished at Disney at I still think about it ALL the time. Cling to it, if you will. I still can't believe that I'll never get to experience that again =( That job was pretty much my dream job, after I got past my dream of working at McDonalds when I was five. Seriously, I thought that would had been the most glamourous job in the world. That and being Dolly Parton and singing "Me and Little Andie" on stage and prancing in HIGH HEALS. Wow.

And to bed we go.

• I is getting a bit distracted at work 1 today.
• Last night I wanted to go to House of Blues but I couldn’t because I wasn’t in Florida. Unlike my parents. They are in Florida, but not at hob. I don’t think it’s really their thing.
• I had to be at work 2 at 6:30am on Fri, Sat and Sun. WoW. Definitely not a morning person. I would sort of stand there confused with glazed-over eyes until someone would say something like, “Jennifer, could you get the juice bins ready?” and then I would proceed to slowly get the juice bins ready. I’m fine though once guests start arriving, especially if it’s busy. The running server bit wakes one up rather quickly.
• I’m so happy it’s April. March is associated with blowing snow, cold weather, and, well, winter. April is associated with spring and life returning to the Planet. (No, I do *not* over exaggerate.) Spring may *appear* to begin on March 21st, but it’s just a false start as evidenced by our random stormy weather last Thursday.
• If anyone is looking for a location to host/participate in a mud-wrestling match, our front yard should do the trick.
• I’m so excited that it’s 11:40 already. I think I prefer arriving at work closer to 9:00am rather than 8:00am. I’m just a little more… alert.
• I’m kind of an idiot and have terrible English. There are words for which I know the meaning, sort of, but cannot pronounce. I sound them out, but I usually sound them out with a foreign accent or something. I say them how a Spaniard would say them or something. Or more a Briton, since I am one deep on the inside. Somehow. I just *have* to be. Whoever decided the ‘a’ in hastening is pronounced as a long ‘a’ is a jerk. Hast (rhymes with cast) – en – ing. English is so far =( Conjure. The stress *should* be on the second syllable to give the word more strength as a verb thus making it more forceful.

We got practically a foot of snow last night. Uggggggggggh. I'm done with putting up with winter. Between starting shifts at a job for which I am not properly at bloody 6:30 in the morning, and the impending doom of the never-ending winter, I somewhat feel like crawling in a hole. Not a deep one though, as I would like to be out in about a week or so and for the summer. I think this has ben my worst winter ever. Not that it's been incredibly awful, but, meeeeh.

The Selkirk at the Delta holds about the same number of people as Le Cellier, but the dining is probably about three times the size. I need work shoes - I feel like I walk foreeeeever to get to the kitchen.

Blaaaah.