One year later in TBS spirit ...

It's been a year, to the day since my last work day at The Body Shop. :(

A year ago, I packed up my things and left my little store behind. I had no idea what the world had in store for me and I was terrified.

In the past year, I have found out what it's like to be unemployed, I was reminded what it's like to be on the interviewee's side of the interview and I have learned a lot about myself.

I also realized how lucky I was do be able to do a job that I love for 3 years. I realized how much I grew and how important my career is to me. Even as I worked for TBS, my job was my job and that was that. Since I've left, I learned how much more it was to me.

As I sit here, many many kilometers away from home... I wonder where I'm headed career wise. How much longer my current job will hold me down.

PS: Hi, Whit! :)

Poor Salty!!

This makes me cry.
There is something horribly wrong with me.

Grand Finale - Fight or flight!

Everyone has that favorite TV show that got canceled. (Thanks, Reality TV!) Humor me, for a second and think about the series finale - did you cry like a little girl or did you feel frustrated and like TV cheated you like the cheap whore that she is?

It got me thinking about the Lost series finale and I have to admit, I'm terrified.

Half of me wants answers because I'm curious, intrigued and mystified. My brain will explode if questions remain unanswered for all eternity.
The other half doesn't want to know and would rather keep loving this show's brilliance for all the same reasons.

I'm curious to know how it all turns out.
I'm intrigued to know what everything means.
I'm mystified because it's all very very good.

I don't want it to end. It has to, I know. Whether they answer the questions and I get the closure or all the mysteries sit comfortably in the "pending" file for all eternity.

I CANNOT for the life of me try to guess what my feelings will be like when Lost ends. *gasp*

Will I be sad because it's over, like The Fresh Prince of Belair?
Will I be frustrated because the ending sucked bag, like Seinfeild?
Will I blame reality TV for, yet another, awesome show taken off the air, like Arrested Development? (PS: I know reality TV doesn't have anything to do with Lost ... it's just fun to blame someone!)
Will I cry all the tears in my heart, like Friends?

I hope I'm not disapointed because I'd love to keep watching this show forever and ever. Reruns galore!!

Lost in 5 days

It does take a lot less than 5 days to get lost if you try to comprehend this show, but it's very very very much worth it. It takes more like 5 seconds.

In 5 days, it will be the begining of the end for Lost fans and I don't really know how I feel about it. I want to KNOW but I don't.

Not knowing what the heck is going on is what makes this show so captivating. If they answer all the questions, it won't be anything more than what people thought it was in the begining : plane crash survivors on an island. *bore* What makes it so exciting is that it's so messed up - I don't want the thrills to go away.

On the other hand, I want some friggen answers! I've been watching this show for 3 years now (I caught up on seasons 1-2 over weekends thanks to Nick!) and I've been totally wrong about every single prediction I've made. I want to know what is up with that puff of smoke they call the Monster and I want to know what lies in the shadow of the statue. Is that too much to ask?

I'm so torn.

In 5 days I will lose my soul to endless theories about alternate time lines and trying to figure out what the heck crawled up Ben Linus' culottes. I thought I may as well warn as many people as I know, just in case I go missing. If that does happen, I'll be in the basement probably hanging a pendulum from the ceiling, chalking lines on the floor and trying to "find the island". Don't mind me, I'm lost.

Update - Still very much snowed-in

Yep, that's right. It's 10:40pm and we're still snowed-in, it's still snowing and the wind is still crazy. I've never seen a storm last this long. Mother Nature is very determined.

Though I must say how happy I am to be living on Base right now.

Some of our friends who live a couple houses down the street from us braved the cold wind and snow to come have dinner with us. (Delicious honey mustard cranberry pork!)

After dinner, we move over to the living room and our friend says "Hey! Someone plowed your driveway!!" What!? He was right, someone had come and plowed or shovelled our driveway while we were having dinner. The wall of drifting snow was about 6 feet high last time I checked. We couldn't see any tracks coming towards the house or anything like that so we were really wondering who could have done this. We started calling friends to ask around and thank whoever it was! Our friend Gary said he'd seen our neighbor shovelling our driveway earlier. We were shocked. He's a nice man but we don't really know him. We were expecting that a friend of ours, having seen the photos on Facebook had decided to surprise us.

Js ran over to bring him some of the desert we'd made for our guests to thank him - we had some left over as I apparently like to cook enough to feed a small country. He said he got bored sitting at home and saw how much snow Js had shovelled during the day and decided to lend us a hand. Got bored?! How nice is that!!

I feel a lot better now about ever being stuck out here by myself in the winter. As long as he doesn't move away!!

Snowed-in Sunday

Today, I'm experiencing my very first real snowed-in day of winter in the Prairies. Quite the excitement.

The picture right bellow is our drive way and front yard area nearly an hour after Js had cleared the way. More on that bellow.




Basically, we cannot go anywhere. We couldn't even back the car out of the parking space if we tried. The snow drift that has accumulated in our driveway is almost as high as the car itself. Roads and highways are closed. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like in Ottawa with this kind of weather!!

It's been snowing with insane winds since we woke up this morning and it hasn't even calmed down. It's now 3pm and I'm wondering how I'll manage to walk to work tomorrow.

I amused myself by taking pictures of Js as he attempts to clear our driveway so we may leave the house tomorrow. The minute he turns around, wind blows the snow right back in our yard and he has to start over again. It's a community effort as the roads are still un-plow-able and we have to shovel our way to our next door neighbor's to help him out.

Wedding Planning Status Update : Photog booked! Hurray!

Title is self explanatory but doesn't even begin to show my excitement. :) We're really happy with our choice. He's one of those photographers we emailed, thinking he'd most definitely be booked already but figured it was worth a shot. Was it ever!

Of course we haven't met him in person but the days spent creeping on discussion forums were well worth the research. Only good things about him and the more samples of his work we see, the happier we are with our final choice.

So here it is, we have booked, confirmed the date, signed on a dotted line, sent a deposit for Garrett Elliott photography to be a part of our special and immortalize our memories and make special moments last forever!

Here are another couple photographers we considered for our big day :

Andrew Geddes - He photographed our friends Maggie and Marc's wedding in May 2008 and it was wonderful!

Genevieve Albert

Eva Hadhazy

Olympic Torch visits PMQ patch in the middle of nowhere

Last Sunday, we saw the Olympic Torch relay pass by our little teeny home on our little teeny street! It was quite the event and everyone excitedly lined up our street to await the parade.

We had some friends over for brunch and then we all rushed outside at 11am to watch it go by. Even Nova and Jack were there - Nova was with us by the street and Jack watched from his neighborhood-watch window.






























It was great to have such a huge event swing by our community. The Coca-Cola truck even gave a shout out to CF members to thank them for what they do for our country as they drove past.

So my post is a bit late, but in my defense... I've got nothing!

Weekends Alone

The weekend's come and gone and I didn't even notice it.

Well, that's a lie. I did notice it. I slept in until 10am and didn't hear a familiar phone ringing in my ear from 8 to 4. Surprisingly enough, this weekend was total bliss. I didn't have to do anything, I just did things as I wanted to and it was wonderful. It's been so long since I've had that luxury, I miss it. I baked. I did some laundry. I vacuumed. I watched mid-day movies on W.

Why the sudden change of weekend plans, you ask? Yes, you guessed it, Js was working!! :)

When his schedule changed and he told me he was going to have to work weekends now, I thought it sucked giant amounts of sucking. Well this past weekend has proven me wrong. It was so wonderful to have the house to myself - I actually ended up doing more housework and productive stuff than when he's home with me.

With his schedule and mine, we're almost always home at the same time. I'm not complaining because I know how much it sucks to be apart for months and months. On the other hand, always having them around is a complete 180 on what I've come to define as "normal" over the last couple of years.

In about a month, we will have lived together for a complete year. Oh my!

As long as he works weekends, I know I'll have 2 days a week to regain my sanity. I'm looking forward to this change of pace, at least for a short while.

Now if it could just be Friday again... ... ...

Haiti Relief - Canadian Organisations Taking Donations

UNICEF is taking donations for the earthquake in Haiti.

Doctors Without Borders; also Médecins Sans Frontières Canada is setting up clinics to replace damaged medical facilities in Haiti. The group is also working to bring more teams into the country.

World Vision is preparing to distribute emergency supplies to those affected by the earthquake. World Vision has been working in Haiti for over 30 years, helping an estimated 300,000 Haitians each year to overcome poverty through providing access to education, clean water and nutrition, as well as helping families with medical care.

Oxfam is taking donations for the Humanitarian Coalition Appeal For Haiti.

Partners in Health International Canada : The Canadian government is matching gifts from individuals to HPIC for Haiti emergency relief dollar for dollar. HPIC and our partners are on the ground in Haiti. Canadian healthcare professionals on medical missions are already active with several more teams leaving in the next few days and weeks. HPIC is also working with NGO partners to ensure the provision of vital medicines through their health centres and clinics as the scope of the disaster unfolds. Please help us provide desperately needed medical aid to the victims of this disaster.

Yes, I love a good challenge! - A six-word memoir

Thanks to Danielle, I have discovered something new today and I think it's fab. The six-word-memoir.

"It's said that Ernest Hemingway made the concept famous when he won a contest
at a bar in which participants had to write a story in six words. Hemingway
wrote, "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."

The first question I asked myself when I read her post is : Wow, how long does it take to figure that out? How can you sum up your life, dreams and ambitions with only six words?

I was shocked by the next six words that popped into my head.
There it was, my six-word-memoir : Yes, I love a good challenge!

What's yours?

Post this to your status if you you're annoyed! *vom*

It all started with the Bra Colors for Breast Cancer thing. It made the news, hurray! Now, it's this and that and the other thing and it's getting kinda old.

I'm all for raising cancer awareness but I don't see what a Facebook Status update can do. Raising awareness takes more than 140 caracters, just sayin'!

Here is my reasoning behind the annoyance :

"It gets the word out!"
- Raise your hand if you've never heard of cancer. That's what I thought - moving right along.

"It raises awareness!"
- Gee, now that I know that 93% of people won't re-post thing, I think I'll stop smoking! Raising awareness isn't about telling people "cancer exists" it's about providing people information to help prevent or diagnose cancer before it's too late. A friendly reminder to get a mamogram would be much more helpful, thanks.

"It's cute!"
- No.

"I do it to support someone I know!"
- How about you give them a call and tell them you love them? You know, like, in person almost.

My uncle has cancer - but he doesn't have Facebook, oh well, so sad for him! I think not. His family and friends support him every way they know how, he doesn't need 140 caracters to remind him.

Put down the torches and pitchforks, I am not a monster. I understand some people might not have such an openly supportive entourage and the Facebook status thing might help them feel better and the initiative behind the whole thing is great. My point is that it's starting to get to the point where no one reads those status updates anymore because they're all the same and we're getting saturated out the news-feed. For something to have an impact, it needs to be unique, original and attractive. The bra thing was. It's been done, it worked well, now it's over and time to be put to bed.

I don't mean for this to be insulting in any way, shape or form. I'm not judging or saying one cause is more worthy than the next. I just think that in today's society, it's easy to over-do things until they loose their purpose and impact on the masses.

In support of my Gran-Pa, Uncle, Friends, Aunt-In-Law and all those who are currently dueling for their lives, please visit the Canadian Cancer Society website and discover a new way or revisit an old way to raise awareness.

Dear Wedding

Dear Wedding,

I'd like to start by saying how happy I am that you're happening. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to celebrate our love and our relationship with family and friends.

I only have one request. Would please be so kind as to not happen too quickly? I'd hate for you to pass me by in the blink of an eye! You seem so wonderful and I really want to make the most of your presence. I'd love it if we could have you stay forever and a day but I'm afraid that can't be.

I promise to be prepared for your arrival as best I can and to enjoy every moment (even if it drives me insane) of your time with us. I really wish you'd come more than once in a lifetime but that's just not the way things go.

Please be gentle, it's our first time.

Warm regards,

Marie

Blah - Revisited

I'm taking the expression "I feel blah!" to a whole new level.

Not only am I feeling blah but I have a blah attitude towards pretty much everything at this time. Nothing is really going on to make me feel or act that way. It just is. That's what we do in my family, we sit there and don't feel the need to say or do anything until we know exactly what to do or say. As much as my Uncle tried to warn Js about what he was marrying into... Until it happens, it's hard to understand.

What does "feeling blah" mean? It's just like it sounds... blah. The best way to describe it is "beige". Everything is beige. Nothing's really exciting, nothing's really depressing. Beige. Like I'm holding an umbrella over my head and I'm just looking at the rain fall over the edge. Blah.

Blah-tude.
Nothing seems worth the invested energy or time. Content just doing what I have to do, when I have to do it, I watch as the day crawls away on me and it's time for bed. Everything I do, I do with blah-ness in multiple shades of beige. Hilarious things get a chuckle and sad things get a :( face. Not much more to it.

Kind of like when Forrest Gump runs accross the country a couple times. He's not quite sure why or where he's going, he's just running. My shoes are beige. Blah.

It's a phase and this too, shall pass.

Reasons why I hate Reality TV - #1 to 6

I don't like reality TV. I know it's a pretty bold statement but it's true. Sometimes I'll get carried away in an episode of "Take this house and sell it" or some kind of home reno show like or I'll just forget to change the channel and my ears will start bleeding 15 minutes into "Say yes to the dress".

What happened to sitcoms? I miss the good old days when TV was actually scripted and characters were just that ; characters.

Reason why I hate Reality TV #1 - Reality TV killed Kramer.
When TV was real TV, characters like Kramer pulled so much weight. The absurd and the deranged weren't voted off, they were what made the show. You learned to love them for what they were instead of them being disposable sidekicks. It's so easy, in today's society to just get rid of what's annoying, we forget how to accept differences. TV is no exception. You don't fit the mold, viewers don't like you - the tribe has spoken...

Reason why I hate Reality TV #2 - There will never be another Elaine dance...
Participants are around for one season or less. They are given the boot to make room for the sluttier ones that will audition next year. Congratulations, you won! Here's you're 5 minutes of fame, your prize and your sex tape now please make way for the next guy!
Back in my day *age*, sitcoms lasted for years and years. We got to know the characters, their style, their quirks. For 10 years, 10 YEARS, we watched a group of 6 friends do random every day things. It wasn't boring - it was awesome because it had been playing for 10 YEARS! The Rachel became a haircut, the Elaine - a dance. These TV personalities had something good going that reality TV will never have - longevity.

Reason why I hate Reality TV #3 - Roles... played by actors.
Ellen played a lesbian bookstore owner. Jennifer Aniston played a selfish brat. Drew Carey had thick glasses. Sure, there were some resemblances to real life, but at least these actors and comedians played characters, not themselves. TV was a lot less self-centered characters could develop a lot more. I don't know about you, but I enjoy variety in the story lines of each episode. I enjoyed seeing David Schwimmer (so dreamy!) play Ross Gellar AND that arse-dude in Band of Brothers. It showed variety and I could say "I like that actor!" instead of "I hope she doesn't get sent home!" Reality TV has no depth, no theatrical side to it - they make so many efforts to bring real life to the TV... when we could all just walk around with mirrors if that's what we really wanted to see.

Reason why I hate Reality TV #4 - Joe and his mom's dog are famous.
EVERYONE has a shot a fame. That's not fame, it's popularity. Go back to high school, dress better, be nicer and date a jock - get it out of your system and leave my TV alone.

Reason why I hate Reality TV #5 - *flick-flick-flick*
All the good shows get canceled.
Enough said.

Reason why I hate Reality TV #6 - Everything is the same.
I'd rather watch reruns of Friends, Seinfeld, Will and Grace, Arrested Development over and over and over again than watching season after season of The Bachelor. Why? Because there's more variety. Boy is loaded. Boy meets 54 girls. Girls fall in love with boy. Boy picks girl. 53 girls are crushed. Someone gives someone a rose. The end. When you've seen one season, you've seen them all. Then they try to toss some twists and turns in there to no avail. Chandler and Monica in London, that's a twist.

I could go on for days, but right now, I'm going to watch a 13 year old episode of Seinfeld and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it. Bad clothes and all.

Pop for dummies... by one!

My friend Nick decided to start a blog and I have to say, I think it's a brilliant idea! He's a hoot and pretty passionate about his thoughts, ideas and opinions - makes for some interestin' readin'!



Part geek, part pop culture addict and gay to the very core, Nick explores and picks apart all things entertainment.

I have very high hopes for Pop Goes The World and wish him, as a fellow blogger and good friend, all the best in his blogging endeavors.

Couple Year Old Doggie Bag

So I'm in the kitchen, doing the dishes after dinner and Js is in the basement getting his hockey gear ready. Jack's somewhere upstairs snoozing and Nova is in the living room, pawing at a toy that rolled under our little love seat... or so we think.

Js comes back up the stairs and walks into the kitchen.
- Honey, where did you get that dog treat from?
- *blank stare*
- That treat that Nova's eating... where'd you get it from? I don't remember buying that.
- *blank stare* Whu...?

As he realizes that I didn't give Nova any treats, both our brains go "What's she eating now!?" and we rush to the living room.

Much to my surprise, Js fishes out of her mouth, a little stick of raw hide, the kind for smaller dogs. I have never bought that. Ever. Neither has he.

I mention the love-seat-clawing session from earlier so he goes and lifts it up. There it is, a brand new, fresh rip right under the seat. Perfect hiding spot for dog treats. It's nicely hidden so at least there is no damage done but it's quite funny.

Now, to figure out where/when the thing came from!!

Here's a brief review of this love seat's life to help shed some light.

???? to 2003 - My Aunt bought this love seat brand new. During that time, she had a cute little dog called Misty.
2003 - 2004 - Maggie and I lived on Carmen Ave in Ottawa. No dog.
2004 - 2005 - Maggie and I lived (again) on Donald St in Ottawa. Surelock lived with us for a couple weeks and he was very very little - I don't think he would have hidden a raw hide out of pure clumsy puppy-ness.
2005 - 2006 - Lived with Marianne in Orleans. Marianne's dog, Lola, was a large breed and I don't think Marianne ever gave her much raw hide. Mocha, Marianne's mom's dog was a small beagle/pig - she wouldn't have skipped out on a treat. Yeah, it was a ZOO!
2006-2009 - Jack and I were joined later by Js in our appartment on Mona Ave in Ottawa. No dog. Jf may have brought over little Romeo for a visit - still no chances of raw hide.
2009 - present - Nova arrived in our lives and we know we never bought her that kind of raw hide. WAY too teeny for her, it lasted about 10 seconds.

Anyone mentioned above is more than encouraged to speak up if you ever intended to play a joke on us to see how long it would take for our future dog to eventually find the treat. It was brilliant! :) Good thing Nova's more of a clawer than a chewer! :)

Oh, to be a dog.

Book Commentary : Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood

I was pleasantly surprised by this different Atwood style. This novella tells the tale of Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and her side of the Odyssey events.

What captured my attention and kept me flipping the pages as fast as my reading eyes would allow, were interludes by the twelve maid chorus. Twelve maids that were believed to have been disloyal (wrong!) and were hanged by no other than Odysseus himself. They tell us their version of the story from beyond the western horizon. The mental image of their feet twitching is scarring.

Just the right amount of humor, wit and eerie feeling, à la Atwood, of course.

I give it :
4/5 on the scale of Awesome and ;
5/5 on the scale of Something-Different-Worth-A-Shot

Roses vs Peonies... vs Lilies... vs Anemones...

I have commitment issues. *shock* (...and use sarcasm as a defense mechanism -but that's a whole other post!)

A couple years ago, when I was young and stupid (now I'm just stupid!) I could not commit to a pair of pants in the morning. I blamed it on youth, being a huge flake and my life being a whirlwind of craziness. How could I commit to something (or someone!) when I didn't even have my head on straight yet?! Perfect sense, yes?

Well... now that I'm old, I'm running out of excuses. The older you get, the more you have to commit to things and the less excuses you have not to. (Plus, you get all wise and shit and your sentences don't need to make sense anymore!)

So here I sit, trying to make decisions for the wedding and I'm having a grand ole time dealing with it.

I don't have a problem committing to spending the rest of my life with Js, an Air Force lifer but picking flowers for the bridal bouquet is a completely different story. Whoa... I'm a nut job.

We are currently looking for our Photographer. I know it's a bit late in the process and we probably should have booked it way before now. But now we have the money to put down a deposit so now it has to be.

Wedding planning progress : Most of the big things done and booked - now for the nitty-gritty shite.

Fresh start... oh my!

In an attempt to keep my blog up to date and organize my ideas, sometimes I just save a draft entry with a quick description or a topic I'd like to blog about for a rainy day.

I'm in the process of going back a couple months and revisiting all those random posts-that-could-have-been that never made it to the screen.

Hold on to your hats, a storm is a'brewing!

New Year - Same thoughts

2009 is gone. 2010 is here. A lot has changed over the last year but these past 3 days aren't all that spectacularly different from the last week. I get the whole "new beginnings" thing but I can't really say that I get all hyped up about it and expect things to change over night.

I've never really been one for saying "2009 is finally over, I can put the past behind me now and move forward." Before someone else brings it up, I'll say that I have never really been able to put the past behind me within 24hrs - so that's a no-g0. Call me Debbie-Downer but it's just a date. "October is over now, I can finally move on!!" doesn't have nearly as much wow-factor but is just as logical.

I'm all for change and evolution so the new year is as good a time as any to think about what you want 2010 to be.

I'm hoping to focus more on "today" instead of living for tomorrow (thanks, CF!) as I did before. I'm also looking to develop some ideas and bring to life some projects that have been marinating in my head for quite some time. Hopefully, I'll be able to feel healthier too, physically and mentally. I'm also going to work really hard at staying motivated and feeling passionate again in work, love and life.

This isn't much of a resolutions list - more of a list of hopes for the next 52 weeks. I have no way to measure my efforts but to blog them on here - prepare yourselves. :)