Excitingness

I got a call today about a job. I applied to a temp agency sometime in my spate of job applications, and they called today about a position they have in Stratford at a bank. I am going to the temp agency tomorrow to register and talk to them and find out more about it. The job would be temporary for a month or two doing data entry and filing and such. It doesn't sound exciting, but it sounds like what I'm looking for, and I have lots of experience with data entry etc. It will be neat to have an actual income again. Yay money! I am going to be driving my new car for the first time to get there, which will be interesting. Wish me luck. I also don't know what kind of interview clothes I have here, since the majority of my clothing is still in Nova Scotia and won't arrive here until Saturday. It will probably not look good if I go there in pajama pants. Thus, my plan for tonight is to scrounge up some appropriate garb and figure out which car key is mine before calling it an early night. Wish me luck for tomorrow!

New Rule

Next time I move, I am not spending 3 days in Stellarton the week before. I am also not letting Zenon stay over for the entire weekend when I should be packing.

The move yesterday was stressful and rushed, to say the least. Thank you very much to Derek for his help and patience, and to Joanna for not laughing at me when I knocked on her door like a crazy person and told her to come with me right away. Things were crazy and chaotic, and I almost missed my plane (I was the last person to board), but it all worked out. I am now back in Ontario and feeling like a displaced person. The majority of my stuff isn't arriving until Saturday, and it feels odd to be without it. It's funny how you get used to having certain things in your life.

All of that being said, it was great to see my parents again last night, and I spent the morning going over my bookshelves and reminding myself of the goodness that is my book collection. This afternoon my sister and my niece are coming to visit me, which I'm looking forward to. I think that within a week, things here will feel normal again, but for now, I feel really strange. Today I am also tired and sore from yesterday's excitement and moving. I am planning a quiet day involving tea and movies and books. It feels so strange to think that I won't be returning to Wolfville in a week or two. I was just beginning to really like it there.

Goodbye Nova Scotia

This will be my last post from Nova Scotia, at least for a while. It will also be my last post from my Acadia Advantage laptop. Tomorrow I am flying back to Ontario, with my stuff following me on land in a few days. Tomorrow I am also returning my laptop, which will be a traumatic experience. I know that I haven't been updating much lately, but that's because I've been busy with packing and organizing and doing those last things.

I will summarize events since my birthday. My birthday was fun. A bunch of us went to Jungle Jim's for dinner. I had some drinks and some good dinner. Ian told them it was my birthday, so I got sung to and a free piece of very good chocolate cheesecake. Because it was my birthday, Ross was kind enough to pick up my tab. Then we went to Wal-Mart to play, then back to Wolfville where 4 of us gathered in my living room telling stories and finishing my beer for a few hours.

Last week I made another visit to Stellarton. It happened on the spur of the moment, but it was fun. It is also why I am so behind in my packing, at least in part, but that is another story. I quite enjoyed my Stellarton visit. Zen and I went out for dinner a few times, I took Lewis for another, less-eventful walk, and I applied for some more jobs while Zenon was at work. I also had one of the most perfect days I've ever had this past Friday. It was peaceful and golden and pleasant.

Friday night it was back to Wolfville. Saturday was a party at Janice's, which is the event that prompted my previous hungover post. Suffice to say, I had a good time and a lot to drink. The next day hangover was killer. Highlights of Saturday night include dancing on Janice's roof with Zenon while Ross played guitar, pleasant chats with various people, and stumbling up the hill with a similarly-drunken Zenon only to collapse in bed without ceremony fully clothed and wearing my contacts. Good times. Zenon ended up staying over on Sunday night too, which meant that he had to leave this morning around 4:30am. I got up with him, and have been sleepy all day. Not as sleepy as him, I'm pretty sure, but sleepy nonetheless.

Theoretically, in 12 hours from now I leave Wolfville for the airport, possibly forever. The realization that I was actually leaving hit me while I was at the Library Pub tonight. I've been in denial about my departure, convincing myself that packing and selling my bed was just for fun and didn't mean that I was actually leaving. This deception was to keep me sane and to prevent me from becoming horribly depressed about leaving. It was the stupidest thing at the Library Pub that made it all real for me. I was reading the back of the menu, and they were listing the various nights they have there - Tuesday is martini night, Wednesday is wine night, etc. I was thinking, "That sounds like fun. We should come back for these different nights," and then I realized that this was my last night in Wolfville. I had missed my LP chance. I had a bit of a freakout on my walk home as I thought about how I was leaving. My tummy even got upset with the stress of it. Happily, I calmed myself down after I got home and was able to focus on packing.

This is longer than I meant it to be. I must now retire to the floor (my bed having left the apartment earlier today) for a good 5 hours of sleep before I'm up early tomorrow. I have to shower early to give my shower curtain time to dry before it's packed, and I have someone coming at 8:30am to look at my microwave and bookshelves. I also still have a bunch of packing and cleaning to do before I run my errands at school. Ugh. Wish me luck with tomorrow's hell of a day.

My thoughts upon waking this morning

Why does my head hurt?
Oh yes, the drinking.
Why do my eyes hurt?
Oh yes, I slept with my contacts in last night.
Am I still wearing all of my clothes, including Ross's jacket?
Yes, yes I am.
Last night was a good night.

Happy birthday to me!

Today I am 25. That feels so old. As Ashley says, it means that I've moved up one checkbox on the census form.

To celebrate my birthday, as I think I mentioned below, Zenon took me to a bed and breakfast near Bridgewater on Saturday. Here is a link to their website. The room we stayed in is the room they have pictured - the Bethany suite. It is the fancy room with a whirlpool in it. The whirlpool was really neat, and they gave us a bottle of wine because it was my birthday, so we just sat in there sipping the wine by candlelight in the evening. It was so beautiful and romantic, like something out of a movie.

We spent Saturday afternoon wandering around Lunenburg. We got a late lunch there at a restaurant overlooking the waterfront, and then wandered around by the water as they had some sort of do happening down there. Zenon bought cotton candy and we listened to some neat live Maritime music, and then toured the Bluenose II ship. I have a bunch of pictures from Saturday, but they are on my old-fashioned camera that actually needs the film to be developed, so I can't show them to you yet.

Yesterday's breakfast was probably one of the nicest I've ever had. I really liked that B and B and would totally go there again if I were in the area and had money. There were fresh blueberries and fresh fruit salad, and then home-smoked bacon and eggs with thick pieces of toast. I had my own pot of tea and a glass of pulpy delicious orange juice. I have not had breakfast yet today, and now I'm starting to salivate onto my keyboard. Zenon made friends with the older couple that was also at breakfast, and got their phone number. They apparently have this neat electronic device that they will maybe let him use. I find it funny how he can just randomly befriend people over breakfast.

My birthday plans for today aren't large. I have a stack of movies here to watch, half of which are Zenon's and half of which are Ross's. I also have some jobs to apply for and errands to run. Tonight hopefully there will be drinks and laughter, and maybe cheesecake, because these are the elements of every good birthday.

The actual colour is a dark forest green. The light makes it look more khaki than it is. Can you see that there is an actual pattern knitted into the scarf? I am so good! 

I rock

I have finished the scarf I've been working on. I will post a picture. This is the first time I've ever finished a project. I feel the need to start a new project right away, but I think that I will content myself with sewing my quilt.

Anyway, go me! I am a knitting machine!!!

What's going on

I have been fielding a lot of the same questions lately. Accordingly, the following are the answers to your favourite questions:

Q. What's happening with your thesis?
A. It is not done. I have re-registered, so I now have until next spring to finish it. They suggested that I have a draft done for January, so that I have 3 months to do revisions. I currently have about 50-60 pages of 80 written, but they need to be re-written as I am changing the structure.

Q. Does this mean that you're staying in Wolfville?
A. No. I don't have to be in Wolfville to write my thesis. I only need to make a return trip here for my defense, which will hypothetically be next spring.

Q. Are you moving back to Ontario then? And when?
A. I just booked my flight home for August 30th. I am indeed moving back to Ontario, at least for a few months.

Q. Do you have any items up for sale?
A. Why yes, yes I do. I am trying to sell as much of my stuff as possible. Do you need a bed? I think you do. Buy mine!

Q. What does your moving mean for you and Zenon?
A. We are going to try to be apart for as little amount of time as possible.

Q. How long are you staying in Ontario?
A. If all goes according to plan, only for a month or two. Zenon and I want to move in together, and we have to be in the same province to make that work. He is hypothetically moving out to Fort McMurray, Alberta, so hypothetically I'll be moving out there too before too long.

Alternately, though, we are both looking for jobs all over the place. So, if you are hiring, let me know! Also, you should buy my bed.

Wedding bells were ringing...

But not for me. I went to a wedding yesterday near Bridgewater. It was, for the most part, a good time. I will take a moment to step out of character and brag about my appearance. I looked really good. If I can get my hands on a picture, I will post one. For those who care, I wore a black halter top and fun floral skirt that flails in a lovely way when I spin it. I had on high-heeled black sandals and very pretty dangly pearl earrings that were part of an early birthday present from Zenon. Dressing up has become easier since my hair has become curly because doing my hair is so much simpler now.

Anyway. The ceremony was outdoors, which was a brave choice considering that it rained all morning and it looked like more rain was going to happen during the ceremony. However, it all held off, thankfully. Zenon provided the pre-ceremony mood music and the during-ceremony ceremony music. I have decided that acoustic guitars are a very good wedding ceremony touch.

I didn't enjoy the reception quite as much as I have past receptions. The speeches weren't great, and some of them were downright inappropriate (dirty jokes make me blush and should not be told in the presence of children). However, they were all short and everything was running ahead of schedule. The hall wasn't air conditioned and it was a very humid day yesterday. I found that it was too hot inside and that there were too many people, so I had to escape outdoors for a while. I recovered in time for the dance, though, which is good because not many people stayed for it, and even fewer people danced. It was up to us to keep things going, and I think we did a pretty good job. I had a really fun time, anyway, but you know me and dancefloors. I always enjoy dancing.

Perhaps because of the heat, things slowed down fairly quickly. We were some of the later stayers, and we were on the road by 9:30-10pm. The drive back was made more interesting by the incredible amount of fog on the road, but I wasn't driving, so I wasn't too worried. I was curled up in the back seat trying to sleep, or at least feigning sleep to see if Zenon and Ross would talk about me. I wanted to know what they would say. My ruse was all for not, however. They just sang songs and quoted movies and cartoons the whole way home - the usual.

This morning I had three traumatic dreams all in a row. I was happy when it was late enough for me to get into the shower. The rest of the day has been good, though. Zenon and I went out for lunch and then headed over to Ross's to watch the Family Guy movie. Good times, good times. Tonight I am planning a late dinner and an early bedtime as I am quite tired out from yesterday's social day and this morning's awful sleepy visions.

I am pretty and popular

I have written before about how some days pass where I might not say anything out loud because I live alone and don't have much of a social life these days. However, today was not like that. Today I did so much talking that I lost my voice, or at least it got craggy, a couple of times. It started when I had Joanna over for ice cream. I usually invite people over for tea, but it has been so hot lately that I haven't even been drinking my daily cup of green tea in the mornings. So, I invited Joanna over for ice cream. It was a most unorthodox invitation. I went down the hall and knocked on her door, and asked her to come over. When she said yes, I told her not to come right away because I had to do dishes so that we'd have clean bowls. So, I left and she came down a few minutes later. We had a very pleasant chat over bowls of mint chip ice cream. It is much easier for us to talk to each other when the guys aren't around. They are so loud.

After a few hours of talking with Joanna, she left, only to return shortly after with Darrell who was asking me about one of the professors in the English department that he's thinking about working with this year. I gave my opinion and they went home for dinner. Then Ashley came over to help me figure out an outfit and hair and makeup for the wedding I'm going to this weekend. I had forgotten how much fun these "girly" type things can be. I then went over to Ashley's house, feeling very attractive in my shirt for Saturday and with my face made up, to see if she had any suitable jewellery for me to wear. My time at Ashley's house was spent trying on different outfits that she wanted to see me in, with only one or two having actual potential to be helpful for the wedding outfit planning. It is fun to dress up in other people's clothes sometimes. Ashley actually gave me a shirt that she said that she will never wear, but which I think looks quite good on me. I now need to make a trip to the bar so that I can wear it.

I looked much less glamourous on my walk back from Ashley's than I did on my way to there. My hair was a bit messy from changing my clothes so often, I was wearing makeup that made my skin look like greased metal (it was a failed experiment), and most embarassingly, I got lipstick on my shirt. The lipstick wasn't just on my shirt, but it was over my right breast, as if someone had tried to kiss my nipple. Of course, no one had tried, it just got dirty from me changing into and out of the shirt all the time. I know that and you know that, but the people I passed on my walk back home didn't know that, unfortunately. Because of the placement of the lip marks, I couldn't even hide them, because me holding my hand in front of my breast or cupping my breast would be even more conspicuous than the lipstick.

I was rushing home because I was such a mess, but also because I had a phone date with Nad. It had been ages since he and I had spoken, so I was quite excited. We had a good chat which unfortunately had to be cut a bit short because neither of us had yet eaten dinner. To update the count at this point, this is 4 independent people with whom I had out loud conversations today. The fun isn't even over, yet. Zenon's internet was acting up again, so he gave me a call and we had a good conversation, bringing today's total count of people I talked to up to a record 5!

*Editor's Note* This is obviously not the angry post that I promised down below. That post is still coming, probably, in a much shorter form than anticipated. For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the mindless babble that is the description of my life.

I forgot to mention the chair

I've broken my second outdoor balcony chair. It happened yesterday. This incident was much less embarassing than the first one. After the first chair broke, I thought to myself, "I must be too fat for it." This time, though, the chair broke as I was unfolding it, so I thought instead, "I must be too strong for this chair," a much more affirming thought.

It is a good thing that I know so few people here because I'm running out of places for people to sit when they visit.

Also, coming soon, expect an angry political rant. I will try to work on it tonight once the weather cools down.

As well, I am applying for a job tonight that I am not really qualified for, but really want. Wish me luck with it!

Weekend doings and random thoughts

I quite enjoyed my weekend this week. Friday night was the dinner at my professor's house. My other English MA students were there, as well as a few other English students we knew from school. The evening was, for the most part, very pleasant with the after-dinner conversation being quite amusing and entertaining, at least to a certain point. I found that eventually we had too many people for the size of the room and the conversation became about things I didn't want to hear about, but until then I was enjoying myself. There were too many loud people to make it easy to leave, but I did eventually.

Saturday was another excursion into Halifax. Zenon gave Ross a ride in to meet one of his friends, and then Z and I went shopping. For part of the day I felt super-nauseous, which I now think was from the heat because it was such a hot and humid day, but I perked up after we got to the air-conditioned mall. I didn't buy anything, because I'm broke, but Zen picked up a few movies, so that was fun. I particularly enjoyed our trip to Toys R Us.

Saturday evening we came back and went out to dinner in New Minas with Darrell and Joanna. It was a good time. I was no longer nauseous and my chicken shepherd's pie was delicious. Oh, and the company and conversation were good too. I laughed a lot. After dinner we went to a couple of video stores on a search for 2 movies. Darrell and Joanna found their movie at the mall. On our way out we went into the pet store. I haven't been to a pet store since I was little little. I was tempted to buy a love bird or a chinchilla, if only to rescue them from the horrible atmosphere of the pet store, but I didn't. I've decided that pet stores are too sad and I should go back to avoiding them, or else to only looking at the fish.

Sunday was another tea at Andrea's. It was the last tea, as Andrea has moved back to New Brunswick now. It was a good time, though also somewhat sad. Andrea will be back in town at the end of the month, though, for her defense. I got my first birthday present of the year from Andrea - it is a can of "Stewie's Mind Erase Elixir - Stupefaction Guaranteed". I will have to take a picture of it to show you. It made me laugh a lot. Thanks, Andrea!

Last night I did a fun thing. I downloaded 4 or 5 old DOS games that I used to play years ago. I now have Commander Keen 1 and 4 and Keen Dreams, along with Crystal Caves and Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure. Needless to say, this kept me up later than I'd been meaning to stay up. I am finding that they aren't quite as much fun to play without a joystick, but they are still really fun. Oh, the memories! Here is the link if you would like to find your old favourites as well.

My scarf is progressing nicely. It is about 10" long now. How long are scarves normally? I am hoping to finish it before I move, though there's really no reason that I'd have to.

I may have lied about the "random thoughts" in this entry. I am getting hungry and my mind isn't thinking, even randomly, as it is screaming out for food. The pre-breakfast hour is always tricky. Until later, then, my friends.

Ramblings, happenings and doings

Yesterday Ashley and I did our errands together. We made a pit stop at one of the used book stores in town. We bought horoscope books. The one that I bought talks about sun signs and dreams. The one that Ashley bought talks about star signs and the secret codes of the universe. I have learned how to lose weight with colour, not calories, and also what it means when I (as a Virgo) dream about being trapped. These are possibly the two flakiest, new agey-ist books ever. They are fun.

When I got back from errands yesterday, I laid out on the balcony as it was a pleasant day weather-wise and I am starting to look pale again as if I never go outside. I have talked before about how the chickadees enjoy flitting and playing on my balcony. They continued to do this, even though I was there. It was neat. One landed no more than a foot from my face at one point. I stared at it as surreptitiously as I could. I like chickadees. They are tiny and playful and cute.

I think that I have a stalker in Wolfville. Once last week or 2 weeks ago I was walking to Ashley's in the evening and a young guy in a white car drove by me and waved. I waved hesitantly back, since I had no idea who it was. He later drove by me again, going the other way. I gave him my smile reserved for strangers. I haven't seen him since and had pretty much forgotten about the incident. Last night I was walking to Ashley's again and I encountered the car. He was at a stop sign that I was approaching. He seemed to wait quite a bit longer at the stop sign than was necessary, as if watching where I was going. He then drove up to the store, turned around, and passed me again. He was driving out of the sun so I couldn't really see him when he passed, but I gave him my 1984 smile that I reserve for strangers (this is the expression of normal satisfaction or contentment that has become automatic for me when in crowds or around strangers. If I were being watched by Big Brother everywhere I went, it's the face of acceptance that I would wear all the time). As I was walking towards Ashley's place along Fundy Drive, he drove by again, as if watching where I was going. I don't think I'm being paranoid. Considering how unaware I am of my surroundings all the time, this must be pretty obvious for me to have picked up on it. I wish that he would just stop and say hi and tell me who he is and how he knows me. I am getting curious and mildly annoyed.

Last night I locked myself out of my apartment. Luckily, I noticed this before I got too far down the road, so I turned around and got my super to let me back in so that I could grab my keys. It is good that I noticed this right away at 8 instead of later when I came home after 11. That was the first time that's happened to me all year, knock on wood, so I'm fairly proud of myself.

Sometime this weekend one of my profs from this year is having the 5 of us over for dinner. It will either be tonight or tomorrow night. I am hoping to find out soon which one it is.

I have begun the scarf that I bought yarn for the other day. It is going well. I am enjoying the knitting and already have 6 inches done. I have already made a few mistakes, but none that are overly noticeable, I don't think.

That is all I have to say for now. I am hungry and going for breakfast.

Feelin' groovy

Today I am happy. This is worth mentioning because I have felt off for the past little while, and yesterday I felt particularly icky. However, last night and then today were great. I have sorted myself and my future out, and I feel really good.

Last night was fun because Ashley was stressed out from thesis deadlines so we went for a walk. Sometimes I like being the sane one in a given relationship, you know, just for a change. The walk was neat because we got to chat, and then we decided to go for pints at the Library Pub. I can't believe how my alcohol tolerance has disappeared. However, it is fun, if a tad embarassing. We talked about zodiac signs and boyfriends and family dramas - it was a good time. Then we went back to her place for a little more chatting, so that I didn't get home until almost 1am. In my drunken state, I decided that I needed to have noodles before I went to bed, so I made some and ate them at 1am. This interfered with my plan to go to bed early so that I would be rested for my meetings this morning, as did my decision to watch an episode of Veronica Mars while I ate them (this show is my new interest. I am ashamed to admit it, but I find it quite entertaining).

This morning I had two thesis-related meetings, and I have that sort of stuff figured out. I have now realized that thesis stress is what has been making me feel so icky the past little bit. Once I had that sorted out, I felt so lighthearted. This was good because Ashley and I went for a jaunt to New Minas. She had to go to Staples to print off 5 copies of her thesis, and she was stressed out and needed my calming and good-natured influence. I was happy to oblige. Our day of indulgence included a lunch at McDonalds and a couple of hours spent wandering Wal-Mart looking for appropriate pajamas for Ashley to use to make her cape (yes, cape. I laughed a lot, but am thinking of making one for myself). I bought some sunglasses since I left mine in Stellarton last week, and I also bought some yarn so that I can start knitting again.

Tonight I am pleasantly drained from a day of activity and chatting. I feel hopeful and happy again for the first time in a long time. What I kept reminding myself of today when I could feel myself starting to fret (I swear, it's become an automatic reflex) is that there is no reason for things not to turn out the way I want them to. This is true. I spent my evening doing chores and chatting on the phone, and I think that I will spend the rest of the night watching movies and knitting, since I still have 2 of Zenon's movies left to watch.

It is such a beautiful evening outside. I hope that all of you are feeling as hopeful and positive and peaceful as I am tonight.