Chronicles of Acadia

Wedding Stuff

2008-06-20T07:55:00.002-06:00

Well, another six months has gone by. I guess it's time for a new post. Actually, this is a post with a purpose. Our wedding is next Saturday, and for those of you coming from out of town, I just wanted to let you know that in that gap between the wedding and the reception, Zenon's parents are opening up their house and offering refreshments for anyone who wants to drop by. So, if you're too dressed up to feel like going to the beach, feel free to stop by 52 Bridge Ave. in Stellarton and have a few drinks and a few munchies before the reception.

I'll probably be providing more wedding-related info here as the week goes on.

Christmas Time

2007-12-29T11:23:00.001-07:00

Heidi and the moisturizing socks
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls

Hello. For anyone who's interested, I've posted some Christmas pictures on my Flickr account.

That's all I have to say right now.

The Proposal

2007-08-05T11:04:00.001-06:00

My engagement ring
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls

Instead of writing this to everyone who asked about it separately, here is the story of how Zenon proposed.

First of all, it's important to note that for a few days to week ahead of time, Zenon had been acting a little strangely. I know, I know, you ask how I could tell. Well, he was sort of distant, and prone to random silences, which was really odd, and he was having trouble sleeping and had banished himself to the couch to sleep for a couple of nights consecutively. I asked him to tell me what was on his mind, but he just told me, "You can't help me with it." I thought that this was odd and persisted, but he just got kind of mad at me. I finally asked him, "Is it me? Are you breaking up with me?" He said no, but in that way that I didn't quite believe him.

So, Wednesday rolls around. I had been talking to my friend Lesley in the van on the way home about Zenon's odd behaviour. She reassured me and told me that he was probably just being a guy and keeping something like money troubles to himself. I was comforted, but still suspicious.

When I got home from work, Zenon came in and suggested that we go for a walk. "I saw some neat nature trails up in Thickwood when I was working on that guy's house," he told me.

I scampered off to get ready, and grabbed my favourite ball cap which I bought at Acadia. I walked into the kitchen and Zenon took one look at me and started laughing. "Take off that hat," he ordered.

I was kind of annoyed. "This is my favourite hat," I told him with an offended air.

"Well, take it off," he repeated.

"I'm having a bad hair day."

"I don't care. Put a hairband in or something. Let's go."

I put on my next favourite hat, my PEI hat. I came back to the kitchen for approval, still feeling pretty annoyed. "Is this better?"

"Yes, that's cute. Let's go."

Zenon took me out to Thickwood and parked the truck across from some nature trails. As we headed into the woods, the bugs came out. "Maybe we should have brought some bug spray," Zenon said. "Oh well," I shrugged, and swatted at another mosquito.

We walked and chatted and swatted at bugs, and I again brought up how preoccupied Zenon had been. "Actually, there's more to that than I've told you," he said.

Uh oh, I thought, here it comes!

"I wasn't completely honest with you about why I went to Nova Scotia last month." Then he stopped walking.

Crap, I thought, Whatever it is is so serious that we have to stop walking to talk about it. I braced myself for the worst.

Then he did a strange, unexpected thing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. My eyes widened in surprise. He opened the box, and there it was, my beautiful ring. "Oh my goodness! Are you kidding me???" was my lovely response. According to Zenon, I looked very happy and beautiful at this moment, but all I remember is feeling totally overwhelmed with surprise. "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness," I kept repeating.

Finally, he said in a little nervous voice, "Actually, I was hoping that you'd marry me." He seemed so nervous. I realized that I needed to say something to this besides "Oh my goodness," so I did. I said, "Of course I'll marry you!" It's a good thing that I had this answer ready, because at that moment I wasn't really capable of coherent thought.

Then he slipped the ring on my finger and kissed me. We walked back to the truck hand in hand (when not swatting mosquitoes) and he told me about going back to Nova Scotia so suddenly to get the ring, and about how it was supposed to be my birthday present, but he couldn't wait (my birthday is August 22), and how relieved he was that I said yes. He also said that this was why I couldn't wear my Acadia hat. "It's too big for you, and I couldn't imagine proposing with you looking at me from under that huge brim." I was still in shock, and kept repeating, "Oh my goodness," though at slower intervals now.

Then I had a tiny freakout for the next half hour to an hour, but by the time we went to bed that night (late, as we had lots to talk about), I had stopped freaking out and was really excited. And excited is where I've stayed, except that now planning a wedding (especially one across the country) is starting to daunt me. Zenon has been sleeping well since Wednesday night, and hasn't slept on the couch once. My bug bites (I got close to 10 that night) have all but disappeared, so all is well.

Engagement

2007-08-02T22:10:00.001-06:00

My engagement ring
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls

So, Zenon and I got engaged. More details will come soon. In the meantime, look at the pictures of the beautiful ring that Zenon gave me.

Personal DNA

2007-07-11T13:02:00.000-06:00

Considerate Thinker

This test was fun.

Announcement - Open House

2007-07-06T20:56:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. I just wanted to let you know that my parents are hosting an open house on Sunday, July 15 from 2-5pm for anyone who wants to drop by and visit while I'm home. If you are in the Shakespeare area that day, you should stop in and say hello!

If you need directions, let me know.

Rain reminiscences

2007-06-22T11:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a day of thunderstorms and intense rain. As I dashed across the parking lot from the office to my vehicle, I couldn't help but remember the last time I dashed through the rain in a thunderstorm. It was last summer when I was back home on vacation. It was one of those oppressively hot and humid days, and Ashley and I had gone to the Jane Bond for dinner. Because the restaurant was just a fifteen minute walk from Ashley's house, we had left the truck parked there and set out on foot. All during dinner, Ashley kept looking out the window and foretelling rain. I just laughed her off kept eating. It turns out that she was right, though. It started to rain just before we left the restaurant, but we didn't let this daunt us. After the oppressive heat of the afternoon, a little rain was going to feel kind of good. And it did, at least for the first two minutes or so. We kept to the right side of the sidewalk, tucked in beneath the building overhangs on King Street, and just laughed at our adventure. The problem came, though, when we had to turn off of the main road.

The sky was dark, almost black, with the rain clouds, and as we left the safety of the main street, we began to hear thunder. The rain was no longer our gentle friend, but pelted us mercilessly. I have stayed drier in the shower than I did that night. Laughing and cold and worried about lightning and the trees overhanging the sidewalk here, we broke into a run, and galloped down the street as fast as we could, not caring who saw us. We slowed down to rest a few times, but each time a flash of lightning and a loud roll of thunder would get us going again. To encourage me, Ashley told me about the hot tea that she would make to warm us up when we got home. I know that the original walk to the Jane Bond must have been much longer than our all-out dash later, but it sure didn't feel that way. My world narrowed to the dark street, the incessant rain and the threat of lightning as I jogged along beside Ashley. What a relief to finally make it to Ashley's apartment, to have Derek alternately laugh at us and fuss over us, and to change into some dry clothes in the bathroom and sit down to some hot tea while the cats regarded us with expressions that plainly said, “What on earth were you thinking? How undignified!”

Of course, making it to our vehicle after work yesterday was only the first step. We still had to drive home in the pouring rain. As my co-worker Lesley and I set out, I was reminded of when I moved out to Nova Scotia, and my mother and I drove across the country with my stuff in the back of the pickup truck. We faced pouring rain off and on through Northern Ontario and Quebec. I wasn't too worried about my stuff in the back of the pickup truck because I knew that my father had packed it, which meant that it would survive some inclement weather. My guitar and my books were in the cab with us, and they were the most important things that I was taking out. No, what I found about the rain that time was that it made the truck seem like a little cocoon. Even though we were passing hundreds of cars on the highway, the rain and the noise of it was isolating, making us feel like we were in our own little world. We had a book on tape going on the truck stereo, and as we lost ourselves in the story and listened to the rain, it was hard to believe that there was anyone else out there.
Driving home in yesterday's intense rain also reminded of a harrowing drive I had late one night as I returned home from the opening night at the Mercury Theatre in St. Mary's. I had spent the morning purchasing liquor, snacks and other refreshments for the after party (man, did I get some raised eyebrows when the liquor store attendant helped me to bring my twelve bottles of wine and my three boxes of coolers out to my trunk, which was already filled with ten cases of beer and six cases of Perrier water) and the afternoon doing last minute cleaning and preparations at the theatre.

About an hour before the show, I slipped into the dressing room and changed into my costume – a lovely and professional skirt and blouse for working front-of-house. I cleaned off the dirt and dust as best as I could (it had been a humid afternoon) and hurriedly applied my makeup before I rushed out to greet the guests and take their tickets. The show was a success, as was the art display in the gallery. After the show, people lingered and drank and laughed and discussed, and I circulated with the wine. The theatre wasn't air-conditioned, and we had the front door open to the street to get some air circulating, so I knew when it started to rain. This rain didn't start gently, but immediately went from zero to downpour. By this time it was nearing eleven, and I was exhausted after my day of running around and schmoozing. John, the theatre's owner, came over and told me that I could go home if I wanted – the party was winding down and everyone was taken care of. I smiled gratefully and turned over the money box to him. I found my few friends and said goodbye, and rushed out into the rain to start home. I was warned that I should perhaps wait for the rain the die down before setting off, but I was so bone tired that I waved off the suggestion with a smile and a promise of “I'll be fine”.

The drive was going well until I left the main road and started on the back road that would take me to Tavistock. Suddenly, it was raining so hard that I couldn't see. I felt like I was in the middle of a blizzard with blowing snow, except that the air was still extremely humid. I would have pulled off the road to wait out the downpour, but I couldn't see where the side of the road was. I just squinted through the rain on my windshield and sent up a little prayer that I was still on the road, and pushed forward. Happily, the rain eventually eased off a little, so that I could at least see where I was going. I relaxed and started looking forward to getting home and to bed. Then I got to Tavistock, where I discovered that the road I needed to take was closed because it had been washed out by the rain. I slowed down and evaluated my options. I had passed a friend's house just outside of town. I considered knocking on her door and crashing on her floor for the night. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was after 11:30pm, and decided against that. I was so tired, and the thought of my own bed was so irresistible that I decided to take a chance and follow the detour and hope that I could find an alternate route to my door. Happily, that's what happened, though I can't tell you too much about that part of the trip. I was so tired and the rain was so continuous that I think that I entered some sort of a trance. My bed has rarely felt so welcome to me as it did when I collapsed in it that night.

These memories have led me to many more that I won't get into here – memories like running through the autumn streets of Wolfville alone in the rain, just because I felt so happy and so free, and walking home at two in the morning one time in the freezing rain, and realizing what a fairy land the town had become with all the trees and buildings gilded with ice. I remember being young and at home alone on a rainy summer's day, and trying to shower in the rainstorm (this didn't work). It's funny how one little thing – driving home from work in the rain – can lead to so many other memories of so many other times and places in my life. I like it.

Things you don't hear everyday....

2007-06-16T09:08:00.000-06:00

The other day at work, one of my co-workers poked her head in my office door. The following conversation ensued:

Co-worker: I don't know if you heard or not, but the Health Centre downstairs is offering free Pap smears.
Heidi: (blinks) Free what?
Co-worker: Free Pap smears. Go down and get your cookie checked!

Random things happen in my office.

Flight home

2007-06-11T20:46:00.001-06:00

Ok, dudes and dudettes... this is hot off the presses. I've booked my flight home in July. You read it here first... I'm flying in on the evening of July 14, and flying back here on July 22. That gives me a week to enjoy the sights, sounds, family and friends of Ontario. Let me know if you're going to be around, and we shall make plans. It will be a bit of a whirlwind week, I think, since there's so much that I want to cram in. Here are some things I'm looking forward to doing and people I'm excited about seeing:
1. Hugs from Anie! I can't wait for 5 year old (almost 6 year old) hugs!
2. Playing cards with Mom and Dad
3. Tea with Ashley
4. Dinner and drinks (perhaps at the Jane Bond?) with Anna and Gillian (let me know, girls, what you think)
5. Perhaps a movie at the Princess?
6. Chick flicks with my mom
7. Visiting Meg and seeing how much baby Jack has grown in the last year
8. Strolls around the backyard
9. Maybe a day at the beach? javascript:void(0)
Publish Post
10. Shopping!!!
11. Used book stores!!!
12. Visiting my book collection and choosing which ones to bring back with me
13. Being HOME

If I've forgotten you in the above list, then I sincerely apologize. Drop me a line to tell me what a jerk I am, and we'll make plans. Just over a month until I'm Shakespeare bound!

Biking around the cul-de-sac

2007-05-03T20:20:00.001-06:00

Biking around the cul-de-sac
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls.

What a busy week we are having! Between house showings (our landlords are selling our house) and vacuum cleaner demonstrations and houseguests (hi Connor!) and bike buying, I am very ready for this upcoming weekend. Last weekend wasn't too restful between trade shows and house showings and drinks and karaoke on Saturday night (hi Mike!) and guests on Sunday night (hi Benguy and Bengirl!). I can't wait until our house just gets sold so that we can stop keeping it picture perfect - though to be honest, the more showings there are, the less picture perfect it's getting. It would also be nice to know whether we have to move or if our rent is changing or anything unpleasant like that. I hope that we get to stay. I like where we're living.

As you can see from the picture, Zenon and I bought bicycles. We have been thinking about doing this for a while. Now that the weather's nicer, you see families out biking in the evenings all the time, and it looks like so much fun. We bought the cheapest ones in the store. They are such old people bikes, but I love it. They are definitely just tooling around town bikes, and not speed racers or mountain climbers, but that's all good. We went on our second bike ride tonight. Man am I out of shape! Not for too much longer, though, now that I have my bike to play with.

Me on my hot rod
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls.

Zenon and I bought the coolest vacuum cleaner last night. It is one of those ones that use water as a filter and double as an air purifier. Man, is it ever nifty! I never thought I'd have so much fun vacuuming. It's so powerful!

I guess that's all I wanted to say. I mostly just wanted to post pics of the bicycles so that you could see us in all of our geeky (but soon to be very in-shape) glory.

Did I just go back in time?

2007-04-10T10:03:00.000-06:00

I read this story this morning, and I thought that I might have gone back to 1967 without realizing it. But no, I read it on the internet, so signs are pointing to it still being 2007.

Seriously, doesn't this blow your mind? A high school in Georgia is having their first non-segregated prom ever. This is why people make fun of the South.

Photos

2007-03-20T20:56:00.001-06:00

Just for fun
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls.

Hello everyone. In case you're interested, I've posted my photos from the Nova Scotia vacation here.

This photo is from Edmonton after the Meatloaf concert. We were just fooling around.

More stories will come later.

Summary

2007-02-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

So, I've become very bad at posting. I'm sorry. I've also become very bad at living mindfully (the two are connected). But anyway, here is a summary of my life right now:

What I'm reading: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
What I'm playing: The Movies for PC
What I'm watching: The weekly line up includes House, Little Mosque on the Prairie and Scrubs. We also like Video on Trial before bed when it's on
What I'm eating: Right now, leftover pizza from yesterday's lunch at work
Days until I go to Nova Scotia: 8
Days until I'm in Ontario: 15
Current guilty pleasure: The comments on the Globe and Mail website. Sometimes they're intelligent and thought-provoking, which is awesome, but usually they are uninformed, over-generalized, partisan and rude. I have just learned not to read any of the comments on any article about climate change, but besides that they are fun.
Current level of job satisfaction: About a 7
Current crochet project: A hippopotamus

That's all I have for right now. What else could you possibly want to know?

Cookie cookie cookie cookie cookie cookie

2007-02-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

You Are a Fortune Cookie

You're a rather normal person, except that you have extraordinary luck in life.
People want to be around you (even when they're a little sick of you), in hopes of being lucky too!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Thanks, Andrea, for this little time waster.

Christmas Time

2006-12-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Christmas Tree with presents
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls.

Happy Boxing Day everyone! I hope that you are all having a pleasant holiday season. My tale of holiday joy starts a week or two before Christmas. It all began with my Christmas bonus from work, which was a good thing. It was quite a big larger than I was expecting. Then there was my work Christmas party, where Zenon and I dressed up and looked all sexy, and where I won $1000. Then I won $20. My week was going pretty well. Then I found out that my schedule over Christmas had me off for 5 days, working for 2 days, and then off for 4 days. Then I got my safety incentive bonus at work, which was a $300 Walmart gift certificate. Zenon has already decided how we are spending it. Christmas time is a good time at my job. I also got a watch and some chocolates from work.

Christmas here has been quiet but nice. Zenon and I were both spoiled by our families. I'm wearing a new sweater right now. Christmas Day was a quiet day. We went out to Church in the morning, and then drove around town looking for a payphone, since Zenon wanted to get a hold of John and neither of us had brought our phones to church. We discovered that this town has no pay phones. The guy in the hotel where we eventually asked to use the phone said that it was because there were too many drug deals happening on the pay phones, so most places just got rid of them. There were too many sketchy people hanging around them. This is a unique place that we live in.

Once we got a hold of John, we went for coffee and I finally met the infamous Muffin Ladies. They were nice, and I was almost able to forget that Muffin Lady 2 tried to break me and Zenon up. The rest of Christmas Day was spent napping and watching movies and things in our pjs (or at least, I was in my pjs - my very cute new pjs with the frogs on them). Today I think we are making a fancy dinner.

Anyway, I wanted to keep this brief. There are more Christmas pictures on Flickr, if you're interested. Now I am off to have some breakfast in the form of Quaker Oat Squares.

Just an update

2006-12-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

Just to let everyone know, we have moved into the new place. There are still boxes and messes everywhere, but things are coming along. You can see the floor again, now.

We still like the new place. The garage has been handy for Zenon's business, and I am liking the full sized kitchen and bathrooms, and all of the storage that we have now. I am starting to feel like a real adult, with real grown up things. We actually own furniture of the non-inflatable variety now, which is pretty cool.

The actual move was awful, as all moves are. Actually, it went pretty well, besides the casualty of one of my plants (Purply, 2005-2006 RIP) and one late night packing and lugging and cleaning (the late night may have contributed to the loss of Purply). We have been putting things away bit by bit, and the place is starting to come together and feel lived in.

The best part of the new place? I'm able to use my birthday tea set. I have been drinking up a storm (of loose leaf tea). This place is big enough too that when all the boxes are gone, I will be able to have tea parties. I don't really have anyone to invite, but the option is there, anyway.

Also, Kingdom Hearts is unpacked and a very fun game.

You know you live in Fort McMurray when...

2006-12-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

...The morning weather report calls for a high of -17 degrees, and you think to yourself, "Oh, good, it's going to be warm today for a change."

Blogging instead of packing

2006-11-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

1) Your Rock Star name: (first pet and current street name)

Timmy Richard (or, as of tomorrow, Timmy Brown Bay)

2) Your Movie Star name: (grandfather/grandmother on your dad's side and your favourite candy)

Una Skor (sounds exotic and sexy)

3) Your 'Fly Girl/Guy" name: (first initial of first name and the first two or three letters of your last name)

H-Ta

4) Your Detective name: (favourite animal and favourite colour)

Penguin Red (Do you think I can convince people to actually call me this?)

5) Your Soap Opera name: (middle name and the city where you were born)

Lynne London (not too bad, actually... I should be on a soap opera, or at least in a Harlequin)

6) Your Star Wars name: (first three letters of your last name, last three letters of your mum's maiden name, and first three letters of your pet's name)

Tav Sch ---

7) Your Jedi name: (middle name spelled backwards and your mum's maiden name spelled backwards)

Ennyl Hcseo

8) Your Porn Star name: (middle name, father's middle initial, and the street you grew up on)

Lynne H. Webster (or Lynne H. County Road 7 - neither one really screams porn star to me)

9) Your Superhero name: ('The', your favourite colour, and the automobile you drive)

The Red Tacoma (not bad)

10) Your Ghetto name: (first two letters of your first name, -Shawn/Quan/Quita/Niqua, last name of whatever Prime Minister is on the currency you pull out of your pocket)

HeNiqua Debit Card (sorry, I don't carry much cash around with me)

That is all for now. Until next time, this has been Penguin Red, blogging on location in Fort McMurray.

Too good not to post...

2006-11-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Heidi's synonym --

genius (... as in capacity!)

'What is your synonym?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Sorry, no picture

2006-10-28T09:23:00.000-06:00

There have been happenings afoot in the Taves/Campbell/McLean household. First off, Brad's been in Arizona for the past week or two, looking at cars and cactuses and hardwood (mostly at the cars, though). He seems to be having a good time, judging by the phone calls we've had from him. Then there is Zenon, who, as he never updates his blog anymore I will have to tell you, has accepted those contracts that I mentioned below, and is thinking about hiring people. The business is growing, which is pretty exciting. Because of this, we have decided to stay in Fort McMurray for at least another year, which sucks, but I think will be OK.

This all brings me to my news. I have quit my job! At long last, too. I have been wanting to be out of there for a long time. I think my first round of job searching happened in April. There was then another round in June/July, though I decided to stay at my job until after my vacation. Finally, I did some more job searching recently, and decided this past Monday to quit my job, even though I hadn't found anything new. I gave my notice on Wednesday, saying that my last day would be November 10. My boss was actually really understanding. I told her how I wasn't being challenged anymore, and how I hate being on call, and she was really positive, telling me that I'd made the right choice (which was good to hear, because I'd been agonizing, of course). She then said, "I'd hate for the group of companies to lose you. Maybe we can find you something else." And she did! She put in a good word for me, and now I have a job across the hall from my current office, doing accounts receivable. It all happened so fast - I quit on Wednesday, had an informal job interview on Thursday morning (with 15 minutes' notice... oh the stress!), and had accepted the new position by Friday morning. It was all pretty crazy, but really really cool. It made me feel really good that they wanted to keep me in the company. Also, this means that I can keep my benefits (they are doing this as a transfer), and I won't have any interruptions in my paycheque flow, or vacation seniority. The new job is doing accounts receivable, which will be interesting. I am not sure if I will like it, but at least I won't be bored anymore. I figure that even if I hate the work, I will have lots of it (which will be an amazing change), and I won't be on call anymore. I'll also get one paid Friday off per month, which is pretty cool.

The other thing that is happening with us is that we are thinking about moving. Zenon and I looked at a place the other night that is the main floor of a house, with a huge heated garage included. It is much bigger than our current apartment, and looked really nice. We put in an application, so we'll see what happens. Brad would finally have a full-sized bedroom, and room for all of his stuff. He could also stop sleeping on a Princess and the Pea type bed, and start sleeping on one where you don't need to be an Olympic pole vaulter to get in (because our apartment came furnished, and Brad already had a bed, he has been sleeping on 2 mattresses and 2 bedsprings for the past number of months. The bed is almost as tall as I am).

Yes, happenings and happiness have been afoot. Things are good. Knock on wood.

Peaceful

2006-10-21T13:46:00.000-06:00

DSC00710
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls.

This photo is one that Zenon took while he was home this summer. I think that mood of it matches how I feel today. I find myself in a rare mood - calm and happy. It may be due to the fact that I spent my morning in bed reading a book, and my afternoon so far in the tub reading another book. And even though my work phone rang at the worst times (once when the hero was facing the final challenge, fighting his very own instincts that wanted him to turn back, struggling to deliver his magic-infused bundle and break the spell, while his comrades fought off attacking goblins below, neither knowing if the other still survived...)(and then again while I was in the tub), knowing that I am actively job hunting again and soon will have a job where the only phone calls I get after hours will be from people that I want to talk to has helped to me to keep my cool. Imagine - a weekend not punctuated by the ringing of a work phone, a weekend totally separate from the work week... It will be beautiful. Eventually. Once I find another job.

Zenon and I have decided to stay here for another year to help his business grow. I try not to think about this decision too often, as my daydreams of home, and indeed of any place civilized haunt me when I'm not paying attention. I am trying to remind myself that a new job will make the whole world, even Fort McMurray, look better.

The computer desk that Zenon was building is now complete. I will post a picture soon. Also, the crocheting continues, and is still the funnest thing I've learned to do since... well, I don't know. The other night I even talked Zenon into reading to me while I crocheted (the only thing about crocheting is that you can't read and crochet at the same time). It was even better than I imagined. I am really going to have to start investing in some books on tape. Imagine - being able to "read" while crocheting, knitting, even exercising if I wanted to (if I ever exercised...). Oh the joys!

Anyway, I guess that I didn't really have too much to say today. I just wanted to take advantage of a rare calm spell to post. Thanks for sharing it with me!

Lovely cliffs

2006-10-18T11:37:00.000-06:00

Lovely cliffs
Originally uploaded by likeamemoryitfalls.

This is a picture of some of the cliffs outside of Drumheller. I finally got a Flickr account. This is a test post to see how posting from Flickr works. Once I have things set up, I'll add a link to my Flickr account so that you can see the rest of the pictures from Drumheller, and some other random ones (like of my new hair!).

Edit: You can access my Flickr account by clicking here.

Belated Thanksgiving post

2006-10-15T10:31:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to post for over a week now, but I just either haven't had the chance or haven't been in the proper mood. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about our Thanksgiving weekend. First of all, it seems to have gone from autumn to winter overnight up here. Today is a warmer day - high of 4 degrees. Welcome to the North, I guess. Although I have to say that we were down south last weekend, and if anything, it was even colder.

Since Thanksgiving weekend is a 3 day weekend, Zenon and I decided to take a mini road trip. We drove down to Red Deer after work on Friday afternoon. This is a long enough trip anyway, but it was made longer because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I was driving and Zenon was sort of dozing in the passenger seat, and we passed a sign on the road advertising a garage sale with tools and other stuff. As we drove by it, I said, "Oh, tools for sale!" Zenon, of course, became instantly fully alert. "Tools for sale? Where? What kind of tools? How much?" After a bit of sighing, I consented to turn around and drive back to the sign. Zenon called the phone numbers on the sign and got a hold of a guy who was selling his cabinet making business and had some tools he was trying to get rid of. Because it's Zenon, we had to make the detour to find this guy's shop in the next town over. The man was actually quite nice, and we stood chatting with him for a while. Zenon ended up buying three tools at what are apparently really good prices.

So, we were a little late getting to Red Deer. We basically just went to our hotel room and crashed. Saturday morning, the day dawned sunny but freezing! We spent the morning exploring Red Deer. Since Zenon got that job offer there a few months ago, we have been curious about Red Deer. What a gorgeous city it is! I couldn't believe it! So many trees, all in the their finest autumn colours, family-friendly neighbourhoods, winding residential streets... Wow!

After we'd gotten our fill of the autumnal beauty of Red Deer, we headed out on the highway towards Drumheller. We discovered that all of central Alberta is really really nice-looking. The drive to Drumheller was filled with lots of farmlands and wheatfields, but we knew the moment we reached the badlands because of the cliffs. Zenon made me take lots of pictures of them. It seems that Blogger won't let me post any more pictures, though, so you will just have to take my word for it. I might have to break down and create a Flickr account.

Anyway, we went to the Royal Tyrrell Museum and learned lots about prehistoric times and dinosaurs, which was really cool. After we ate, we took a road trip out to see the Hoodoos, which were a bit disappointing. We had a fun time climbing the cliffs of the Badlands, though. There really wasn't anything else to do in Drumheller. There is no nightlife. We walked across a suspension bridge, which is as much fun as you'd expect. We took pictures.

On Sunday morning, we started the drive back to Edmonton. In Edmonton, we went to the House of Tools and then the West Edmonton Mall to pass the afternoon. In the evening we went to see a movie about whales on the Imax screen at the Telus Science Centre. Edmonton is cool. We took a dip in the hotel's pool after we checked in, and then turned in. It is suprising how tiring it is to spend the day on the road.

Monday was a really fun day. We went back to the West Edmonton Mall and went skating for an hour, and then we hit the water park for some slip sliding fun. It was hard to pull ourselves away to come back to the Fort, but Zenon remembered that it was the season premiere of RAW, so we had to hurry back. He wouldn't even let me stop for ice cream he was in such a hurry to get back to see it. All in all, it was a really great weekend, and I'm glad we did it.

We came back up north with the idea to move to Edmonton come springtime, but since then Zenon has been offered some lucrative contracts for his business, and that has given us pause. I don't know what is going to happen now, as it is still in the discussion phase. I will, of course, keep you posted.

Besides that, life is continuing more or less as usual. If we do decide to stay up here, I am definitely getting a new job. The things that were making mine bearable for a while are disappearing rapidly, and I am starting to really hate it again.

Oh, the other news is that we have a computer desk now where our dining room used to be. I'll take some pictures once everything is set up. I don't know where I'll post them, but I'll take them. Zenon made one out of some salvaged countertop from work, and some shelves and drawers that we bought yesterday. So far we are really liking how it opens up the space in our apartment.

That is all for now. I'll keep trying the pictures.

Two weekends of fun

2006-10-01T14:45:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to post for a while. I have had 2 consecutive good weekends. Last weekend, Brad's girlfriend broke up with him and moved out of the apartment, which is bad because he is really upset. On the other hand, it gave us an excuse to take Brad out for drinking and karaoke. Zenon even convinced me to get up there and do a duet with him. We did "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher. We actually did it twice, because the first time my mike wasn't on. I actually hadn't minded that, but the people running the karaoke insisted that we have another turn. All in all, it was OK. Zenon told me that my performance was neutral - no one would say that I have an awesome voice, but I wasn't the worst one that night, either. That was about as much as I was hoping for. I have no illusions about me becoming a rock star (anymore). I know that I take after my Dad's side of the family when it comes to singing.

Anyway, another part of the night was trying to get Brad to hit on women at the bar, a task that is easier said than done. He did send a drink to a lady, but didn't follow up. To help things along, Zenon introduced one of his karaoke songs with, "I would just like to draw the attention of all the single ladies out there to my friend Brad [pointing]. He is single, successful, and most importantly, disease-free." Brad and I killed ourselves laughing.

This weekend started like any other. Zenon and I went out yesterday to run errands and whatnot. We have decided to dismantle our dining room table and make that area into a computer nook, so we were looking for a computer desk. We have been waging a war on clutter for the past week or so, and our next target is the dining room. Anyway, as we were shopping Zenon reminded me that I have been wanting to get my hair cut for a while, so I called and made an appointment. As I was on my way out, Zenon told me to do something new with my hair. When I asked him what, he said, "I don't know, maybe add some blonde or red or something." On a whim, I did a bit of both. Here is what it looks like:
My hair is actually a bit darker and more red than it looks here.
I have another picture that shows off the blonde highlights a bit more, but for some reason it isn't uploading. I like this picture of me, anyway. I really like the reddish colour that I have right now. I think that I might keep it for a while as it really warms up my skin tone. It is also just plain more fun.

Has anyone read the article about Fort McMurray in last month's Chatelaine magazine? I finally got around to reading it. It caused quite a stir up here, I can tell you. I have to say, though, I thought that most of what it said was true. This city really does look like a bachelor pad. And, I have to say, I am quite happy to not be single in this city.

Things I like and don't like

2006-09-17T11:50:00.000-06:00

I like:
Activia yogurt
Married to the Sea comics
Rings that actually fit. My birthday present came back from the jeweller's and it fits perfectly.

I don't like:
Certain language tics that people have. For instance, let's just remove the word "utilize" from the English language altogether. It so rarely gets used properly, and is used so often.
People touching and moving my stuff.
People who feel the need to narrate their every move out loud to you when you are trying to work.

It has been a trying week.

On another note, there have been 2 crack busts on my floor since the beginning of the month. I feel safer already.

Just an Update

2006-09-10T14:28:00.000-06:00

Hello. It occurred to me today that I haven't updated in a while. This is what's been going on. We have a new roommate. Brad's girlfriend Mandy moved in with us on the first of the month. We now have 4 people living here, so of course we coerced them into board games last weekend. We played Cranium and Pit. It was a good time.

Right now I'm chilly. I am drinking a Booser Juice smoothie, and while it is tasty, it is making me cold.

That is really all I have to say. I'm sorry that I don't have any more exciting news or any new pictures. I will try to be more interesting the next time I write.

Truck photos

2006-08-26T19:46:00.000-06:00

For those of you who have been curious about our new set of wheels, satiate your curiosity now:

It's such a cute little thing, isn't it?

I'm the birthday girl

2006-08-22T20:09:00.000-06:00

It's my birthday today. Yay me!

Here is a picture of one of the things that Zenon got me:

He also got me a lovely tea set that I can't wait to use. I'm waiting until we move into a larger place before I break them out. I'll try to take pictures soon.

The most exciting news from today is non-birthday-related. We picked up our new truck tonight. It is a 2006 Toyota Tacoma - black. Zenon is eager to take pictures of his new baby, so I'll post some soon.

Besides that, my birthday has been a bit anti-climactic. I opened my presents last week, had cake two weeks ago from work, and we did birthday dinner on Saturday (see below). I will say that Zenon bought me an ice cream cake that I will probably crack into before too long. And, the birthday cards and greetings that I had to open today were very heartwarming. So, all in all, not a bad day, especially considering that I had to work today.

In unrelated news, I love to crochet. That is all.

We are a cute couple

2006-08-19T22:34:00.000-06:00

Ok, it's not technically my birthday yet, but my birthday falls on a Tuesday this year, so, we went out for fancy birthday dinner tonight at the Keg. We got all dressed up and blinged out and ate a delicious meal. Here are pictures:

This is me, all dolled up. I'm wearing the birthday jewellery that Zenon got me last year.

This is Zenon, looking good. He is so photogenic. Either that, or I'm just a better photographer :).

Birthdays are fun.

Vacation Good Times

2006-08-09T20:30:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the long absence, everybody. As you can probably guess, I've been pretty busy. I was home in Ontario for 2 weeks. Here are some highlights of what I did:
- Saw this play at Stratford
- Attended Anie's birthday party
- Met my cousin's baby Adele
- Met Meg's baby Jack
- Went shopping in Toronto
- Coffee dates in Waterloo with Nad and Anna
- The Jane Bond with Ashley
- Oxford Drive-in
- A "jama" party with ice cream and Anie, followed by morning crafts
- Dinner in Stratford with Gillian

All in all, you could say that a good time was had by all. Well, perhaps not my Dad who had his surgery during my first week. But he bounced back pretty quickly and is doing well. His main problem is slowing down enough to recover.

It was a good holiday in that by the end, I was feeling relaxed and like myself again. It was very hard to come back to the frontier. But, I had promised Zenon that I would come back to him, so I did. Now he has abandoned me and gone to Nova Scotia for his holiday. Brad is also gone, so the apartment has been very quiet. I was home sick from work today, so perhaps it was good that everyone was in Nova Scotia. I'm surprisingly lonely, though. I got so burned out on social interaction while in Ontario that I thought that I'd enjoy the quiet time, but I feel a bit abandoned. However, Zenon says that he is buying me presents in Nova Scotia, so I am a bit mollified. I like presents.

I also like cake, and I have some in my fridge to eat. Yummy! Off I go.

In Ontario now

2006-07-24T19:31:00.000-06:00

Hello. Here I am, in Ontario! It has been a busy few days. I left Fort M on Saturday. My plane was delayed, so instead of flying into Ontario at 6:40pm, I didn't arrive until close to 9:30pm. I didn't mind the delay too much while still in the Fort, though, as I found out before Zenon drove away, so we were able to go home until it was time to leave again. When I got to Toronto, I had another delay, though, as they lost one of my bags. It was about 10:30 by the time we left the airport. I felt bad for my Mom, sister and Anie who had all come to pick me up. It was a late night for them. It was great to be reunited with them all, though.

I realized when I got home that the bag that was lost was the one that contained all my toiletry items. Luckily, I had quite a supply still at my parents' house, so I was able to make do until I could go shopping the next day.

Yesterday was a bit of a blur for me. Tammy and Anie were still here in the morning, so we had a delicious family breakfast of fruit salad and muffins. Later in the day, we went to visit both of my Grandmas (one at a time). We went shopping briefly at Zellers to pick up a few things, and then out for dinner (to Swiss Chalet! I have been missing this place). After dropping my Grandma O. off back at the home, my Mom and I watched the movie The Family Stone which I would not recommend to a friend. This movie had some really interesting ideas and so much potential, but it just got ridiculous by the end.

Today was a bit more relaxed, and I had the chance to catch my breath a bit. I spent the morning reading a book (I am reunited with my book collection! How lovely! I have so many things that I want to read during my vacation) and doing some suntanning on the deck. This afternoon my Mom and I went shopping for Anie's birthday present and some clothes. I bought some nice sweaters on sale for $15 each, as well as some T-shirts and things to get me through the rest of the summer.

My time here is filling up quickly. Tomorrow I am going to Michael's (the craft store) in the afternoon to drool over yarn and knitting equipment, and then tomorrow evening is Anie's birthday party. Wednesday is my Dad's surgery, and Thursday Mom and I are thinking about getting rush seats for a show in Stratford if we can. We also want to do more shopping and go to some movies before she goes back to work.

What I can't get over about here is how quiet it is! I haven't heard a siren since I left Fort McMurray, and I have trouble sleeping at night because it is so quiet, even with the windows open. There are no traffic sounds, no drunks walking home, no obnoxious motorcycles at 1am... It's so refreshing. I think that once I relax, it will be quite good for me.

Photos

2006-07-15T13:26:00.000-06:00

Hello. I figured out how to make our new camera take smaller pictures. Here are some pictures of our apartment, some that I just took today, and some that I took a while ago with the old camera.

This is our dining room, which is never used for eating. We use it more like a study. This is where I do my letter-writing and bill organizing, and Zenon has started using it as a place to do his business paperwork.

Here is half of our living room. I just took this picuture 10 minutes ago.

Here is the other half of our living room. In the foreground you can see our ergonomic chair, also known as the "knee-bum chair" because of how you sit on it.

This is our kitchen.

This my bathroom - the ensuite.

This is the view from our balcony back in May.

In other, non-photographic news, Zenon became an uncle this morning! He has an as yet unnamed nephew. Mother and son are doing well. Yay!

Also, it is one week from today that I fly home! Double yay! I picked a good time to go home, too, since my Dad is having major surgery while I am there. This is not something to yay about. But, I will be there, and that is yay worthy. Yay! Yay home!

I am having a pleasant day so far. Zenon, John and I went out for breakfast before those two went to work. Now I am having a quiet afternoon catching up on chores and drinking organic green tea, the taste of which reminds me of Wolfville. Last year's summer there was so wonderful - falling in love with Zenon, walks with Ashley, tea parties at Andrea's, spending each day reading in the sunshine... Wow I miss that lifestyle. The taste of green tea brings it all back.

I am also missing Brad today. He took off to Calgary (as usual), and there were many garage sales afoot this morning. Alas, I had no vehicle and no companion to explore them with. Oh well. It leaves me with more time for tea.

Knitting pattern, Brad's pockets, and stuff

2006-07-11T10:11:00.000-06:00

Hello. I have had a request for the pattern for my purse that I made. How exciting! I almost feel bad calling it a pattern because it's so easy, but anyway, this is what I did: I used Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick yarn, and then cast on about 30 or so stitches. I stitched in stockinette stitch until I was through one ball of yarn. Then I cast off. I made the strap by casting on 4 stitches from a second ball of yarn and doing garter stitch until it looked long enough (keep in mind that the straps will stretch once you wear the purse). Then I folded the bag in half (wrong sides together) and sewed up the sides, and sewed on the strap. You will want to line the inside with fabric, though, before you sew it all up. I missed this crucial step and my pencils always fall out. I have bought some fabric, though, to add to the purse. The final step is to find a funky button and sew it on the top, then attach a loop of the Thick and Quick to use with the button. Voila! A cool new purse in a weekend!

The other night Brad came home with wood in his pockets. We thought that he was just happy to see us, but no, it was actual wood - petrified wood, to be exact. He found it out at Suncor while he was working and thought that Zenon would like it. We guessed the wood's age at "older than real wood, but younger than tar sand."

In other news, it is now less than 2 weeks until I fly home. Yay! I am so excited that I can't even tell you. I have 8 more working days, not counting today.

Other exciting news is that Zenon's business is finally taking off. He quit his old job and is fully self-employed as of yesterday. It is scary, but exciting. I am going to have to very quickly learn how to do accounting so that I can take care of the books and of payroll for the business. 'Twill be interesting indeed.

And, of course, today is my Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!

Pictures from Edmonton

2006-06-25T21:33:00.000-06:00

So, our new camera takes amazing pictures. Unfortunately, their high quality means that the files are huge. Until we figure out how to make the files smaller, I maybe won't be posting too much. So, no pictures from last weekend. You will just have to take my word for it that it was CRAAAAAZZZZY.

Also, I made a video of a penguin who was running at me. He almost stepped on my toes. It was very exciting.

Best Girlfriend Ever

2006-06-19T10:22:00.000-06:00

So, I think that I am now the best girlfriend ever. Saturday was the one year anniversary for me and Zenon. How did we spend it? In Edmonton, on Whyte Ave, at a bar, watching the hockey game. I even wore Oilers gear. You can guess whose idea this weekend was. We didn't even go out for dinner, unless you consider nachoes at the bar going out for dinner (which I don't). I'll post pictures and tell stories later. Since you all know my feelings on hockey, and you probably know my feelings on crowds and drunkeness, you can see how I scored major bonus points this weekend.

In other news, there's a hippopotamous in my life right now that I'm not ready to talk about yet. Suffice to say, if I don't seem like myself these days, don't be offended, it's not you.

Startling Announcement

2006-06-12T12:22:00.000-06:00

I don't hate hockey.

I don't like hockey, either, but I don't hate it.

I nothing hockey.

That is all.

Pictures of Fort Mac

2006-05-30T17:50:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of various parts of town, for those of you who are curious about what it looks like up here. I took them all from the community website. None of them are from our camera.

Here is kind of a back view of my part of town. Our apartment building is in the upper centre part of this picture, to the left of the towers.

This is just a view that I drive by everyday off the side of the bridge. It's a nice photo of it.

This is an overhead photo of the bridge that connects the downtown area with the northern residential neighbourhoods. I drive over this bridge to get to work. Our building is in this picture too.
This is a view of Gregoire Lake, which is just south of town. Brad and I drove past it on our roommate date, and it was beautiful. It actually looked almost exactly the same then as it does in this picture, even though this picture is from someone else.

This is another view of the bridge from the other side. This picture seems to be from winter, or perhaps river break in the spring.

Heidi yesterday:

2006-05-27T07:21:00.000-06:00

Where nausea, PMS and 2 major job-related screwups intersect.

Man, what a bad day.

Finally, more pictures

2006-05-16T20:12:00.000-06:00

Here, at last, are the other pictures that I promised you. I don't have any scenery ones yet. I'll maybe go on a scenery tour this weekend. These are of my knitting projects thus far.

This is my purse that I made without a pattern. It was actually quite simple - stockinette stitch all the way through. This purse is popular. I have had 2 people ask me to make one for them. I will, too. I could make another one in less than a week.

Here is my shawl, which was also a rather quick project. Straight garter stitch, lightweight yarn and size 13 needles. I really like how it turned out.

Here is a picture of me wearing the shawl. This was just taken tonight after work. It is not a great picture of me either. I am just not that photogenic. Oh well. Also, Zenon took his time taking the picture, and I didn't know what to do with my face.

That is all I have to say for right now. I will try to get some pictures of me where I look half-decent for a change, if only for my own peace of mind.

Roommate dates rock

2006-05-08T18:10:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, Brad and I had our first official roommate date. We have had other unoffical roommate dates before, where one of us says to the other, "Do you want to come with me to the grocery store/Subway/for a walk?" but this was our first planned date. Brad and I decided a couple of weeks ago that the next weekend that he had off, he and I were going to explore some garage sales. That ended up being this weekend. Of course, Brad didn't exactly have it off as he picked up some overtime shifts at work, so he got home at 9am Saturday morning, just in time for us to get out before we missed all the good stuff.

Brad is a bad influence on me. He encouraged me to buy books and CDs that I didn't need, although we found some really good prices. We bought a stack of board games for $9 (Scotland Yard, Fun City, Pit and Lexicon) from a delightful British fellow. All of the games look like they're from the '60s or '70s, which just adds extra coolness. I also bought (at another garage sale) 2 Norton Anthologies for 25 cents each (you English majors will know what a treat this was). At that place, I had a chat with a lady about the goodness of Nortons and literature in general. She is reading Ulysses right now. I got 2 Margaret Atwood novels there too.

Most strange of all, though, was this one place that I went too whose box of books was an expression of me to a frightening degree (rhyming unintentional). In the first box I looked in, I found a Jane Austen book, a Beatles biography (I subsequently found another one in a different box), an Agatha Christie novel and an astrology book. I told the lady there to get out of my head. I think I frightened her a little. I ended up buying the Jane Austen and the Agatha Christie, even though I've read both before and have the Jane Austen one at home. I also picked up The Life of Pi and Tuesdays with Morrie.

On Saturday I also bought my first cup of lemonade from a lemonade stand. The little boy was so adorable. Brad and I couldn't resist.

All this shopping and exploring worked up our appetites (especially since I didn't have time for breakfast before we left, and Brad came off a night shift), so we decided to grab some lunch. Brad had heard some good things about the Duck Inn in Anzac, and I had heard of it too, so we decided to drive down and try it out. It was like something out of a movie. It was exactly what a small town bar/café/liquor store should be. It was dark on the inside, and shabby, though clean, with duck decor everywhere. Classic country was playing on the stereo, and by 12:30 in the afternoon the place was hopping with locals out to get their drink on. I had 2 gin and tonics and some nachos for breakfast. Brad had the more conservative rum and coke and eggs and toast. It was quite the experience, all told.

We drove home after lunch, and neither one of us could keep our eyes open. We lugged our many purchases upstairs, and we both went to bed around 3pm, happy with a morning well spent.

Pictures!

2006-05-07T18:31:00.000-06:00

We finally got a new cable for the digital camera. Here are some miscellaneous pics from the past few months. I will take some more once we get some new batteries for the camera (I know, I know...)

Here is Elmer McSquiggins, our ladybug friend.

This is a not-so-great picture of me in the coat that I got for Christmas. Mom was requesting this one. This was taken at the house that Zenon has been working on for the past number of months.

And the same again.

I will post more pictures soon. I have lots that I want to you show you!

May Day in the Fort

2006-05-01T08:02:00.000-06:00

There is a winter storm warning in effect for today, the first day of May. The temperature has been in the 20's most days for the past couple of weeks, but tonight they are calling for snow. Man this placed is messed up.

Speaking of messed up, on Friday we were evacuated from work. In fact, the whole town where I work was evacuated because of a potentially hazardous leak from the oil company next door. The company sent buses into the town to take everyone out. On the way home, we passed by an ambulance with its sirens going, heading into the town we had just left. It was scary. I found out afterwards that it the leak contained trace amounts of ammonia. 3 children were taken to hospital with stomach pains, but everyone else seemed to be OK. Remind me again why we're living here?

In happier news, I have finished 2 knitting projects in the past week or so. Once I can post pictures, I will show them to you. One is a purse and the other that I finished last night is a shawl. This knitting thing is very cool.

I am at work, and need to technically start doing stuff in about 5 minutes, so I'd best sign off now before my boss gets here. As much as my job doesn't do it for me, I'd still like to have one tomorrow.

Things I should probably mention

2006-04-11T12:37:00.000-06:00

1. Zenon and I now have a roommate. His name is Brad. He and Zenon have been friends since they were both little little. Even though Brad lives with us, we don't see him much. He brought a very big TV with him which is now in our living room. We like Brad.

2. I am making my first actual knitting project in a while. It is a bag. I think that it will look neat and carry paperbacks when it is done. I will post pictures later.

3. About posting pictures - Zenon and I haven't found the cables to connect his digital camera to the computer since we moved. Someday we will post pictures, though.

4. I have booked my vacation at work. I will be home between July 24 and Aug 5 or so. I still haven't booked a flight or anything, but that is when I'm expecting to come home.

5. I like ice cream.

6. My plants are not doing well. Except for my African violet, of course, which is fluorishing. I am worried about the others. I am not sure what has gone wrong.

7. I don't know how to spell "fluorishing". Is it "flourishing"? I will have to look it up.

Now we know I was right

2006-04-09T09:50:00.000-06:00

I thought that the last drink would be one too many.

I am going to spend the day on the couch drinking tea and watching Annie Hall.

Neat things that happen here

2006-03-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

These pictures are of one of the girls in my office. I may or may not have mentioned that my company is owned by a Native band, and my office is on a Native reservation. Anyway, one day a week or two ago, Pat in my office went out to dance on the river behind our office, and this is what she looked like:

Isn't she beautiful?

Inverse relationship

2006-03-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Why is it that the more homesick one gets, the fewer letters he/she receives from home? Odd, isn't it?

P.S. Hint hint.

Query

2006-03-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

How did I come to live in a place where no one knows how to spell and no one seems to care?

The best love letters

2006-03-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

The best love letters come in the mail, folded up into little packages and secured with stickers. They come written in messy 4 year old's writing, with backward D's written in pencil and flowers drawn in crayon. The best love letters arrive when you pick up the mail after a rough day at work, and they warm your heart long after you hang them on the fridge.

The best love letters make you feel special, even when you're far from home.

Long pause

2006-03-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I am sorry that I haven't posted in almost a month again. I am just finding that I don't have much to say these days. I will recap the highlights of February for you: February 18 I used the spa gift certificate that Zenon got me for Christmas. I got a massage, facial and pedicure done. It was heavenly. The weekend was made even better by the fact that Alberta celebrated Family Day on the 20th, so I had that day off too. Yay long weekends! Even Zenon had a 3 day weekend that week, so we got to spend lots of time together.

That's about all the news for February. Work continues to be stressful for me, but I'm finding myself better able to cope ever since I had that massage. My benefits at work have kicked in now, so I've got to get myself to the dentist etc. Zenon and I now have high speed internet, which is good. We were without for a month, and it was bad.

I finally saw the first Lord of the Rings movie in its entirety, and while sober. Wow does it make the other 2 movies make more sense.

I'm sorry that I don't have anything of substance to say. I don't really do much. I work, and then on weekends I watch TV and play Final Fantasy X. Besides the working, it's really an ideal lifestyle.

I promise to make my next post more interesting. For now, this makes me laugh a great deal.

"Signs" that you are in the oilfields

2006-02-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

You drive by this sign on your way home from work: "SMOKE NEXT 26 KM".

Ah, air pollution. Lung cancer smells like rotten eggs.

I am cursed

2006-02-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

I seem to carry some sort of phone curse. I wrote before about the escort service call. I had another early morning phone call on my cell phone about a month ago. After letting it ring and ring, I finally gave in and answered it, in case it was an emergency from home. When I answered the phone, I saw that it was an American number. The lady on the other end said, "Wakka wakka wakka!" or something that sounded like that. I think she was speaking Spanish or something. She continued to babble away. I said to her, "I'm sorry, I don't understand you," and eventually she passed me to a man who said, "Hello? Hello?" I responded, "Hi." He continued to say "Hello? Hello?" so I hung up. They called right back, so I shut off my phone. They didn't leave any voice mail.

The curse has followed us to the new apartment. Since we have moved in here, we have received several phone calls from people looking for Louise. They don't want to believe us when we tell them that Louise doesn't live here. The other day, a woman called and started talking to me. When I wasn't too responsive, she said, "Who is this?" I wanted to retort, "You're the one who called me!" but that seemed rude, so instead I said, "This is Heidi." "Who?" She asked. "Heidi," I answered. "Oh," she said, "I thought you were Louise." This morning, the phone rang at 6:15am. Zenon answered it. It was someone looking for Louise. When Zenon said that Louise wasn't here, the person said, "What about Louise's friend Heidi?" It is beginning to get creepy. My theory is that Louise is either an escort or a drug dealer. I'm going to start taking messages for her to find out.

Today was when the curse finally became clear. On my way home, I got a call on my work cell phone from someone looking for Heather. I told her she had the wrong number, and she verified the number she was calling. It is my old office number that I forwarded to my cell phone before it was cut off. Apparently, the forwarding persisted even when it was cut off and given to someone new. I got another call for Heather when I got home this afternoon. It is a good thing that the curse doesn't seem to extend (yet) to Zenon's cell phone, or else we'd never get any sleep. I suppose that this curse is an interesting way to meet new people, if nothing else. They always know how to get a hold of us.

Movin' on up (literally)

2006-02-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

This past week was not one that I'd like to re-live. Zenon and I moved into our new apartment. This is the good part. It is exciting! I love living on our own here, having a real apartment and real space for ourselves. I feel so much more like a grownup. The thing about moving, though, is that it sucks. While the outcome might be great, the actual act of moving is awful. Last week, not only did I have to pack and move our stuff into our new place, but our office also moved into a new building. I cannot tell you how sick I am of packing things and lugging them around and living out of boxes. However, the sunny side of it all is this great new apartment. The new office I'm still undecided about, but the new apartment is all thumbs up. My plants look really good here.

What else was I going to tell you? Oh, Zenon and I have a new family member to introduce to you all (no, I'm not pregnant, for God's sake calm down). His name is Elmer McSquiggins and he is adorable as heck. I'll have to post a picture. He is a very large ladybug who lets us use him as a pillow.

That might be the end for now. Oh, I bought a new exercise DVD that will allow me to bellydance my way to greater core strength. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like fun. I'll let you know if my core gets any stronger as I bellydance away.

Road trip to Edmonton

2006-01-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend Zen and I blew off the Fort and headed south to Edmonton for a couple of days. We drove down on Saturday morning and came back Sunday evening. It's about a 4 hour drive each way, depending on road conditions and traffic. It was worth it to get away, though.

When we first got to Edmonton, we spent a bit of time driving around to find the House of Tools. You can guess which one of us was most excited to go there. Our finding of this place was impaired by the fact that the street that it's on - 50 St. - stops and starts again without warning. We eventually found it, though, thanks to the help of our waitress at the lunch buffet place at which we ate. Zenon bought a bunch of stuff and seemed happy. After that, we went off in search of the hotel. Now, we had booked our hotel room in advance after doing some research on the internet. I made sure that Zenon looked up the address for the hotel before we left (I have learned from experience), but we found that once we were on the proper street, we couldn't remember the name of the hotel. We came to the first one on that strip (there was a row of them) and puzzled over whether it belonged to us or not. "I remember the hotel having "executive" in its name," I said. "Really?" Zenon asked. "I thought it had the word "royal" in it." "Well," I said, "Since this hotel has neither word in its name, let's keep looking." The next hotel along the way was the Royal Executive Hotel, so we were pretty sure it was ours.

After checking in, we spent the rest of the evening at the West Edmonton Mall. We went back there again on Sunday too. Man, that place is huge. We didn't get to do nearly everything that we wanted. We never got around to the water park or laser tag, but we did do glow-in-the-dark mini-golf and we saw the dinosaur exhibit (very informative). We also spent a lot of money. My favourite purchase was the collection of "Heaven 'n' Herb Herbal Packs" that we bought. They are like magic bags but better, and they smell like herbal tea when they're heated. I am wearing one on my shoulders now because they are so soothing. There we were, two crazy kids in Edmonton, and one of our larger purchases was a collection of healing packs designed to help ease aches and pains. You'd think we were 80 years old or something.

On Sunday we visited Zenon's cousin in Edmonton before coming home, which was nice. Peter makes a mean bowl of chili, and his girlfriend is nice too. The drive home was tedious, although not too snowy until the Mariana Lake area. It is not nearly so much fun driving home as it is driving away for a mini-vacation. It was a mini-vacation that we both needed, though. Work has been crazy busy and stressful for me lately, and Zenon is still working 6 days/week (last week being an exception). We both agree that things will be better once we have our own place, and have more space for ourselves. We are taking steps to make that happen, and are looking at 2 places tomorrow night. Wish us luck!

Cruel cruel fate

2006-01-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

My parents sent me the comics from the Toronto Star, and this ad was at the bottom:

The Booklover's Ball

Join Honorary Chair Mayor David Miller, Margaret Atwood and over 25 Celebrity Authors for a magical evening inspired by the written word.

Thursday, February 16, 2006
The Liberty Grand
Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario

Event Highlights:
- A Celebrity Author seated at each table
- Cocktail Reception and Silent/Live Auction
- Gala dinner menu prepared by Celebrity Chef Authors
- Novel-inspired fashion show

Come dressed as your favourite book title or character!

Sponorship, Table and Ticket information is available on the website at www.bookloversball.ca or by calling (etc).

This is the sort of event that I've been dreaming of my whole life. Here's the kicker - I can't go! There's no way I can be in Toronto on February 16. I am stuck here in the Great White North, having to love books alone with no ball to go to. I am like a colder version of Cinderella. Darn you evil stepmother (who in this case is the fate that led me here to Alberta)!! Darn you to heck!

Christmas pictures

2005-12-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some Christmas pictures. I will start with some from before Christmas. As many of you know, Zenon has started a tradition of growing a Christmas beard every year. He shaves for the last time on Remembrance Day and then not again until Christmas. This was my first time seeing it in person. This year, sadly (and that was sarcasm), Zenon had to shave his beard off early as they were using some sort of breathing equipment at work and he couldn't have any facial hair.

Here is Zenon just before the shave:

Now for some truly Christmas-y pictures. You will see how much better Zenon looks sans facial hair. This is our tree surrounded by presents in the living room:

Zenon and the presents:

And, finally, me and the presents:

These also show you a bit of our living room.

That is all I have to say for now. Z and I don't have any big plans for New Year's, as our friends here are all either working or in Newfoundland. We will still have a good time, though, I'm sure. We are thinking about going out for dinner and then watching movies all night. We have come up with worse plans in the past, none of which I will detail here. Happy New Year's, all!

Obligatory Christmas post

2005-12-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

Christmas went well here. I had 4 days off of work (well, actually about 4 1/2 since I got off at 10am on the 23rd) and Zenon is off until the New Year. We still don't know a lot of people here, so it was a quiet Christmas. Our housemate Kyle went home to Saskatchewan, so Zen and I had the place to ourselves, which was nice. Z and I bought our groceries for the holidays on the 23rd since I was home early, and then vowed not to do any shopping on the 24th because the grocery store was a madhouse.

On Christmas Eve we tried to see a matinee at the cinema, since I owed Zenon a movie, but both cinemas in town were closed that day. We came home after our fruitless movie search, and low and behold, Zenon cracks and lets me open one present of his choosing. It was the animated Grinch movie, which I had been missing. This is the one movie that gets me into the Christmas spirit above all others, and we didn't have a copy of it. So, we watched it in front of the fire, both of us dozing off before the end. Luckily, I've seen it before. Then, while we were on a Grinch roll, we watched the Jim Carrey version of the Grinch, which I had never seen and thought that I would hate. It came as a great surprise to me that this movie not only didn't suck, but I can see myself watching it again sometime.

Christmas Eve is when my family back home traditionally opens all the presents. My Mom called that night to ask me if I had opened the ones that they'd sent out earlier. I hadn't, so I did while I was on the phone with her. I got a very very nice and very high-tech new winter coat from my parents. Zenon says that I look very good in it, and I have decided to believe him. I also got a major burst of homesickness from their present. Until that night, I hadn't felt too bad about not going home for Christmas. I think that it's because being here is just so foreign and I've never spent Christmas here before, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Does that make sense? I just mean that I have nothing here to remind me of home in that way. If I were in Ontario, living in Waterloo, it would kill me not to spend Christmas with my family, but being here has no connection to either Christmas or my family, and is still so unfamiliar, that I was doing OK. I was, anyway, until I opened my present from my Mom. She made me a scrapbook called "A Book of Recipes and Memories" filled with the family recipes that I've been missing and with just about every family photo there is of me, and various other family photos. It is so gorgeous. It almost made me cry.

I had to pull myself together for church, though, as I decided to accompany Zenon to Christmas Mass that evening. I wanted to go to Midnight Mass, but Zenon objected because the service would be in French. I told him that he knew what they'd be saying anyway, and that I would translate for him, but he wasn't having it. So, we went to the evening mass at 8:30pm, which is not nearly as exciting to report. 8:30 Mass just doesn't have the same ring as Midnight Mass. Anyway, we went. It was good. It was made both better and worse by the presence of a number of children in the congregation. Kids are funny. This conversation happened right behind me:

Priest (in pulpit): And the joy of the Lord will be in your hearts tonight.
Child: Why?
Mother: Shhhhhhh!
Child: (whispering) Why?

I almost lost it here, but hid my tides of laughter in an attitude of solemn prayer. After church, Z and I watched The Polar Express, which we had rented earlier. It was quite good, though I didn't like how the children seemed to keep getting rewarded for disobedience. I am just an old fuddy-duddy, though.

Christmas morning involved lots of present opening, of course, since we each had lots of presents. Zen went overboard with me. What's wrong with this guy - does he think he's made of money? Highlights include a necklace with a lovely pendant, a gift cerfiticate for the spa, pajamas, Corner Gas seasons 1 and 2, March of the Penguins, and a mystery novel from the "Home Repair is Homicide" series, which includes "Home Repair is Homicide" home repair tips scattered throughout the story. I started reading it last night, and although I'm only on page 40, I have already learned what tools are essential for even the most basic toolbox. At this rate, I'll be joining Zenon on the jobsite before long.

On Christmas afternoon Zen and I went for a walk to return our movie, and when we got back Brad was here for a visit, so I started dinner. We had a lovely, though low key, Christmas dinner of lemon roasted chicken, mashed potatoes à la Zenon, and vegetables, with Mom's truffles from home for dessert. After dinner we cracked open another present from Zenon to me - the board game Hoopla. This is the funnest game that I have played in a long time. It is like Pictionary Plus. It is from the Cranium family of games. When we tired of the game, we put in some Corner Gas season 1 until Brad needed to leave and Zenon and I got sleepy (which happens a lot faster in front of a roaring (albeit fake) fire).

On Boxing Day we once again tried the cinema, this time with better results. I have fulfilled my part of the bargain and have seen King Kong with Zenon. He now owes me one new penguin movie that is coming out in the fall. KK wasn't too bad, actually. It was a lot better than I was expecting - entertaining and all that. Yesterday we braved the crowds and did some shopping and errands. Zenon had to exchange the hammer I got him for Christmas, and he didn't get a wrestling movie that he was really hoping for, so all of that needed to be rectified. I, on the other hand, knew that Bluenotes was having a huge Boxing Week sale, so I took the opportunity to buy myself some more comfy clothes for home and work. Interestingly, the book store is on the way to Bluenotes. They were also having a huge Boxing Week sale, so I picked myself up a few things. I love books.

Today it was back to work, but I got off at noon, so that's not too bad. I wore one of my new comfy outfits. I looked sleek and mysterious in a black fuzzy jogging suit.

And now you're up to date at Chronicles of Acadia.

I enjoy a good bit of postmodern irony

2005-12-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

I'm The Internet-Addict Test!

I love in-jokes, especially if they help highlight the marvellously geeky cultural differences between my internet clique and the rest of the world.

Click here to find out which test you are!

Test-stravaganza

2005-12-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

i am open-minded!

How indie are you? test by ridethefader

You're pretty knowledgeable about music in general. You like indie music, sure, but that's only part of it.
You'll listen to any old shit as long as it sounds good to you. You're not snobby about music at all, you
just like what you like. How boring. Curiously, this makes you popular with the opposite sex.

Kiss me I'm rabid

2005-12-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Which Horrible Affliction are you?
A Rum and Monkey disease.

Decomposing composers

2005-12-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

If I were a Dead Russian Composer, I would be Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Considered the leader of the 19th Century Composer group "The Mighty Handful," I am indeed the teacher among them. My orchestration skills are superbly colorful, and are explained in my book on the topic, but works like "Scheherezade" explain my mastery better.

Who would you be?
Dead Russian Composer Personality Test

Love and hate

2005-12-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

Why I love Fort McMurray:
1. My first temp job involved me getting paid $13/hr for reading my book for 3 days.
2. My current job just paid me $18/hr this afternoon to sit in a boardrooom eating pizza and watching TV.
3. It doesn't snow very much and there are on average only 2 days/year with whiteout conditions.
4. Laid back employers.
5. Lots of Newfies.
6. Everyone gets a ride to work.

Why I hate Fort McMurray:
1. Christmas is coming and I'm very far away from my family.
2. Rent is higher than in Toronto.
3. Vacancy rates are zero.
4. The sun rises at 8:30am and sets at 4pm. Most days I don't get to see it.
5. No salt trucks.
6. The bed gets really cold at night.
7. Black ice and lots of it.

I guess everything balances out in the end. I can't wait for summer and the midnight sun and for how beautiful the middle of nowhere will be then.

List of random things

2005-12-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

1. How I feel about my new job: Good. I like it.
2. Startling realization I had the other day: I am happy here. I love living with Zenon, and only wish that we had more time together, and my new job is quite enjoyable.
3. Preferred taco seasoning: Old El Paso. I tried mixing the PC brand of taco seasoning with sour cream last night, and it just wasn't as good.
4. Plans for the weekend: A trip to Edmonton and the West Edmonton Mall.
5. Happy thing that happened today: I got paid!!!!
6. Most startling recent change in perception: -11 is now "warm".
7. Number of plants I own: 4
8. Days until we have TV again: 1
9. Time I get off work tomorrow: 2pm
10. Other startling realization I had recently: It no longer feels exotic to be in Alberta. I'm starting to feel at home here.
11. Not-so-secret desire: To have our own place. Zen and I want to get an apartment. Sharing the house is a little stressful.
12. Secret confession: I'm running out of things to put on this list.
13. Favour I'd like you to do for me: If you see Billy Peddle, tell him I want tea!

Tease

2005-12-04T20:10:00.001-07:00

I also meant to say that I installed Civ IV onto the computer last night, but I don't think that our video card will support it. What a frustrating tease. The game, or what I can see of it, anyway, looks like it will be great.

What I learned today

2005-12-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

So, what I learned today is that while I always thought that I'd seen the entire series finale for Degrassi High, I had in fact only seen the first half. It is possible that I was young enough when it first aired to have a bedtime, and thus missed the final exciting moments of the series. Rest assured, dear readers, that this oversight has now been corrected. Not only that, but I have spent the last two days catching up on Degrassi: The Next Generation episodes that I missed while in Nova Scotia and here (since the satellite for the TV here still isn't hooked up). While an entire weekend spent in pajamas may seem like a lazy one, or one with a lot of wasted time, it felt damn good to do it.

In other news, the new job is going OK. I think that I'll like it enough once I'm fully trained. There's no part of it that seems terribly horrible, although carrying the after hours cell phone all the time is annoying. For those of you who are wondering, I am working as the Shell Administrator for a fuel distribution company.

What else can I tell you? I was infected with my first bit of Christmas spirit this morning. I was laying in bed eating clementines and chocolate while watching Degrassi episodes, and it suddenly felt like Christmas time to me. It made me realize how much I am still a university student at heart, as it was the idleness of just being able to watch TV like that without thinking of other things that I should be doing instead that really made it feel like Christmas. For the first time since I got here, I regretted not continuing with school. On the other hand, I get my first paycheque in over a month and a half on Thursday of this week. I have been counting down the days. Being able to actually afford things is a treat that I'm really looking forward to.

Not much else to say right now. I feel like I should have a lot more to tell you, but I have been feeling un-wordy lately. Perhaps it is the atmosphere up here.

I swear...

2005-11-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

...by the time I leave this place, I'm going to talk like a Newfoundlander. Every second or third person I meet out here is a Newfie, and my speech patterns are already changing.

The neatest part is that they pronouce my name "Hottie".

Picture extravaganza

2005-11-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

So, we have finally uploaded all of the pictures from Zenon's camera. Today I will post some pictures from our adventures in Ontario during our week before we left, starting with some from Toronto.

Here we are at the CN Tower. I don't know why we bought this photo, but we did.
Here is a view of Toronto from the CN Tower.
This is Zenon laying down on the glass floor. Look how chubby the gravity makes his cheeks look!

Now here are some from Niagara Falls:

Here is Zenon with the Falls in the background.
This is a nice shot of the Falls.
This is me with the Falls in the background.

Hmmm.... It won't let me post the best picture of all. I think that the file is too big. Anyway, enjoy what I've posted here. I will be adding lots more later.

P.S. To those who haven't seen them yet, these are my new glasses.

Another Announcement

2005-11-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

I got the job! Yay! My boss is picking me up tomorrow morning at 7am. Paycheques, here I come!

4am phone conversation

2005-11-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

So, this morning the house phone wouldn't stop ringing. I tried to ignore it, since it is in the kitchen and thus muted, but finally got frustrated and answered it.

H: Hello?
Man on other end: Hi, how are you?
H: (thinks it's the landlord) Fine, and you?
Man: Oh, I'm good, I'm good. Is anyone available?
H: Available? (wondering what the landlord needs at this hour.... has he been arrested?)
Man: To drive.
H: Drive what? (realizes at this point that it must not be the landlord)
Man: Isn't this Nexus Services?
H: No, this is... this is... (gropes in sleep-fogged mind for the right word) a residence.
Man: Oh, I'm sorry. *click*

Editor's Note: Zenon thinks that the man is likely to have said "Isn't this an escort service" as opposed to what I wrote above. Upon reflection, this makes a lot more sense, actually, and adds humour to the story, so let's go with that.

A harrowing, eventful day

2005-11-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

So, today was my second day at this temp placement. It was more stressful than my first day. The stress began right when I went in. I keyed in the security code that they gave me, sat down at the desk and started getting my stuff organized. The phone rings. It is the alarm company. "Hello. We got a distress call from your office... The police will be over momentarily." And they were. Great. Just after the cop leaves, I get a call from the supervisor. "You know that there was a distress call? They're sending the RCMP over." My first thought was "Hee hee...RCMP..." because we don't really have them in Ontario. My next was, this is so embarassing.

I had to leave for an appointment this morning. 10 minutes before I go, one of the others in the office drops a pile of stuff on my desk and says, "This needs to be in Edmonton ASAP. Make sure it goes out today." Then the phone rings. It is the payroll person. "Hello. I'm sending you some cheques right now that have to go out to site ASAP." I should take this opportunity to clarify that my job description was "All you have to do is answer the phones - don't worry about anything else." Expectedly, my training included answering the phones and nothing else. So, this courier stuff panicked me a little, especially since I had to do it in 10 minutes so as not to be late for my interview.

Went to the interview. I was the slightest bit late. I will talk about the interview in a second. I drove back to the office. I get there and see that the alarm had been set. Crap, I think to myself. But, I figure that I can type the code in properly this time. So, I go in, punch in the code, the alarm stops, I sigh with relief. The phone rings. You can probably see where this is going. "We got a distress call from your office..." Swear words were running around my head. I wanted to cry, especially when I saw what the supervisor had written on my timesheet about me leaving. However, it all started to look up not long after that. The supervisor came in and told me that the code I had was wrong. They had added a new code to the keypad yesterday, which apparently made the old code into the panic code, as opposed to the shut off code. So, it wasn't my fault that the cops had to come to the office. Also I explained to the supervisor about my appointment and it seemed to go OK.

I don't want to jinx it, but the interview seemed to go very well. I will find out tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. This is one of the jobs where they pick you up and drop you off so you don't have to drive to work. Imagine - no winter driving for Heidi! There are lots of other good things about this job too. I am really hoping that it works out.

Zenon's Christmas beard is really filling in now. The stubble was sexy for about 4 days, but we have very much passed that point by now. I am waiting very excitedly for the Christmas shave. Z and I are getting a housemate tomorrow. One of the landlords is taking of the bedrooms across the hall. It will be different to have to share. Z and I are also looking into finding ourselves a private apartment.

Well, I guess it's time for dinner. The weather today was sunny and +1. It sounds like Ontario got hit with quite the snowstorm. I would laugh at them, but I know that we will be getting hit soon, and for 5 months, so I will save my laughter.

P.S. If you are my sister you should not have read this entry as you are getting a letter with this information in it. Act surprised when it arrives.

Follow up announcement

2005-11-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

I am employed! I had my interview at the temp agency today (and by "interview" I really mean "system of tests designed to tell them if you lied about your computer proficiency") and I am starting my first assignment tomorrow. Temp work isn't my lifetime goal, but it is good for now. Maybe there will be a Christmas after all. The base rate for temp work is much higher here than it was back in Ontario. Tomorrow I will make $13/hr to answer phones. This wouldn't happen back home.

I still have the other interview on Thursday, which I decided to still go to since it is for a permanent position. Things are looking up, here. Although, my stomach seems to be acting up. I hope that it's just because of my unhealthy habits lately and that it will go away after a healthy dinner tonight.

Not much else to say except that I rocked the tests at the temp place. Well, not the Excel one. I was only average on that one. But the others... boo yeah!

I have to be somewhere at 8am tomorrow. It has been a while since I've seen 8am, let alone was up and dressed for it. I think that it might be a tough go in the morning.

Random Announcements

2005-11-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

First of all, I just noticed that my blog is a year old now. Yay! I think that the earlier entries are the best ones, so if you get bored someday, feel free to browse through the archives. I think that I am probably the only one who gets that bored. Which brings me to announcement number two. My days of being a lonely housewife may be coming to an end - I have 2 interviews this week!!! Yay!!! I re-vamped my resume last week, and it seems to have worked. Please keep your fingers crossed, as I really really need a job. The third announcement is that I have officially returned to the world of the internet. We are no longer using stolen wireless signals, but are nicely connected broadband-style. Yay!!!

I will post further updates as events warrant.

P.S. I have had 3 different addresses in the past year - each in a different province. Does that strike anyone else as a tad excessive?

The TransCanadian Journey: Entry the First

2005-11-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

Zen and I started our odyssey on October 28. We left almost on time, by which I mean we left less than an hour later than we'd planned. It was a chaotic morning, but I managed to get ready, and Zen managed to cram all of our stuff into the car. The morning was sunny and beautiful as we set out, which I decided to take as a good omen. The mood in the car was jubilant as we began, as we were both excited to finally be on the road after talking about it and planning it for so long.

We saw the road to Damascus on the way to Arthur. I wish we'd taken a picture. Once we got past Linwood, everything was covered in frost. I told Zenon that it looked like the world had been dipped in icing sugar. My favourite place in that early pre-Barrie part of the journey was Grand Valley, a tiny little town. There was a gray house on the edge of town that overlooked the valley and the river, trees an cemetery contained within. With everything frosted, the scene looked like something out of a book. I could imagine myself retiring there to write a novel about elves and romance.

We made it to the 400 highway without a problem, singing and being silly and enjoying ourselves. I rested for a while on the 400 while Zen drove, and when I opened my eyes again we were in the Muskokas, which were as beautiful as ever. We stopped in Parry Sound for lunch and photo ops, as that is where Bobby Orr is from, I learned, and Zenon wanted proof that we'd been there. We didn't see Bobby Orr, but Zenon did get a picture of the water tower. I took over the driving after lunch. Zenon put in a Great Big Sea CD and there was much singing and rejoicing done by all. The drive to Sudbury was peaceful and uneventful.

In Sudbury, we of course had to stop and take pictures by the giant nickel, which, by the way, is not as easy to find as you'd think. After that it was off to Sault Ste. Marie, which we found without a problem. We stayed in the Howard Johnson at the edge of town, which, though cost effective, was not the nicest place that we were to stay in during our travels. I don't recommend it to others.

Once we were settled, I got a hold of Ken for our first rendezvous in almost 4 years. He looked good - content. I also got to meet his partner Liisa for the first time. I liked her. She was giggly. She gave me a picture of the kids, which I've been waiting for. The four of us parted with Ken and I promising to write each other more often and Zen and I returned to our room to prepare for our next big drive the next morning.

Quick update: We are fine

2005-11-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hello. This will be short because I'm working on someone else's stolen wireless signal, and I don't know how long it will last. Zen and I arrived safely in Fort McMurray on Nov. 2. The trip was fine. More details and pictures to come later when we have our own internet (before the end of the month). We are settled in here now nicely. The house is gorgeous, and so far we have it to ourselves, which is nice. The house is brand new and our landlords are very good. Zen found a job as a carpenter making good money. I am still looking for work.

That is all for now. I will post this before the signal dies.

P.S. There is no snow on the ground here yet, contrary to popular belief. The past two days the temp was up around 10.

More adventuring, with lots more to come

2005-10-27T15:04:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy week. On Tuesday, Zenon and I headed to Toronto, as Zenon was excited to be the first one in his family to grace that hallowed city with his presence. We took the bus, which was a good idea. First thing we did once we hit town was to visit the CN Tower. We went for the Total Tower Experience, and saw the cheesey '80s video about how the tower was built, went on the Lego ride, and then went right up to the Skydeck. We took a bunch of pictures which I will post at a later date.

After the tower we ate at a very nice Greek restaurant that we walked past. The food was amazing. While there, we learned that we had walked right by the Hockey Hall of Fame, which was the reason that Zenon wanted to go to Toronto in the first place. When we found it after dinner, it, alas, was closed. You could almost hear Zenon's heart breaking. My heart, on the other hand, felt nothing but relief. We had similar bad luck at the ACC afterwards.

Oddly enough, I ran into someone I knew in Toronto. What are the odds? Not good, whatever they are, exactly. Anyway, walking around Union Station I heard someone call my name. It ended up being Jason, which was exciting. He gave us directions to the bus station, which was helpful. It was neat to see him after so long.

Yesterday Zen and I went to Niagara Falls. I have lots of pictures from that trip as well, but I will post them later too. I'm such a tease, hee hee. Yesterday was a very fun day, filled with wax dummies, waterfalls, laughter, sharks and old-time photos. I need to go now as I have a busy evening planned, so I will leave the rest to your imagination.

So, farewell my friends, and wish me luck on the great cross-country adventure. I will update you on my happenings as soon as I can. Write me lots of letters in Alberta.

Untitled

2005-10-24T18:56:00.000-06:00

So, it's been an interesting couple of days. Friday was my last day at work, and I was probably the most hyper that I've been in years. I couldn't sit still or stop humming. Luckily, partway through the morning I had a new person to train, so that helped me to calm down, because I wasn't going to make it through the day otherwise. Saturday morning I picked up Zenon from the airport. It was a bit of a harrowing drive, but all went well. I brought him home to meet my family, and it seemed to go well. We watched a movie cuddled up on the couch with Anie, who wouldn't leave my side. After dinner my sister and her family left for Tim's parents' house, and Zen and I watched another movie before bed.

Yesterday morning we joined my Dad on the coffee tour so that Zen could meet some of my relatives. We didn't see as many as we thought we would, but enough so that word will spread that Zenon actually exists. Today was an exciting day, at least for me. I finally got the last wire off of my teeth from having braces years ago, and I picked up my new glasses. Everything is so clear to me now, and my teeth feel so smooth! It's been a good day, made better by the fact that my Mom made Zenon's favourite pie for dessert. Mmmm.... pie. Tomorrow we are planning on doing some touring. Zenon wants to see the CN Tower and Niagara Falls etc since we are in the area.

Having Zenon here has felt different than I expected. It has made me realize that our crazy scheme is actually real and actually happening. I have learned that in my head, "moving to Alberta with my boyfriend of only a few months" was a great story to tell people, but that I didn't actually believe it was going to happen. Well, now I have to face the fact that I'm going to the true Great White North and not returning for quite some time - I am figuring that it will probably be 6 months before I am back. People at work kept telling me that I was brave for following this crazy scheme, and I always just replied, "Meh." But, now I'm seeing that they were right - this is a very scary step that we're taking.

I will try to post pictures of me in my new glasses soon - possibly from our excursions in the next few days.

A kink in the plans

2005-10-20T18:06:00.000-06:00

I am so good at planning. For the upcoming move, I have lists galore, ideas of what to pack and how, plans for the route and activities along the way... it is all coming together. I was even marvelling at how little I had that I wanted to pack. It all seemed too good to be true. And it was. Today I did a test run with my big packing bin. Turns out, it does fit into the trunk of the car as I was hoping. However, it also turns out that that is all that fits into the trunk of the car. As always, packing space in my head was larger than it appears in real life. Assuming that I have to leave the backseat for Zenon's stuff, that means that I have very little room to pack enough stuff to start a new life with. This could take some more planning...

In other news, my planning and packing has fallen a bit behind this week because I've come down with a nasty head cold. For a couple of days it felt like there was an elephant standing on my sinuses, but I think that I'm on the upswing now. I have to be on the upswing, because Zenon is arriving on Saturday (!) and I have to be well enough to pick him up from the airport.

Hmmm... not much else to say. Life with a 4 year old around continues to be entertaining. Tomorrow is my last day of work until I find something new in Fort McMurray. I like cheese. A crochet hook is all that stands between me and finishing the fringe on Gillian's scarf. Life is good. Now it's time for tea.

Weekend Abstraction

2005-10-17T18:37:00.000-06:00

Things have been a bit busy lately. On Friday, my sister and her family moved in for the week while they are between houses. This means that I've been getting lots of playtime with my 4 year old niece, which is fun but exhausting. I need to come up with more fun games for us to play together,as Go Fish loses its charm much more quickly than I remember. I must say that it is lovely to come home to a big enthusiastic hug every night after work.

This weekend was also fun because I got together with Anna and Nad and Shanifa for a dance excursion out to Club Abstract. I hadn't been there since 3rd year, so it had been a while. I think that it is hands down my favourite dance club that I've ever been in. The vibe there was about having a good time, not about being sexy or trying to pick up or performing. I just felt like everyone there was there to dance their asses off and have fun. I also danced my ass off and had fun. It was the most "free" I've ever felt on a dancefloor, and it's not like I often feel constrained out there. Saturday also gave birth to my new favourite going out shirt. It is a black T-shirt with the Playboy bunny on it in sparkly gems. I wear the Playboy symbol ironically, or else as a symbol of the sexual liberation that came with second wave feminism (because in my head it's still 1969). Anyway, the sparkliness of the T-shirt turns me into an instant glamour queen, at least in my head. Even in the Williams bathroom I was inspired to bust a few moves until someone else appeared and I ran away.

After the dancing at Abstract, I slept over at Anna's, so I had a quiet morning laying in their soft guest bed. I have learned to appreciate the quiet after these couple of days spent living with an enthusiastic 4 year old. It was also fun to have girl-talk with Anna over breakfast in our pjs.

The Zenon countdown also continues. Only 5 days until we're again in the same province! My trip preparation is going slowly because my evenings are spent playing Memory and doing bead crafts with Anie, but I am still more than ready to see him.

Peanuts characters

2005-10-11T15:38:00.000-06:00

This seemed oddly true.

You are Rerun!

Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Exciting News

2005-10-10T19:57:00.000-06:00

So, Zenon and I have a place to live in Fort McMurray! It is the main bedroom in a house. We will have our own bathroom, but we'll share a living space with 2 others. It sounds like it's a fairly new house, and Zenon said that the owners sound really nice. Yay!!!! Yay to having a place to live!!! Yay to having a forwarding address!!! I will be e-mailing said address out at some point before I leave, because I will be expecting lots of letters from everyone, especially since we won't have a computer for a while when we get out there.

That is all I have to say for now. Oh, no, I have other (somewhat less) exciting news - I finished Gillian's scarf! I swear that that thing was cursed, and its curse lasted right to the end - I did something wrong when I bound off the stitches. Mom suggested adding fringe to make it prettier and to hide the mistake, so I might try that later. Still, the main part of the scarf is finished. Yay!

I hope everyone had a good long weekend. I had a very lazy one, but that is good.

Manic puttering

2005-10-08T07:30:00.000-06:00

I have been a little hyper lately. That is an understatement. I have felt so happy and excited about our road trip and big move. I have remembered that I have a sense of humour and that I have a certain quirky charm that people seem to respond well to, and I have been using it. Work has become a lot of fun because I just laugh and enjoy people (and knit - yesterday I took my knitting to work to do at lunch, and it was a good idea) and bounce around, and similarly, I've noticed that my skills at small talk have improved because I have so much happiness about my own life that it bubbles over into concern about other people's lives. It is a little crazy (the mania - not the caring about other people's lives).

The second thing that I wanted to mention is that I have a 3 day weekend to just putter around. I am very excited about this. I woke up this morning and laid in bed, planning my day, and I realized that the only thing I have planned for the day is to go into town to buy some yarn so that I can finish Gillian's scarf. It is exciting to be able to just putter. I have some people who might call me to get together this weekend, which is fun, but as I wait for them to call or not call, as the case may be, I have lots of time to organize and pack and to read a book for fun (fun or the book club, either way) and do those things that I just haven't had time for. Also things will be quiet around here for a while. Mom is gone tonight. She has become a leafer and is going up to the Muskoka/Algonquin Park area with my Grandma, aunt and cousin to sightsee. On Monday, she and Dad are leaving to spend the week at a cottage up north for their anniversary, so I will have the place to myself all week. I will enjoy the peace and quiet, which is good because next weekend my sister and her family will move in with us for a week and it will be a full house.

Autumn has finally struck here. Earlier this week it was 28 degrees, sunny and gorgeous, but yesterday it was only 10 degrees and rainy, with that cold, gray way of autumn rain. I'm told that up North, where we're headed, there have already been snowstorms. This Alberta thing is looking less and less like a good idea all the time, or at least the part where we drive there. Of course, driving means that we get to take more books, so it's not all bad.

Announcement, or, why Heidi has been a stress case lately

2005-10-06T18:31:00.000-06:00

Zen and I are heading for Alberta by the end of the month. He is flying in on the 22nd, and we are leaving probably the next weekend. So, I don't have very long to make last visits and last goodbyes and to get things done and to unpack and repack and organize and do stuff and to make lists and check things off my lists and to go crazy, which is perhaps for the best. I have been spending my evenings sewing Christmas ornaments (they are very cute - I will have to post a picture), which isn't the most productive use of my time all things considered, but is the funnest. I have the week off work between when Zenon arrives and we leave, so that is all good. I am planning to do the majority of my packing then.

I was reading Reader's Digest today at work, and it was talking about Canadians and sex. The average number of times that a Canadian has sex per year is 99. The Quebecois have sex 107 times per year on average, while the Atlantic provinces come in second in frequency at 106. Ontario is the second lowest at 95 times per year, so I am happy to be dating a Maritimer. Maybe he can help me boost my numbers, once we are together again. The article broke the numbers down in other ways too. The age group having the most sex is the 21-24 year old one, which isn't a surprise. 16-20 year olds are a close second, and then comes my age group, quite a bit lower. I guess that I have passed the prime time for sex in my life. *Sigh* Another interesting fact is that married couples have the least sex by frequency at 95 times per year. People living common-law have sex 127 times per year (yahoo!) while single people have sex 99 times per year. The moral of this story: don't get married and don't get old (the over 45 age group has a lot less sex than anyone else).

Nothing else to say. Work has been fun. We have a new girl who started this week. I need to bake something tonight to take into work tomorrow for a food day. I cut myself with my utility knife (this didn't happen at work). Life goes on.

The Secret Underground Ping-Pong League (which is perhaps not quite so secret anymore)

2005-10-02T20:08:00.000-06:00

The first (and indeed the founding) tournament of the SUPPL happened yesterday in the basement of Gillian's new house. The two teams present were the Hot Mamas, made up of Anna and me, and the Freak Picassos, which was comprised of Gillian and Derek. While it cannot be said that there was a lot of grace and skill being displayed at the games, there was much laughter and excitement. The SUPPL follows slightly different rules than the ordinary ping-pong audience would expect. For instance, the ping-pong table is present merely as a suggested target. The ball is still in play when bounced off of ceilings, walls, floors, and other players. Indeed, such maneouvers are encouraged as they add to the excitement of the game and the enjoyment of the players. Before beginning each round, the players must assume the proper standing position of having their butts sticking out as far as possible and balancing thusly on the balls of their feet, which can be quite challenging (and incidentally, having all the players do so may reduce at least one of them into hopeless giggles for a matter of minutes (and incidentally, this player may be me)). The other main difference between traditional p-p games and those played within the SUPPL is that SUPPL rules require the players to use sound effects when they hit the ball with their paddle. Acceptable sound effects include frightened shrieks, Batman sounds (e.g. "Bam!" "Pow!" "Bop!") or any other word or sound that comes to mind. The SUPPL has deemed it unfun to keep score at its matches, so the players play for the pure joy of ping-pong.

Future matches will potentially include custom-printed T-shirts for team members, spandex, and black light, although these plans are still preliminary.

I am in a twilight zone

2005-09-28T17:31:00.000-06:00

I am having trouble remembering where I live. Not literally. I mean, I can find my way home from work each night, that's not the problem. What I mean is that I feel like at the same time that I'm living here, part of me is still back in Nova Scotia, while another part has already gone to Alberta. I spend my days reminiscing about Wolfville and planning the move to Fort McMurray. When I drive around Stratford and the surrounding area, I no longer see it with the eyes of a local. So much has changed since I last was a regular here, and I have changed so much that my perceptions are totally different. Also, all of my Stratford friends have moved away or fallen out of touch or whatever (Meg is the exception here, but as we still haven't gotten together, she doesn't count yet), so there is a totally new set of people that I interact with everyday. Everything looks the same, and yet different, like "life, moved 2 inches to the left". I am in a twilight zone not in the sense that my life is full of freaky incidents, but in the sense that I'm in a transition period. Twilight is the time when it's no longer day, but isn't quite night. Similarly, I am only here for a short time before I move on to something completely different. It's strange feeling.

In more prosaic news, things have been going better for me. I am liking work more, overall, though this is partly because I know that it's temporary. Also, today someone from the office downstairs was asking about me, wanting to know if I'm single. It was a compliment to start the day off right. Last night I gave blood and when they did the copper sulfate (or whatever it actually is) test, my blood dropped right to the bottom. My blood has never done that before. I have kickass iron-rich blood for the first time ever! No one else has been as excited as me about this, which I guess is understandable. Yesterday I also got a haircut, which again, is only exciting to me, but my hair looks a lot better and today I was even able to wear it curly. This past Saturday I went shopping with my Mom and my Grandma O. I bought more nice work outfits, and some nice black shoes for work. I am going to stop spending money now. Soon, anyway.

I have nothing more definite to report yet about the Alberta plans, so don't even ask. The apartment search isn't going well, but I still have lots of avenues to explore (both literally and figuratively, hee hee).

News-a-poppin'

2005-09-23T19:50:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been an eventful couple of days. I will start with the news that has nothing to do with me. I found out that Meg, my best friend from high school, is pregnant. She is into her 6th month. I was shocked when I found out, but then I remembered how I've been wanting one of my friends to get pregnant so that I'd have an excuse to knit baby blankets and such that didn't make me seem like a crazy person. I now have that excuse. Yay! Congratulations Meg and Dan!

Last night I went to see my sister's new house. They are moving in at the beginning of November. I'm not very often jealous of other people's possessions, but I am jealous of their new house. It is gorgeous! I love the design, it is very open, and the proliferation of rooms... There is one in the front that would make a great reading room/library. I also love the master suite. It has French doors that open into the back yard, an ensuite bathroom with a large jacuzzi, large shower, and the toilet in its own separate cubby with a door, so that one person can pee while the other is in the bath or shower, and privacy is maintained. The ensuite then opens up into a walk-in closet. I am going to have to take Zenon on a visit there sometime so that he can build me a house with similar features someday.

This brings me to the piece of news about me. I have found a job in Fort McMurray, so I will probably be out there before Christmas. DriverCheck, where I used to work, is opening a new office up in Fort McMurray, and since I am moving out there, they want to put me in charge of it. I don't think that it will be as glamourous as that sounds, as my job sounds like it will be answering phones, data entry and processing, and the like, and I might even have to collect urine sometimes, but it is still pretty cool. CP, the boss, thinks that the office will be incredibly busy, and I love the idea of starting something new like that. I am really excited and scared. The details are still being ironed out, so I will be around for another few weeks, but not for too much longer maybe. I still have to finish getting unpacked and organized from being in Nova Scotia! Zenon still hasn't been called out there, but I'm really hoping that that happens soon. It looks like our crazy plan to run away to Alberta is going to actually happen after all. I wasn't sure about it, but things are looking good.

That is all the news I have for now. Things are going fine otherwise. Work was busy today, so the day went quickly. Tomorrow I think I'll go shopping and run errands in Stratford. If anyone wants to donate, I'm now starting the "Help Heidi pay to move to Alberta" fund. It's a great cause. Be generous and give today.

A less grumpy update (alternate title: Zenon is my boyfriend)

2005-09-21T17:47:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry if my posts lately have been abrupt in tone. It is just that I haven't been sleeping well, and work for some reason puts me in a bad mood. Or perhaps it is the drive. Whatever it is, every evening I come home feeling tired and grumpy. It is probably just people burnout, and then coming home to see my parents doesn't help with that. Anyway, my grumpy mood has passed for the moment, so here I am, being cheerful for your enjoyment.

My family has become addicted to soduku puzzles. If you would also like to share the addiction, here is the site that I used to get Zenon addicted to them as well.

I had forgotten how much I like the show Arrested Development. I watched the season premiere on Monday and laughed my ass off, as usual. Even Mom enjoyed it, and she hasn't seen the first 2 seasons. It is the next show that I want to get Zenon addicted to.

I should explain the alternate title to this post. Since we are so far apart, Zenon worries when I don't mention him on my blog because he thinks that either I'm not thinking about him as much anymore, or else that Hot Guy has begun to move in. Hot Guy is someone Zenon created, who will reportedly try to seduce me with his briefcase and propensity for rubbing his own tummy. Oh, and his dashing good looks. Anyway, in order to let Hot Guy (and others) know that I'm no longer "on the market", Zenon wanted me to title this post with the alternate title. Like anyone didn't know that Zenon is my boyfriend. Like I talk about anything else these days. Anyway. That is how that happened.

Hmmmm... what else is there to say? Tomorrow the family is taking a field trip to see my sister's new house that she'll be moving into at the beginning of November. That will be fun. I'll also get to see Anie and find out how her first week of school is going. I hope that she's enjoying JK.

I think that it's been good for me to be home, even though it's been pretty icky as well. I realize that there were lots of parts of myself that I was ignoring or neglecting or avoiding while I was in Wolfville. It's funny how parts of yourself get tied to locations like that. Moving somewhere new is so liberating and so challenging for just that reason.

I feel like I've begun rambling, but I don't want to waste this rare feeling of good will towards myself and others. I have so many projects on the go, and keep thinking of new ones to start, but somehow I don't feel like I have very much free time these days. I am plugging away at Gillian's scarf. I made some good progress with it last night during House, but it will still be a while until it's done. I have maybe 6 inches now? Maybe 10? I'm not sure. I also bought some new fabric for my quilt, so I want to start working on that, and hopefully finish it before I move to Alberta (or wherever), but again, no time.

OK, I am definitely rambling now. I am off now to shower, do some more unpacking, and to try to find meaning in my currently meaningless life. I will catch you all on the flipside.

Stuff

2005-09-20T19:31:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I went to my uncle's wedding party. It was fun. I got to spend lots of quality time with Anie. She's at that age now where she says a lot of unintentionally hilarious things with the great solemnity of a 4 year old. Kids are fun. I was also the girl of the hour again as my family is interested in this guy I'm dating from Nova Scotia, and what's this they've heard about me moving to Alberta? I will have to do something else exciting soon, because this thrill is going to wear off, and I can't give up the limelight now that I've had a taste of it.

Saturday night also saw me in Waterloo as I met up with Gillian and Anna for coffee. David Stemp and a friend of his named Amy came along too. It was my first time seeing Gillian since my last visit home in April, and we eventually ended up tuning the others out and having our own private conversation. I like Gillian.

On Sunday I had a study date with Ashley which was slightly more productive than our last one, but still involved a lot of random chatter.

I am thinking of buying an inflatable bed. As time goes on, I just keep getting more and more tired, and something needs to be done. A new bed might be the key. My parents aren't as much into this idea as I am, but I will talk them around.

That's all I have to say. Work continues. It's been a busy week, which is good because it's going quickly. I've applied for other jobs, so we'll see if anything happens in that department. My current job is still OK, but I feel myself becoming less and less inspired with my life as time goes on, and I would like something more challenging and exciting, or at least something that pays more.

Just a fun thing. This seemed particularly true.

2005-09-15T18:46:00.000-06:00

Your Brain's Pattern

You have a dreamy mind, full of fancy and fantasy.
You have the ability to stay forever entertained with your thoughts.
People may say you're hard to read, but that's because you're so internally focused.
But when you do share what you're thinking, people are impressed with your imagination.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Heidi - a girl of many moods

2005-09-14T19:01:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been changing moods more often than a chameleon changes colours. I haven't been this volatile since I was 14. I am really getting sick of it. Every day at work is a roller coaster ride between giddy and despondent, happy to be there and wanting to inflict harm on myself and others. I don't think the girls there know what to make of me. This phenomenon is starting to invade my personal life too now. I'm blaming my lack of quality sleep for the past few weeks. The last time I slept deeply through the night was Janice's party. I have considered getting myself totally drunk before bed every night, since that seemed to work so well, but my money situation and concern for my liver have led me to more boring and practical solutions. Instead, I have bought a foam covering for my mattress to make it more comfortable. This has worked better than anticipated.

In other news.... Hmmmm... there isn't much other news. I go to work every day. I come home exhausted. Oh, last night I went on a big shopping spree. I haven't spreed like this in a long time. I bought lots of nice outfits for work. I'm not sure how much I spent, actually, but it was a couple of hundred dollars. I figured that it was an investment, since I am likely to be working in an office environment for the next long time. I shouldn't need to buy anything else (besides shoes and a black cardigan) for the next year or so.

That is all I have to say for now. I'm going to go pay some bills and look for other jobs. I've decided that $9/hr isn't really what I'm looking for right now.

I (heart) emperor penguins

2005-09-11T18:42:00.000-06:00

Today I saw March of the Penguins at the Princess Twin Cinema. It was exciting, both because it was my first time at the Princess Twin, and because I have been wanting to see this movie ever since CC first brought its existence to my attention way back in June. The Princess Twin is fancier than I was expecting. It was neat. And the penguin movie - I loved it! I just can't fathom the lives that these penguins lead. It blew my mind. And the baby penguins are possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen onscreen. If they were only wearing sweaters, their cuteness would be so overwhelming as to make my head explode. They are so fluffy and chubby and waddly... I want one. Not really, but in my imagination perhaps.

Ashley accompanied me to the cinema. We were planning to have a study date beforehand, so we met at the Waterloo Public Library. However, it was closed because it was Sunday, which was unexpected. So, we went to the Laurier library. Closed. So, we gave up on our study date and went to the Jane Bond for antijitos. Guess what? Closed. As I said to Ashley, "You'd think we were still in Nova Scotia." Any confusion as to our whereabouts was quickly cleared up, though, when we went to Cafe 1842 or 1812 or whatever its name is. I received the most unfriendly service that I've had in a year. We were definitely in Ontario. On the upside, my smoothie was delicious.

That's all I really have to say for now. Gillian's scarf is progressing nicely, and is about 6 inches long. I just have 44 more inches to go before it's finished.

Too old for Phil's

2005-09-10T21:25:00.000-06:00

Signs that you are getting too old to go to Phil's:
1. You think that the girls all dance too slutty
2. You are dancing in front of the pole on the platform, but not using the pole to add a provocative element to your dance
3. You see no one you know
4. All of the guys look like jailbait to you
5. Everyone starts singing along to songs that you have never heard before, and you are the only one singing along to the Nirvana song from 1993
6. At 1am, you want to go home because you were up early for work that day
7. Sobriety seems like a good idea despite the insanely cheap drinks
8. Anna apologizes for accidentally brushing your ass while dancing, and your response is, "That's OK," and not "No, no, I liked it. Do it again!" because you are both in serious relationships and not interested in flirting

Despite all of these obstacles, though, a good time was had. We started with drinks at the Barleyworks. It was Anna, Nad, David Stemp and me. Later, Nad went home and the other 3 of us hit Phil's. Anna and David are a lot of fun to go dancing with, even when we're all sober and tired from a full day's work. They have some great moves. I finally got the wear the neat bar shirt that I got from Ashley a few weeks ago. It looked hot on me.

Today was potato contest. Every year, people on my Dad's side of the family have a contest to see who can grow the largest potatoes. After the weigh-in, all of the potatoes are cut up and fried for dinner and a good time is had by all. There is also a contest for the youngsters for "best dressed" potato. Basically, the kids decorate the smaller potatoes and make scenes and figures with them. I helped Anie decorate some potatoes this morning. It was great fun. I had forgotten how much I love to do crafts like that. Our potatoes were very unique and contained copious amounts of glitter. Anie won for Most Colourful Potato. Tomorrow we might make puppets (with construction paper this time, not potatoes).

Just an update, in case you were wondering how the new job was going

2005-09-08T19:21:00.000-06:00

It is fine. Some of the work is tedious and boring, but there is a lot of different stuff to do in a day. I find that time goes really quickly. I have an hour for lunch, too. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that time every day. I am mainly filing and distributing faxes. I would like to be doing something a little more challenging/stimulating, but I have actually been having not too bad of a time with this so far. I am still keeping my eyes open for new/better jobs, though. It is disconcerting because I keep seeing people I know from high school who are now working in the office. What sort of relationship do you have with someone that you were acquainted with 6 years ago, but haven't talked to since? Do you start over from scratch? Do you say, "Hey, what have you been up to for 6 years?" I have tried to ignore them all in order to avoid awkward situations. So far it is only somewhat working.

It looks like it will be at least six months until I move to Alberta. I am getting really excited to go, and I wish it was sooner.

I am just in a blah mood tonight.

Re-entering the grown up world

2005-09-05T19:00:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I start my new job. It will be my first time having a job that is my actual job, instead of having a job as a means to pay tuition. I would feel like such a grown up if I hadn't moved back in with my parents last week.

Tammy and Anie were out this afternoon. Anie and I had a good time drawing with glow in the dark crayons and paints that I found when cleaning out my bedroom. I have so much cool stuff. No wonder I'm one of Anie's favourite people.

Why is everything in my parents' house stale? I ate stale nachoes for dinner (I was really craving them) and now have just bitten into a stale Arrowroot cookie. At least the tea is still good. Oh wait, I brought it all from Nova Scotia. Actually, I talked Mom into buying 2 new teas when we were out the other day. They are both very tasty, and could potentially be a low-calorie way to fill those sugar cravings. They are both Celestial Seasonings teas, and the one is English Toffee while the other is Canadian Vanilla Maple. Speaking of tea, I have harvested some peppermint from my garden, and am halfway through stripping all the leaves off to dry. It is a tedious job. However, when I am done I will have more peppermint tea than I'll know what to do with. Everyone, expect to receive care packages in the mail with large amounts of dried peppermint in them.

My sister is now on my good list. Today she gave me a copy of The Princess Bride on DVD for free! She somehow ended up with an extra copy, which she thought I would appreciate. She thought correctly.

So, I have gray hairs. Like, a number of them. I am unimpressed. I am trying to convince myself that they lend an air of distinction to my appearance, but so far I am not believing me. I have not decided yet what to do about them, but I think that I will probably use the same course of action that I normally use when confronted with adversity - pretend to be invisible and escape to my happy place.

That is all I have to say for now. I didn't have the most eventful long weekend ever. I unpacked and drank tea did laundry. I really know how to party it up when I need to.

I like stuff

2005-09-03T18:49:00.000-06:00

...which is good because mine arrived today from Nova Scotia. Yay! I still have to unpack and organize everything, but it is here. I have so many books! Saying that I have a million and a half of them doesn't seem like much of an exaggeration, though I suppose that in reality, it is. I am just prepared for that day in my future when I have a house with a library.

I also got that job that I mentioned down below. Yay! I am probably starting on Tuesday, or if not, on Wednesday. Yay paycheque!

The peppermint in my herb garden from last year has grown amazingly huge, even without anyone looking after it. Therefore, tomorrow I am going to cut all the branches off and hang them to dry so that I can have homegrown peppermint tea all year long.

Buoyed by the success of my last attempt, I have begun a new scarf. This one is for Gillian and it is burgundy. The pattern is called basket stitch, and I like it.

I had forgotten how beautiful it is here outside of the city. As I was driving back into Kitchener with Ashley today, she commented that this area is just as beautiful as the Valley is in Nova Scotia. I believe that this is true.

That is all I have to say for now. I'm going to go watch some TV and do some knitting.

A Memory of Barbara

2005-09-02T20:14:00.000-06:00

I love the beginning of September. Usually it means the beginning of a new school year, and that speaks of potential and possibilities. The weather is usually really nice - sunny and bright, and not as oppressively hot as the rest of the summer was. The beginning of September now also reminds me of one of my favourite memories of my friend Barb who died in 2002.

It was the beginning of September 2001, just before university started again. Barb and I had plans to go to a literary festival being held just outside of Guelph on the Sunday. The night before, I got together with a friend of mine from high school that I hadn't seen for a long time. I was newly single, and he and I ended up staying up together and making out until 8am the next morning, when I knew I had to leave in order to get ready to be at Barb's house on time. I had a brief nap at the breakfast table when I got home (brief in this case being 10 minutes long) and then I drove out to Paradise Lake.

When I got there, Barb came out to meet me in the driveway. I couldn't wait to tell her what I'd done. At the time, randomly making out with someone was a new experience for me, and we had a good girlish giggle over it. That was also the summer that Barb was having her own forbidden flirtation/fling with one of her male friends, so we had a lot to gossip about.

We got to the literary festival and set our lawn chairs up along the main street to wait for the parade that was to kick off the festivities. Instead of watching the parade, we just talked about boys. It was ridiculous. Here we were, two intelligent, bookwormish scholarly nymphs at a literary festival, and all we did all day was gossip. The memory still makes me smile.

Later in the afternoon, between speakers' modules, Barb and I wandered away from the proceedings to a wheat field. I believe that the wheat field was actually en route to another section of the festival, but she and I just stopped there by the field and laid down on our backs. The day was brillantly sunny, and it was one of those clear days where the colours seem to pop with extra clarity. I just remember the brilliance of the contrasting colours as we laid there - the golden yellow wheat, the cerulean sky, the green green grass, and Barbara's brilliant rusty-red hair. We laid there watching the clouds and planning our futures while other festival participants walked by us and wondered.

In my head I remember this day as being pure and beautiful and joyful. Barb and I were perfect friends that day, complicit in our ridiculous behaviour at the literary festival that we'd so been looking forward to. After she died, I remembered this day, and I realized that I was now the sole bearer of this memory. For months afterwards, Barb and I would look back on this day and laugh at ourselves, giggling at our immaturity and at the fun we had. I no longer laugh when I think back, but I do always smile and feel content. For one day in my life, at least, everything was OK in my world.

Excitingness

2005-08-31T18:17:00.000-06:00

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

2005-08-31T10:36:00.000-06:00

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

2005-08-29T22:55:00.000-06:00

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

2005-08-28T15:50:00.000-06:00

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!

2005-08-22T07:42:00.000-06:00

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.

2005-08-19T11:23:00.000-06:00

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!