The Little Dollar That Could!

Last week the dollar, or Loonie, reached parity with the US dollar. It dipped over the week by less than a cent and hovered around the .99 mark, and now, today, it's hopped once again. That's right, the Canadian Dollar is now worth $1.01 US. I know there are economical reprocussions to this, but, to be honest, I feel a sense of gloating pride rising inside me. I can't help it. If I were working retail at this point and an American citizen came into my store and offered American money, I would be tempted to be a jerk and demand they square up with their pennies. I might even present a little serving of payback and laugh at their money, maybe examine it to see if it's actually real and ask them what it is they're handing me. Ok, maybe not, but I might do a little dance.

A Quote

"No book has yet been written in praise of a woman who let her husband and children starve or suffer while she invented even the most useful things, or wrote books, or expressed herself in art, or evolved philosophic systems."

-Anna Garlin Spencer -Woman's Share in Social Culture, 1912

Soundtrack

I fully ripped this from Chris' blog. Sounded like a bit of fun, so here goes:



IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

How it works:

1. Open your music library

2. Put it on shuffle

3. Press Play

4. For every question, type the song that's playing

5. When you go to a new question, press Next

6. Don't lie and try to pretend all your music is cool



Opening Credits: My Parties - Dire Straits

Waking Up: Spoon - Dave Matthews Band

First Day At School: Message in a Bottle - the Police

Falling In Love: Tomorrow - Avril Lavigne

Fight Song: Can't Go Back to Jersey - G.Love

Grad: It's Gonna Be Love - Mandy Moore (why do I have this?!)

Life: Lightning Crashes - Live

Mental Breakdown: Part of My Life - India.Arie

Driving: Violet - Savage Garden

Flashback: Strip My Mind - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Getting Back Together: Talula - Tori Amos

Birth of a Child: Trashin the Camp - Phil Collins

Final Battle: Adding to the Noise - Switchfoot

Funeral Song: Pinball Wizard - The Who

End Credits: Us - INXS

"Sometime This Week"

It's going to happen this week. That's what SaskEnergy tells me. We'll be getting a gas line put in at our house "sometime this week". All I have to say is there will be hell to pay if it is not. I understand there is a shortage of contractors in the province, and there is a lot of construction being done, but I have been waiting two months. And it's getting cold at night. We don't have heat at our house right now because we don't have a gas line to supply gas to our furnace. And let me tell you, a little space heater just isn't going to cut it if it keeps getting colder. No deal. But, the lady I spoke to today with SaskEnergy told me it will be done this week. Which means by the weekend (god willing) we should have heat in our house again. I may crank it up to 30 just for fun the first day. Pretend it's still summer!

This whole process has been an utter joke. I called in July to set up an account with the crown corporation. At that point I told them I needed a line run and they set up a time to have someone come and see the property and get the placement mapped out. He came at the start of August and told me it would probably be close to the end of the month before they'd get there. Well, we're at the end of September now. This is simply not acceptable. Brad keeps telling me that it's a good think I've been dealing with SaskEnergy because if it were him he'd have torn a strip off them already.

But, like I said, "sometime this week"...so, I ask you to please cross your fingers for us.

Fall Weddings

It's not over yet, but we're one wedding closer to the end of wedding season. Yesterday Brad and I went to Cassandra and Mike's wedding (Brad's friends). It was a very pretty ceremony, but the church they selected wasn't big enough to hold all of the guests, so a number of us were sent into the secondary chapel to watch it via projection screen. I'm not going to lie, it certainly takes a lot away from the wedding experience watching it on a tv. It was still very nice though, and I almost cried. (can't help it, I always cry in weddings...such a sap!)

This may only be the third wedding we've been to this season, but we've had invitations to 8, and there's one more to go to before we're finished until next year. I guess bowing out of four isn't too awful...considering two were planned for the same day (which happened to be while were were camping with my family), another was in the lowermainland (a little hard to get to for us without lots of holiday time booked off), and the last happens to be on a long weekend when we had other plans. I feel a litte bad, but, well, on the other hand...it's been quite a year of invites.

Oh Deer!

Brad went out to rent a movie for us this evening and suddenly came back in the house telling me to get my camera. I grabbed it quickly and we went outside into the back yard where I could just barely make out the silhouette of a very large deer munching on our bush! Amazing to see! Here are a couple of the pictures. They're fairly dark, but there you have it anyway!

We were quite literally no more than 4 meters away, sometimes as close as 3!

When he got home, there were two of them at the bush! Remarkable!

So Far...

First and foremost, today is my favorite day of the year! INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!! YARRR!!! Visit http://www.talklikeapirate.com/ if you're totally out of the loop and have no idea what I'm talking about. (And also please reconsider why you're reading this blog as clearly you don't know me at all!).

That may be the only saving grace of this day. I'm tired and worn out and feel pulled in multiple directions with lots to do.
It's already been quite a week really. Monday afternoon I packed my bags and went to Shaunavon to see what the station is like there and see how things are done. Gotta love a business trip! For whatever reason, I was utterly exhausted though and fell asleep at about 9. Kind of lame, I know, but what can I say?
Then, in the early AM yesterday morning I got up. I slept in 10 minutes longer than I normally do (which felt deliciously slothful to me), then I got up. I was showered and had dried my hair and picked out my clothes for the day (I always take two when I travel...choices are good), and I had just started straightening my hair when I found myself sitting in the dark. I grabbed my cell phone and used the light from it to fish through my purse for the whistle my mum had given me for christmas last year. The whistle had a nifty little flashlight attached to it, the light from which I used to get dressed by and pack up the rest of my belongings. I had hoped the power outage was maybe a blown circuit, but it infact spanned the whole town. Yup...it was an adventure. I later learned the power-outage spanned 60% of the province (though our house in Swift mysteriously was not effected...?) . The biggest power outage in the past 20 years, according to SaskPower.
The rest of the day went smoothly and I got home shortly after 2, feeling terribly braindead.
Now the day continues and the week is half done. Wish me luck...Yarrr!

Is there a moment?

I often wonder if there's a particular moment, a specific second or millisecond when someone makes a conscious decision to change their friendship. Or is it just a gradual lack of effort that eventually leads to the simple errosion of the ties that bind?

It often starts the same; an email isn't responded to, then a second. Sometimes there's a reply several months after the first email. The next reply takes even longer, and suddenly, by the time the person realizes it's been as many months as it has, it becomes a question of whether to bother recapping everything that's transpired or to just gloss over things with a general response. When does it change to the point that there's no repair and the one-sided effort is just too much? And at what point do people become so emmotionally bruised that they don't want to open up again? And at what point does a person just have to accept that the general essense of the friendship has changed and will never be the same again?

It's Wednesday, what can I say?

Warning: Dangerously Sappy Content

Brad and I are creeping ever closer to 3 years together. I'm not one to celebrate the monthly anniversaries (that would be a little much I think, and really really frequent), but it occured to me that yesterday was the 11th, and that means we've been dating for 34 months.
Brad is a wonderful man who treats me fabulously and cares so much for me. I can't imagine how I could have gotten to where I am without him, and I am so grateful for his help, his love, and his friendship.
So after 34 months, each day loving him more than the last and each day thinking there's no possible way to love someone more, I'm once again struck by how wonderful he makes my life...but then, I'm struck by that every single day, so yesterday was no different than the day before and is no different from tomorrow.

Choked About Britney's Comeback

I am disgusted.
No, not because Britney messed up her dance moves at the MTV Video Music Awards, not because she stopped lip-syncing halfway through her single and forgot some of the words, not because her performance was so shaky as to make everyone feel awkward watching it. No, I'm disgusted because the reviews called her "embarrassingly out of shape" (to quote the Canadian Press).
Certainly she's not as thin as she has been, but for once, to me, she looks healthy. And let's not forget she's also had two children. The public and media are so terribly unforgiving of any imperfection in stars, and so why should childbirth and motherhood be viewed any different? But the honest truth is that if someone with Britney's body were walking down the street, she would be ogled and admired for her fantastic figure, and the thought that she had carried two children would be unfathomable.
She stood on stage wearing underwear (ok, I do have a bit of a problem with that too, but that's a whole other blog entry), and there was no wobbling, no unsightly pinching, no rolls, nothing.
It's no wonder young girls, teens, and women have such a warped body image. To be told that someone who is just curvy yet obviously toned is "out of shape" only enforces the opinion that a woman should be androgynous with no defining feminine features (except massive breasts, obviously). No wonder there are so many eating disorders.
Tell me honestly if Britney looks fat, out of shape and disgusting here. Because if she is, well I should apologize to the world for being disgracefully out-of-shape.

Look How the Time Flies!

There will be many more pictures to come, but I had to post these immediately. The camping trip to Nicola this summer was a fairly big event for us, with a lot of nostalgia. It was the camp ground where we would go every summer while I was growing up.

I'm gonna come right out and say it: We were the cutest kids ever! haha! Loving the moose antlers! (1986? 87?)

Roughtly 20 years later...2007

Review

What a summer. While the weather is still hot some days, it is clearly starting to fade away, bringing summer to an end. The past 7 months in Swift Current have been wonderful but have had so much happening that it feels like the events have spanned years rather than months.
I guess Summer really started for me in May when Maureen came to visit. We had a great few days and managed to get a couple hours in the sun at Sask Landing. Then Ben and Brenda's wedding followed on May long weekend. After that in June Brad and I went camping at Cypress for his Birthday. July was full of packing and renovating and moving and emotional upheaval, not to mention a birthday in there and Rob and Bev's wedding. August finally came and with it a promotion and new responsibilities. The renovations slowed down to a virtual stop. Brad got great news from the cardiologist and will be off all his meds in a year's time. There was the solo-weekend of watching movies, drinking too much and the street dance (and everything that went along with it). Then the countdown finally became a manageable number and I went to visit Mare and go camping with my family in Merritt. Now it's September and I almost can't believe it.
Great Accomplishments: Reading 7 books in just over 3 months. Moving and Renovating without killing each other. Getting the most out of four days with Mare. Surviving my emotions.
Great Disappointments: No great ones, but it would have been nice to make it to a couple of weddings for great friends. Almost regret changes in friendships, though change is hard to regret as it happens no matter what.

Pics from the Vacation

Here I am, day two back at work, and I think the vacation was long enough that I actually feel like I HAD time off! I feel refreshed and ready to go for a while. I can't even remember when my last real vacation was. There was always some sort of urgency with them, whether it was getting as much quality time in with Brad during the few days we had together while living long-distance, or just getting enough time to start to relax and then have to go immediately. But this felt like a REAL vacation. So here are a few more pics from my time with Mare!

Having the Time of My Life with the Roomate of Justice!

Quick Update: got to Kelowna after 12 hours of travelling (7 on the bus and 1 in flight...but 3.5 in the airport...if the math doesn't add up, don't tell me). BAWLED when I saw Mare. Went for lunch. Got stuck in traffic on highway 97 after a logging truck spilled on the highway. THREE hours later got to Penticton and went to the beach. Today we went for breakfast, hung out with Anna, lunch with Mare's Mum and Hannah and Anna and Hassin, went to the beach, came home, changed and went for drinks at the Barking Parrot with Jer. Having the TIME OF MY LIFE!!!

Driving to Penticton (Pre-Traffic Jam)
~At the Beach! LOVE Okanagan Lake
~

Drinks at the Barking Parrot
~
Obviously there will be more pics to come...but right now it's back to drinks and having fun with Mare and Jeremy! WOOT!

Symbolic? I think so!

The merging of two personalities to make a great morning show is depicted here. In this photo: Swab the Pirate Bender, and Clarence the Duck. Swab, a gift from my brother, proudly stands in my office (holding both a sword and a pin generously given to me by Bill), and Clarence was a toy inside a Kinder Surprise that Chris got once. The two sit on the Magic control room board, overseeing the morning show. Each a memento imploring creative genius. And, might I add, mission accomplished! hahaha! (Love the pirate, and totally love the way Clarence looks like he's just given 'er!)

"The Time Has Come...

...the walrus said"? no, wait, that's not it. But the time HAS come...it's Monday, which means we're down to two more sleeps until I get to Penticton and to Mare! I'm so excited I have that Christmas Morning feeling in my stomach. In fact, I may have had a crummy sleep last night as a result. It's fairly ridiculous...especially since I've been counting down since Easter when I booked my holiday time. That's a whopping 136 sleeps! hahaha...right...ok, so kind of lame, but very thrilled.
Also thrilled for camping with the family afterwards. My parents, myself, Brad, my brother Frank, his girlfriend Christi, and my auntie Cheryl and uncle Rick. It's going to be fairly ridiculous, especially if you know my family at all. To get a full perspective on the family, take me and multiply that level of eccentricity (euphamism?) by roughly 50. That should bring it on par with the behavior that can be expected. Plus mum is bringing the G&T's and I'll be coming from the Okanagan with several bottles of wine. Should be fantastic!
But, anyway, I digress (which probably has something to do with being tired from excitement). I'm leaving tomorrow night. By Bus. I have a layover in Medicine Hat ("we dance, we dance, we dance! Ar-rou-ound the Medicine Hat!") in the middle of the friggin night and I'm more or less worried about being mugged and thrown into a broom closet, or worse while I'm there. I plan to look angry and talk to myself a lot in a frustrated and anxious voice to ward off the lunatics (Can't beat em, join em!). But it's only a couple hours or so, followed by a plane from Calgary to Kelowna where Mare will pick me up and we will hug for at least 5 minutes and get some severe cry-face. Then a Chai Latte! and many many adventures! Oh the good times we'll have! Ok, I'm done gushing! Can't wait though...seriously not going to sleep! YAY!

My Office

Well, here we go...madness I know, but this is me in my office. I don't really know what else to say at this point. Clearly I need to decorate a little...a lot. I did put the three carved cards from Frank along the hutch of my desk, and the bender Pirate is next to the stereo.

Drive In Fun!

Last night was my first trip to a Drive In Movie! The Eagle sponsored a night at the drive in and they played Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End. Clearly I had to attend. So Jon, Hayley, Ryan and I piled into the cruiser and zipped out the Clearwater Drive In for the show which was scheduled to start at dusk (9:20). Now, if you're familiar with the pirates movies, they're fairly lengthy and the last in the trilogy was no exception. It started on time and finished just after midnight. Almost a three hour movie, but what a great time! It felt just like being at the movie, but talking was fine because the only people who will shush you are in the car with you, and then it's easy to just tell them off. It was so much fun, even though, by the time 11 oclock rolled around, I was so tired that it was a struggle to stay awake. Furthermore, the back seat of the cruiser is not a terribly convenient place to watch a movie from. I had to contort my body to see and, frankly, I'm suprised my spine hasn't suffered permanent damage. But all in all I wouldn't change a thing.

Highlights for the night included:
*random checks on the couple in the car in front of us. (hee hee!)
*laughing at Orlando towards the end when he looks like he's lept off the pages of a romance novel complete with extra eyeliner, flowing dark hair, and a flowy black shirt open to the navel. Ryan and I were a cackling mess when we started talking about how he was modelled after Fabio, but minus a seagul in the face
*laughing to the point of hysterics at the heart-in-the-box.
*learning Ryan's dance moves and dancing along in the backseat to Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend.

Now, despite only getting three hours of sleep last night, I'm doing pretty good!

Deja Vu

A friend of mine once told me that when you start having a lot of moments of Deja Vu, it means you're on the right track. I made some sort of silly comment about always getting deja vus when...well...nevermind. She didn't appreciate it. But the honest truth of it is I tend to have a lot of them. They come in spells where all I do is have one after another. Sometimes they're consecutive, other times they're spread out over the course of days or weeks. Lately they've been coming strongly. The other night when Brad and I were standing outside admiring the lawn in the evening (dorky, I know), and another just a moment ago when I was taking a picture of the birthday present my brother sent me to post a blog entry about. Sometimes it's just actions, or conversations, but most often it's thoughts that go along with those actions and conversations. And more and more frequently, rather than have a deja vu, I have a moment where I realize I dreamt this moment several years ago. The first time that particular feeling hit me was when Brad and I were on spring break and we'd driven to Swift Current. We had just gone to bed and were laying on an air mattress on his dad's spare room floor. A room I had never been in before with a guy I'd only known for a few months. It suddenly hit me when I turned my head to look at Brad that I had seen everything before. I had dreamt it probably about three years prior. I had dreamt of Brad, exactly as he was, dreamt of the room I had never been in, in a town I hadn't ever heard of. Since then, the dream memories and deja vus have been crashing over each other. Sometimes to the point of being totally irritating.

Now I just wonder what they mean? Am I on the right path? Well, I like to think so, and I suppose after months of changes and decisions, it's good to get the cosmic nod, but at the same time, I feel like so much is up in the air at times. Maybe it's just the universe telling me I'm doing ok.