Thanks, Rilla!

This time, I have a good excuse for not blogging. I've been too busy with work and recuperating from work to do any blogging. Really. Okay, that's a bit of a lie as I've been trying to keep up with others' blogs just not my own.

Last weekend in Edmonton, I got to see Neuba and Kaz. It was so exciting to see their new house. Oh my, the parties that could happen there!! It's absolutely wonderful.

It was very nice to see Siochain's mom. She really is a wonderful woman. And Siochain is going through lots of stuff right now and is being very brave and tough. She's so much stronger now than I've ever seen her before.

I really liked not having a car because I was then at the mercy of those that were willing to chaffeur me around the city. I didn't have too much opportunity to just do what I wanted and I was really okay with that. I really needed an evening to veg so I didn't go to the KC game, but hung out with the M ladies instead. We were all in a similar mood in that we were enjoying each other's company without needing to entertain each other. It was perfect and exactly what I needed. I was sleeping so soundly that I didn't realize that Bne had made it home at all.

I did get to visit a couple of friends in Edmonton who had a lot of other people over. They're all so wonderful and I hope they realize that it isn't a reflection on them that I don't come up to game as often as some others from Saskatoon do. I really thought I could manage the intensity I wanted for the game there, but I couldn't. It's too tiring and I would rather just be me now that I have so many people to visit when I go to Edmonton. My trip to Edmonton in April is going to be whirlwindy, I'm sure. More days there means more people to visit, but it means I'll definitely have time to visit with my Auntie Cool.

While I was in Edmonton, we spent some time at a mall. Not usually my favourite thing, but I realized there were some things that I wanted to get and so we found a spot that would suit everyone's needs. I got a new bathing suit that doesn't threaten to let the girls free while doing aquafitness. I was very proud of that purchase as the regular price on the tag was $78 and I paid $25 including taxes. I've made a monetary commitment to going to the YWCA here for classes for the next three months. So far, so good. I went twice last week as my schedule permitted (too much overtime so I missed the Monday after work class). Next week should be better, but even if I go only twice a week for three months, I've still saved quite a bit of money. I'd prefer to go three times though because then Cheruby won't bug me about using the elliptical downstairs which is far more boring.

I also printed some copies of a great picture of Bne and Siochain. I had another thing on my list but I don't remember what it was, but it wasn't important because it didn't get done.

The work week was tough because I worked a lot of overtime which sucked big time. My own fault because I didn't get this particular project done earlier. It was really supposed to be done at the end of January which I thought was ridiculous. Now, I'm paying for it.

We tried to play In Nomine on Tuesday evening, but that didn't work very well. It was requested that I finish this particular ProJEct^TM that Cheruby and I were working on for quite a while. The finishing touches took about 2 hours which was much longer than it was anticipated only because I had to redo a bunch of the liner notes. Totally worth it though. Then there was too much drinking to roleplay well so we just called it a bust. We'll eventually play, I'm sure. Anyone want to join us on Tuesday evenings?

A colleague was finally informed this week that she wasn't really right for her position, but that she's very valuable so what would she like to do. Well she's now doing the job one step above those she was managing before. While it'll be hard for her, I think she'll do better things in her new position. The worrisome part is that I'm not sure what they are going to do with her position. Of course, until we figure that out, another team manager and I are going to cover her hours at the end of the day which with the DST change this weekend, means only an extra 1.5 hours for me in the day which is better than the 2.5 extra I did on Thursday and Friday. [sigh]

Lots of exercise and crying for stress release, and lots of support and forgiveness from Cheruby has made me a happier girl.

Cheruby and I are off to Calgary at the end of next week for a very quick trip. Thursday night will hopefully be spent with the Furlak and the Very Tall One with Friday night being with my family. I'm very excited about the trip and not having to be at work for a few days. It's my niece's birthday on Wednesday and I get to take her the fabulous prezzie I got for her two months ago.

Why is it that some people think that being mean is the only way they can get things done? We've gone above and beyond for a client who is continuing to rant and complain about how awful we've been. At the end of the day, we did the work for her employees so that their lives were disrupted as little as possible. All the same, she's being impossible. I've been with her until 8 o'clock several evenings this week and the one day I wasn't, she phoned and complained to someone else. I believe in the past week, my company has had over 100 hours working time on the issues that she created. Arrggghhh!

*******SPOILER ALERT - PAN'S LABRYNTH********
Went to see Pan's Labrynth last night. It was good. So, my feeling at the end of the movie wasn't sadness as I was told it would be, but more happiness that Ofelia was finally where she belonged. I felt bad for Mercedes because she was going to have to carry guilt around with her because she felt that she didn't save Ofelia. The main characters got what they deserved. Ofelia's mom got freedom, Vidal definitely got what he deserved, the baby won't in the hands of a monster, Mercedes and the resistance triumphed over the military stronghold, and Ofelia got to go home. And I get to believe in fairy tales. Unfortunately, the brutality of the rest of the movie was too much for me and I had to shut down a little so I didn't get the full spectrum of emotions I enjoy. I will have to make due with my memory of the good parts so I don't have to watch it again. I think the bad parts would wreck me if I saw them again. Not that I watched them the first time, but the sound of him stitching his own face just about made me leave the theatre.

*********KEEP READING HERE**********
I'm off to Edmonton on a jet plane tonight. I will see Bne, Kaz, Neuba, Siochain and her mom, Jenn & Owen, and hopefully Binary Kitten and quirkykitten. There are so many others that I will miss, but hopefully, the next visit will be a longer one where I can see more of everyone.

Mr. Bennet You scored 62 Idealism, 41 Nonconformity, 70 Nerdiness

Are you on the list?Congratulations, you're Mr. Bennet! You are one mysterious person with mysterious motives. Despite all the mystery, it's clear that you believe what you do is for the greater good, and you are obviously a well-educated person in your field. Your best quality: Dedication to your work/organization/etc. Your worst quality: Keeping too many secrets

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

It's a good thing I've already got a guy otherwise, being this unattractive might be a problem. Heh.

Dating Strengths	Dating Weaknesses
1. Kindness - 81.8% 2. Generosity - 80% 3. Financial Situation - 69.2% 4. Adventurousness - 66.7% 5. Open-Mindedness - 63.6%	1. Appearance - 77.8%

Dating Strengths Explained
Kindness - You treat other people with empathy and goodwill. This positive trait helps you stand out and draw people into your warmth. Generosity - You are a giving person by nature. Others will see this quality in you and recognize your kind nature. Take care not to let others take advantage of you. Financial Situation - You've got your financial situation under control, which is a very desirable quality. Be careful to avoid men who are only interested in your money. Adventurousness - You are willing to try new things and be spontaneous. You want to get out there and really live, and you will attract people with a similar love of life. Open-Mindedness - You are open to trying new things and entertaining new ideas, and this widens your pool of available men.
Dating Weaknesses Explained
Appearance - Devoting a greater effort at making good first impressions is a must. Try to be fit and develop a style if you want to catch a man's attention.
Dating Strengths and Weaknesses Quiz

I've been working on some super secret ProJEct^TMs that have been taking all my time. Except the time I've been spending on the phone with friends. And hanging out with friends. And saying good-bye to friends. Oh, and sleeping (awake for 7 hours on Saturday).

Of course, the farewell dinner was amazing - pollen, bees, and flowers for supper. Everyone should be envious of those who got to partake. It was a fabulous evening and I didn't particularly want it to end. Too bad the boys beat us repeatedly in Buzzword. And apparently, "pencil" while containing the word "pen" isn't part of any of the solutions even though "Penn", short for Pennsylvania in some cases, is included in several solutions. I didn't deserve razzing about that one. It was a logical leap for me. I'm not good at that game - except when it comes to tea.

This week, we start playing In Nomine regularly on Tuesday instead of D&D. [sniff] Not that In Nomine won't be fun, but I really love D&D.

Did you know that while 2 kittenses are just cute and playful, 3 kittenses can seemingly swarm like vermin - especially at supper time?

There were a few magical minutes this morning. Whilst looking out my office window, snow was falling through a sunbeam and sparkled like diamonds floating to the earth. It was very cool.

Another friend of mine moved away from Home and I hadn't heard anything from her. I'm very proud of her. She is a very strong person and can do more than she thinks she can. That would be why I didn't see her car at the place in the spot where she used to work on the long weekend. I guess that just goes to show that I should keep in touch more often. Blogs are kind of one-way.

And I'm losing two staff at work to other departments and have to hire in Ontario. I'm going to try to get out there for the new staff first days. It's a good business reason and I can go visit all my staff there. It'll be exciting.

Anyone available to move a big filing cabinet up a flight of stairs tonight? [grin]

I like this new statutory holiday in February. For those in the know, Saskatchewan now matches Quebec for the most statutory holidays at 11 rather than the usual 10. You see, while some Alberta businesses provide the August civic holiday to their employees, it isn't truly a stat holiday there. That is likely a little known fact by most in Alberta because it is observed in the rest of the country.

So I did spend family day with my family. My mom, dad, Cheruby, and all the kittenses. On Friday after work, Cheruby and I headed up to Nipawin, picked up my mom and drove another couple hours out to Little Bear Lake. My dad had gone out earlier in the day to warm up the cabin. A very beautiful cabin indeed.

On Saturday, Cheruby and I got a little cold heading out to the ice shack as we don't have proper winter outer wear to keep us warm, but we both caught a good fish. Dad didn't catch any keepers. His little walleye got put back and so did Cheruby's three burbot. He spent much time watching them swim in his hole in the ice willing them to be smart enough to get off his hook. They are too slimy for my dad to touch so we didn't keep any that we caught.

Burbot are a strange looking fish (borderline repulsive) that’s extra slimy to the touch, but surprisingly excellent tasting. They’re found on the bottom of deep lakes and rivers and- even though they look like they eat something vile such as carcasses or algae- are actually voracious predators of other fish. Burbot are also called eelpout, ling, lingcod, loache, methyl, lush, gudgeon, mud-blower, cusk, mother eel, or lawyer fish.

Cheruby very much enjoyed his first snowmobiling experience except the cold and ill-fitting helmet. I would have enjoyed it more too if it weren't for the cold. I get kind of (understatement) whiney when I'm cold.

The fire was very welcome at the end of Saturday and we all went to bed early. I love firelight to sleep by. It's comforting somehow. We woke up on Sunday with the intent of fishing again, but the light snow that was happening at the cabin didn't indicate that there was much heavier snow only 15 minutes away so we turned around and didn't make it up to the lake again. We were all kind of grateful except dad who really loves ice fishing. There is something kind of relaxing and neat about it, but without the warm winter gear, it's not as much fun.

Because I'd been so cold the day before, we got all kinds of new clothes for me to wear and as such, I could barely move in all the layers I had on. Honestly, they made me more of a strange discoloured marshmallow man or Michelan Man than anything else that might be considered human. So even though we didn't make it out ice fishing, mom took some pictures of me in my funny get up. And then I fell back into a snowbank. Because I had so many layers on, I couldn't even bend 90 degrees at the waist which made it a little difficult to get up from my fallen position. And then I tried to roll and trying to roll in a snowbank is hard enough without being in stitches with laughter at the whole situation.

So, dad took the snowmobile out on Sunday and got it stuck in about 4 feet of snow. Slogged through that deep snow to get to the road and then caught a ride back to the cabin. He convinced one of the neighbours to go help him get his snowmobile. All this while Cheruby, mom and I played Arkham Horror and listened to music. Later that night, we played Kaiser. Cheruby and I got walloped in the first game. Lost in 10 hands. The second game went on and on. The Lasers(tm) had a struggle, but managed to escape a second defeat. It was a lot of fun.

Monday came and it was time to go home. Dad and I went for a tour of the resort and campground on the sled. It's so much different than being in a car and I can't truly express how. Maybe it's that total layer of glass and metal being between you and the trees. Maybe it's the total freedom of vision that you can see in any direction you choose to look. Maybe it's just that you are truly closer to it all. Whatever it is, it was way cooler - both in temperature and in status.

My big brat came home with us and has ignored Cheruby's cat pretty much the whole time he's been back. I'm very happy to have all my family at home now. The fat one, little one, and dainty one.

You can see most of the pictures from the weekend here. I'll upload the rest soon except for the one that got deleted. Kaz really likes the story about the picture that got deleted.

Okay, maybe I just wanted say tumultuous, but there is some upheaval of lives going on around me. Enough that it started to upset my delicate (HA!) internal sense of balance. My angel helped me by listening to me and getting into discussions with me about upsetting things and still kissing me goodnight and telling me he loves me.

So in the end, I figured out that yep, I'm happy. I'm not just pretending because I want to be happy and have a good life. I'm truly happy. Things are good for me.

I've been having a lot of fun lately. Mage is turning out to be really fantastic. I get so exhausted after the game from being so high energy and poor Cheruby pretty much needs to explode after not laughing or cracking a smile for an entire evening. We don't mesh well coming out of those characters. Cheruby is especially funny when he thinks that his in character actions will affect people's opinions out of character. Well, if the person is any sort of respectable at role-playing, there won't be a problem and if there is a problem, the line between reality and fantasy for that person is likely a little more blurred than it should be. He'll start to get to know these folks in real life and it'll help.

Low Life was great fun. I'm playing talkin' werm. I don't shut up - EVER. It's hard to believe, really. It's giving me a really good giggle. Now, if only I can figure out how to be that talky in the Mage game. I'm on in the Mage game, but I have an agenda which happens to be comprehensive. Low Life is just about keeping going.

Took some alone time this week which helped with the above confirmation that yes, I am happy. The second last D&D game in Saskatoon with Kaz was this week. I am saddened by this. After next week, it'll be April when we play again and it'll be in Edmonton. Crazy business that - people moving Away.

My angel and I went to Taverna for supper yesterday. They really do make one of the finest alfredo sauces I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.

The lunch and short visit we had today was really good, but too short. I felt like I could have talked the afternoon away today with her. And she's right, we both are in such a different place than we were 10 years ago. The lessons we've learned and loves and pains and joys and sadnesses we've experienced. I'm sure the best really is yet to come. For me, being 30 means knowing more about who I am and what makes me happy and knowing that I deserve that without it being selfish.

I talked to my big brat a few times on the phone since he's been with my folks in Nipawin. There are few things greater than hearing my cat start to purr at the sound of my voice and hear him nuzzling the phone because he misses me too.

Did you know that I hate having to do performance management with my staff. It's not that I don't like having the conversations, but I can't seem to get passed the hours of preparation and then the hours of meetings (at least 34 hours in total) in order to get right down to it. I need a plan. A good plan - a list of items to go through with each staff member including some pointed questions about how the team is doing and how our processes are doing. It's getting a little ridiculous though. Why can't I just sit down and do it!!

So, because of that, I slept too much this week and was mostly crabby and ggrrrr... I don't like being like that. Of course, the weekend is here now and I don't have to think about it very much. I do have to work this weekend, however. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow though.

Not all meetings are stupid. I really liked the ones we had on Friday with the HR team where we were in focus groups about what we could be doing better. It was really hard for me to think of those things because the company is amazing and treats us very well and I really love my job. To try to think like someone who isn't happy with the current state of things is very hard and I don't want to do it. My lead to actual thoughts of unhappiness and I don't need to go there.

I made a CD this weekend for a friend of mine. I was fairly pleased with it, but it was a little rushed. Altogether the best part was the last song - Kermit the Frog singing The Rainbow Connection. What could be better than that? I hope she likes it.

My brother's fiance is starting to get antsy about the wedding plans. I'm just getting really excited. I don't want to get too excited and promise that I'll do something that I don't have time for, but it's really hard not to! I'm really, really excited. It's going to be a very long wait until May.

I spent the day with Umbrella today. She's sooo awesome. I love spending time with her so much. I helped her buy a new wardrobe for $70 at Value Village where I saw a lovely couple trying on clothes. The woman was very pretty and had the cutest tattoo on her hip. She had a fabulous accent too. She tried on this very lovely orange and pink dress that I thought was really great even though it sounds horrible. She was saying she wasn't sure about it while her boyfriend was pretty keen on it. I wasn't helping Umbrella at the time so he asked me how she looked and since I'd already been looking, I said, "She looks fabulous. It's a great dress." She looked a little surprised by my candor, but she said thank you. It was a very nice little conversation. Apparently, he really likes orange.

Lately I've been worried about a colleague who has become a dear friend of mine. So on Friday, I sent her a note that I hoped would help lift her spirits. Of course, I had no idea that there was more to come for her.

This weekend, her sister was in a head on collision in Cancun. She has many broken bones, has lost an eye and is now in a coma. My friend was so level-headed on the phone trying to clean up some work before she gets on a plane tomorrow to go be there for her dad. Her sister was in a cab on her way to the airport to pick him up when the accident occurred. I can't imagine how my friend is managing anything right now.

So, I'm asking that if you have a few spare moments today, you send some good thoughts to my friend and especially her sister. Miracles are alive and well if only you believe in them.

I think I've lost a very basic survival instinct.

After many sessions in a row of being exhausted before laying down on the table, I managed to create a habit of falling asleep during my massages. And since they're usually painful when my lower back is massaged, I don't mind this at all. The massage therapist also mentioned that she can go a lot deeper into the muscle and tissue when I'm asleep so I took this as encouragement that I should continue to do so.

I knew I was going to need a little help to get through the massage session tonight without screaming too much so I tried to fall asleep. It didn't work before she got to my lower back so I figured I was out of luck and would have to endure. I mentioned this to my massage therapist just before she got to the really bad spot. And then, she got to the really bad spot (9 out of 10 on my pain threshold scale) and I managed to squeak out, "That's the spot." That's the last thing I remember before falling asleep.

I'm grateful for being able to spare myself considerable pain, but is it really healthy? I'm sure that there's some measure of trust involved in my ability to sleep through a painful massage. In fact, to fall asleep during intense pain, I really hope it's because I trust her and the environment. If not, I believe I have created a very bad habit that could indeed, kill me.

Having talked about all this pain of the massage, I forgot to mention how blissfully good it feels to be able to move after my massage. How much tension is relieved and how much better I sleep and move and live every day because of those painful massages. And it isn't all painful like when she's working on upper back and my shoulders and neck. Or when she massages my chest. Drool.

No, really. I was at Uncle Johnny's cabin this weekend. Buddy and Mrs. Buddy were there along with Mrs. Uncle Johnny. Cheruby and I went up right after work on Friday and came home this afternoon. I think I was a little tired because I slept for 13 hours on Friday night and then 11 hours on Saturday night. We played some games and Buddy pushed all my buttons and made me all competitive and cranky like I hate being. Someday, I'll get used to his style and relax. It might be when I'm eighty, but someday... Heh.

Cheruby and I played a little Blue Moon. And we (Uncle Johnny, Cheruby, Buddy and the Missus, and I) played Fury of Dracula. Only Uncle Johnny, Cheruby and I played Ticket to Ride which was Uncle Johnny's Christmas present. I was fairly pleased with Ticket to Ride because it is much better than Russian Rails which is one of Uncle Johnny's most favourite games.

There were 5 dogs and 5 cats at the cabin this weekend. It was a plethora of well behaved dogs and cats too. Except Jander (black cat) who had an eye infection and has always had sinus issues and snots everywhere. Ick.

I've made plans to head to Edmonton on the first weekend in March. Hopefully, I'll be heading to Calgary sometime in March as well. It's my niece's birthday and I'd like to take the rest of Clark's stuff to him. Driving around Calgary in a mini-van will just gain me entrance to the mini-van race league. I will crush them all!

My kittens at home sure did miss me. They haven't really left me alone since I got home. They're so darling. They are usually whiney when I get home, but this time they weren't. It was a very pleasant surprise.

And it's been confirmed that the February long weekend will be spent up at Little Bear Lake ice fishing and snowmobiling and sitting in front of the fire. It's going to be awesome.

It's a good thing I went to bed early. Now, I don't feel guilty about having stayed up for three or four additional hours reading blogs. And it was bad of me. I was lurking, actually. Lurking in Cheruby's ex's blog and in Granola Girl's blog. It's there for the world to read so I don't feel guilty about that either, but it still feels vaguely wrong.

I thought I'd settled my thoughts about her and now, I've had to come down a notch from my high horse. Looking at things from just your own perspective and not wanting to think about it from someone else's is wrong. I mean, the only perspective I knew was that of what Cheruby told me and nothing from her own mouth. There was always a filter. Not so with her blog - I'm reading her thoughts directly. It's hard to stay focused when I can finally see her as a real person. I really hate being wrong.

So, what I learned was that her friends love her dearly and you don't get to have friends like that if you don't earn them. And that forced me to face reality and see that even though she hurt my angel, he hurt her too. Nothing is ever completely one-sided unless your arguing with furniture and even then, the coffee table may have jumped out to bash your shin to get back at you for the water stain. On the plus side, these good realizations about her put me in a spot to fear her again and I didn't. She doesn't have any, well not very much, power over my angel anymore. Not as more than a friend anyway and I whole-hearted support that one because he still cares about her. She's important to him and therefore, important to me. I really don't see it outside the realm of possibility to actually become friends with her at some point in the future.

Everyone gets a little crazy when it comes to the one they love, right?

So it turns out that I didn't get the flu from Cheruby as he is now very sick with fever from me. I do believe that I not only got the flu, but his cold last week. And now he just has the flu. Poor Cheruby. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm better at being sick than he is and I really suck at being sick.

My mom was wonderful when she was here. I mean, other than the avoiding me part where she wouldn't sit with me in my room because I was too sick. That never stopped her before. I doubt it means she loves me less, probably just that she's moving over and making room for Cheruby. [grin] Before leaving on Thursday, she took the time to carve the pathways to my house again. She's so great.

Mage on the weekend was really a lot of fun. I spent the entire afternoon with my good friend playing City of Heroes. My poor laptop was quite done with the whole things about 7 hours of playing straight. Heh. Then the game on Saturday night went well. Umbrella was late because she had to work and then one of the student's husband's was really late picking her up making us even later. Oh well, it gave us an excuse to go get burgers. Cheruby really, really enjoyed himself which was awesome. He skipped on coffee though cuz he had to work in the morning like a sucka!

We spent Sunday playing Cheruby's Playstation 3 and In Nomine. His cousin came over and partook of the PS3 goodness. We didn't get to play In Nomine for very long because Umbrella was feeling a little out of it due to lack of sustenance and longing for home. We ordered pizza, worked on the puzzle on my dining room table, and finally called it a day at 8 or so. Cheruby and I continued to PS3-out in the evening with Marvel Alliance or some such game. That game stole my Monday evening as well.

Today, I stopped by Dragon's Den to get a few more decks for my Blue Moon game that my angel got for me for Christmas. I got the Mimix and Aqua decks today. Mimix looks pretty cool, but Aqua looks freakin' awesome!! I'm really looking forward to having a go with them. I got a chance to review all the cards in the car while I was waiting for Umbrella to get done work.

Upon arrival at my house, I found my angel and his cousin doing the PS3 thing (gasp!). Cheruby's cousin took a piece of paper out of his pocket to show me. He passed, he passed, HE PASSED!! All that hard work studying for two months last fall paid off! He got 90 percent on his carpenter's journeyman exam. Wahoo!! Congratulations go out to Buddy on that one. Well earned and deserved.

So before I got sick on Tuesday night, I was having a very good time with my friends roleplaying. First some Mage action and then some good ol' Dungeons and Dragons. Batty was kind enough to take this picture of our cabal.


And then a very awesome friend dropped by Cheruby's and my miniatures for D&D. He got a very big hug from me.
Here's Mira and a Bahir.


And here's the whole party - Syllinea, Oskar, Aurora, Mira, and Eddie (on Bahir). We didn't actually have to fight the bahir, but we might have. We were smart though. Kudos to us!

Good times were had by all. Well until 9:20 when I got to feeling the yuckness that is sick.

Cheruby and I are definitely sharing everything thiese days. He kindly gave me whatever it was he had, but he had a lesser version of it. I got the whole punching bag feeling, chill inducing fever, hacking, coughing, sniffling, and everything else that Benelyn eight in one commercial talks about.

My mom and her friend got stuck in Saskatoon for a second night last night because of the blizzard. I kind of missed the blizzard while I was asleep.

I think it's time to sleep again.

My time in Edmonton has been swell so far. I've had a fabulous time visiting with friends including Detail Girl and Oilers Fan and Stephanie's Mom and Rilla and Neuba and Bne. Even though I kept insulting everyone, it seems that they still like me which is all good by me.

We played Skallywaggs last night. Bne won two turns after whining about how far behind he was and that everyone was picking on him. Bne and I did win at kaiser which was good, although tonight, Neuba and Rilla beat us by 82 points. It was a short game. The third game was 56 to 56 and then Bne and I made a fantastic bid for the win.

Work was great this week. I felt like accomplished something and stuck up for my team. It's one of the only times of year that I get to do that. The month between December 15 and January 15 is so busy with new accounts that I actually get to say no. It's awesome.

And tomorrow, I get to hopefully visit my aunt. Two fabulous friends are coming up from Calgary - Ms. Pants and Mister. Yippee!! Then there's a movie night tomorrow night at another friend's place so we'll likely go do that.

And we were invited to a co-workers costume party on Sunday even though we can't go because Rilla and I have to drive back to Saskatoon. By then, I'll be totally ready to go home to my angel and my kittenses. Thinking about them now is already making me want to be there and curl up with my sweetie.

Even though the number of people heading to Edmonton this weekend went from a potential 5 to just me and Ril, we decided to go anyway. And Ril left yesterday with Neuba. I'm heading up tomorrow night on my own. I'll be working out of the Edmonton office for the remainder of the week. It's really quite convenient - only 7 blocks from where I'm staying.

Work today was fabulous which was surprising since I didn't really want to get out of bed this morning. I think there were several factors. The first is that I didn't just have carbs for breakfast. I forgot my oatmeal at home so I ended up eating my brick of cheese for breakfast. Then lunch was brought in and then I had a caffeinated beverage. Oh, and I got to say no a lot today and have people listen. I felt powerful today in that I was able to help my team and help my internal partners and help our clients - part of that help was in saying no to the things we couldn't reasonably do in the next two weeks. It was a good day.

We also got presents at work this morning for being named one of Canada's 50 Best Employers - electronic wine bottle openers. Makes me wish I drank more wine. It can open more than 30 bottles of wine without charging! Just imagine!

And I bought a bath sheet for Cheruby today because I felt selfish for having only one for me. Oooo... and a pretty bundt cake pan. And some little stuff at Michael's. Everybody needs more sprinkles - pink, purple and red. Wahoo!

Oh, and my pretty ring...

I'm looking very much forward to the coming year. I'm expecting great things.

It started with a wonderful kiss from my angel and lots of hugs from his friends. I was a little sad to not be with my friends. I told Ril that I'd kiss her if Cheruby was working, but he wasn't. I heard that she had two married fellows fighting for the honour of her New Year's kiss which made me happy. She also reminded me of how fortunate we are to have the wonderful circle of friends we do. We had a really good visit and shared lots of stories from the great evening and stories of our friends and the trials we went through in 2006.

So far today, I've run errands, visited with Ril and sat on my couch updating my blog links and look. Cheruby is off visiting his cousin, but I get to see him in a few hours when he plays in the Irish session at Cluricaune Pub in the Parktown.

I was also reminded of how amazing and fragile my sweet angel is. I've been lucky in my life to have such great role models and friends who care about me. All these people taught me to value myself as much as they do. To be cared about is a privilege and to be cared about by the people that care about me is a luxury. It has let me become the person that I am that I like.

Speaking of caring people, Annie is on and I haven't seen it in years. This deserves my full attention. My mom and brother hate the movie because I loved it so very much and watched it so very often. Carol Burnett is amazing.

A New Year deserves a new look. I'll have to update my links and such later, but it'll wait until tomorrow. Maybe ducky will be back, maybe not.

Neuba and Kaz are having their New Year's Party tonight. I'm really looking forward to it. Cheruby also has a party going on at his house so I'll be splitting my attention between them. I just hope I end up at the same party as my angel at midnight.

It's been busy around here.

I don't even know everything I've done in the past three (EEP!!) weeks since I was last here. I haven't checked up on anyone else either so I have no idea what's going on with anyone else.

I got a hair cut. It was just a trim, but the nice lady who did my hair knew I was going to my company Christmas party that night so she did it up all fancy-schmancy. I loved it. So curly and cute. A co-worker got some pictures so hopefully I'll be able to scam it from her to show off.

We played In Nomine for the first time in Cheruby's campaign and I made her character work very hard with very little payoff. I felt so bad for her. And my character was quite mean and suspicious of everyone. We're being used as pawns in a much larger game that I'm sure we have no control over.

I've done some baking as well. There was sugar cookie making with a really good friend who's having a hard time lately. And chocolate chip cookies for my Seasonal Celebration that was two weeks ago. The newlyweds and family were able to come over in the afternoon so I got to spend some time with the littlest monkey. She's adorable and loves the kittenses.

Present buying and present wrapping didn't tire me out at all this year. I made several small trips out to specific stores with specific things in mind and only left empty-handed a few of those times so I didn't get frustrated. I always left before that happened.

Trips to the doctor for me and a some time spent visiting a friend in the hospital. A roller coaster of emotions later and things didn't turn out well. I just keep them in my thoughts and prayers that their spirits heal.

I didn't think it'd be a big deal, being away from mom & dad on Christmas-proper. But I missed them more than I thought I would. I saw them the Wednesday before for a small Christmas meal and saw mom the Wednesday after on a quick trip of hers into the city, but the week in the middle was barren without them. I don't know what I'm going to do next year. Mom and I had a very good visit this week. We hadn't visited like that in a while and it was good.

Spending time with friends and family came first in the past few weeks. It's been wonderful and the amazing part is that I haven't felt rushed at any time. Even when I had to stay up until 4 a.m. to get the Christmas stockings done for our adopted family so that the evening could be spent with my family and my Cheruby. Very worth it. I had a few evenings last week where sleep was not the priority. I made friendship bread for everyone in the office which, with 13 people, and 2 loaves at a time at 1 hour 5 minutes baking time for the loaves.... so much baking time. Very tired by Friday and very happy to have the long weekend here.

After the very tired Friday, Cheruby and I went to Lumsden to visit cenobyte and clan. There was another house warming party in their loft. I quite enjoyed myself as did Cheruby who got to pee off a balcony. Heh. I slept in the car on the way there so I could be partially awake when we got there.

Then there was Christmas with my Cheruby's family. They very nice and wonderful and I loved being there and spending time with them. Cheruby's mom is really great and made me feel very welcome. His sister gets annoyed easily with him as I do with my brother. Something about having picked on each other for the majority of their lives might have something to do with that. I loved it. I spoiled Cheruby with too much stuff. I couldn't think of what to get for him. I thought of something, but didn't think it was appropriate. Now, I think it would have been, but that's okay. There will be other times to get him his heart's desire. And he got me this gorgeous ring - it's a cat's eye gold ring that suits me very well. Of course, I cried when I got it. Did I mention that he makes me very happy? Well, if I didn't...

Oh, and I got to meet his ex-girlfriend last night. I was so not myself. Mostly just quiet and not a lot to say. If she hadn't made such a big deal out of meeting me, I likely wouldn't have cared one way or the other, but she did for 8 months so last night was very nervous for me. I'm glad she's so nice, but she still hurt my Cheruby very badly in the past and I think it'll take me a while to get over that. She had this amazing hooka from Kuwait that was used last night with some mint and grape flavoured tobacco. It was neat to watch. I phoned a friend for some support to come play games with us, but he declined as he was very tired. I understand I didn't impress upon him the need for some support for me in the situation. I knew I could make it on my own even though it would've been easier with him there.

The little one has decided that playing in the bathtub after my shower is her new favourite game and now the shower drain filter is missing. It's a good thing she's so cute.

The big brat is way happier this winter with the little one to chase around and beat on. He hasn't even started gaining his usual winter weight.

Christmas shopping is going well. I think a trip to a few choice stores will see my mission complete. And I've really only ventured into 3 stores. Online shopping is a great thing. It's been a lot of fun shopping for my staff even though it's a little hard on my wallet. They're worth it.

Our adopted family at work has 10 people! Mom, dad and 8 kids of which the oldest is 12 and there are two sets of twins and only one girl! I'm making stockings for them with their names on them. I hope they like them.

If you haven't heard, I'm hosting a holiday get together on December 16th. Please come if you can. I'd love to see everyone.

I've watched a schwack of Dune in the past week, been outraged by Gilmore Girls (Christopher sucks, Cori), and been entertained by the Scarlet Pimpernel.

D&D isn't dying completely, just relocating and being played less often. It was a particularly excellent session this week. It was so intense that Cheruby was worried that the animosity between our characters might spill over into real life. I assured him that it wouldn't. I had a really fantastic time.

My beautiful niece phoned me on the weekend which was pretty cool. We chatted about the awful thing grandma had done to her which was sending her a Christmas present 4 weeks before Christmas and not letting her open it. Heh.

And today is going to be a beautiful day with tomorrow being even better. It's supposed to be +1 degrees here tomorrow. YAY!

So as I was in the middle of a crisis at work this morning, I saw a little boy walking to school all bundled up with a backpack on his back. He went straight into the huge pile on snow in my front yard. He knew there was a big rock there that was totally climbable now with all the snow. He got to the top of the rock and just stood there for a moment. I wondered what he was up to and then it happened. He fell straight backwards into my snow filled yard. I giggled wildly for a few seconds as I enjoyed the moment. Unfortunately, it wasn't as pleasant for the boy as he ended up with snow up his back.

I remember every moment of when I did that when I was a kid. Just letting yourself fall and even the snow in unpleasant places. It hurts more now.

Right now, there's nothing wrong but still there's a feeling of things not being right. I don't know exactly what it is.

My car died last night as I was driving. Luckily, it was right in front of a friend's apartment building. It was the second time in the evening my car wouldn't start and I'd had to call CAA. Now it's at the shop. I heard about another friend terrifying episode in her parking lot. Someone tried to steal her car while she was in it. When the door was locked, the attacker smashed the window with a hammer. I feel so bad for her because it takes a really long time after something like that to not feel scared.

My sweetie and I grow closer every time I stop to notice which is less often than you might think considering my self-analytical nature. He's very good for me and makes me happy.

Friday at work was interesting. I don't know if I overstepped my bounds or not, but I did get something done. I won't be doing anything like that again anytime soon, though. I was a bit agitated when I caused the ruckus I did. I was upset enough to stop being nice to people I didn't know.

The kittens are getting closer too. I witnessed the brat allowing the little one to clean him this morning for quite some time. I did get them very stoned on fresh catnip last night.

I can feel that I'm still trying to avoid work because I have some difficult tasks (for me) ahead. I have a plan and I know I just have to do it and it will all be good, but I don't want to. However, if I want to be a good manager, I have to start being good at giving all kinds of feedback not just the good stuff. I really have to get better at giving negative feedback. I avoid that as much as possible.

So, as I said, there's nothing wrong. Just life being ... life-y. Maybe it's the weather that's causing this feeling.

I like visitors. It makes me happy to be able to do things for my friends and with my friends. This weekend, I had visitors from Edmonton. Not as many as usual, but still good. They brought me a present of thanks that made me very, very happy. It's fuzzy and warm and happy. The kittens like it too.

Cori summed up portions of my weekend fairly well. Cheruby and I was there for soup and biscuits too after the playing at Lydia's. They were very yummy. I was coerced earlier with cookie dough. It was really good to see the plague bearer. It's really been way too long.

So we made plans with brain exercise girl and Cheruby to play kaiser and watch movies on Sunday. It was really good, but seemed like just a start and not quite enough. I know plague bearer is busy so I don't bug him often, but it was very awesome to see him.

Then my mom was here last night and this morning. It was very good to see her too. It's always very good to see her. She made it home safely this evening and even in time to get a flu shot and see her new puppy. Yes, my parents are getting a new puppy. Apparently, my dad wouldn't mind the black one. Heh.

Saskatchewan

vs.

Saskatchewan

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Mohair.You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes.
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I know that the Californian friends must be dreadfully disappointed that they missed the snow by two days. We got a schwack. Enough that it seems that winter came overnight. I was so happy not to have to drive into the office Wednesday or Thursday this week. Traffic was horribly slow outside of rush hour. Crazy business that. It's so pretty. I've been very tempted to make a snow angel in my front yard.

Shovelling the walk wasn't even that bad. I didn't dig out the back gate or the walk along the side of the house. I didn't really feel the need. Of course, if the Sidekick ever moves, we'll have to dig out the back gate so someone else can park there, but alas, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I think my alley is a lot easier to drive down than the street in front of my house.

My boss said to me on Wednesday, "Isn't it too early for the snow to stick around?" I laughed heartily at that. He's from Ontario. Ottawa to be more specific. Apparently, he never had to dress for Hallowe'en over a snow suit.

I'm on vacation right now. The last one of the year before we get into our busy season at work so I'm visiting my mom and dad. I haven't been here in much too long. Cheruby may have had something to do with that, but it was still my choice. I brought the kittenses home with me. I just got them to a point where they weren't missing me all the time from being out of the house. Going away for four days would likely ruin all that so I brought them with me. It was the little one's first lengthy car ride. She was nervous at first and had to use the litter box, but after that she was good and slept next to me for most of the trip. The big brat probably had a calming influence on her as he did his usual sleep thing. Although getting him into the car is usually a fiasco, once he's there, he's fine. The fiasco this time included the little one freaking out big time when the big brat came near in the house. I think she smelled his fear and didn't know what was going on because he's never scared, right? That's my working theory anyway. Cheruby and Rilla were there to help me herd the cats which was a big help because usually it's several trips to the house and back to get them into the car and get the house locked up and all that jazz.

I'm surprised I'm not missing the warmer weather. Winter seems to be good so far this year despite the awful driving.

Yesterday afternoon, in between some event or another related to Drang & Sally's wedding, I was questioning the role I play in my social circle. I believe I was musing this to Cheruby, but it really could have been anybody. In large groups, I don't contribute a lot to conversation and I'd rather just be off having a conversation with one person about something close to me. I don't have a lot of education so I don't like to participate in intellectual conversations because my knowledge of subjects is typically shallow and new concepts need to needle into my brain before I can discuss them with any confidence. I haven't many hobbies that interesting enough to talk about for more than three minutes and my job is as a manager which has challenges similar to every other manager job making it not that discussion worthy either. Having said all that, I don't feel completely out of place. I just like to be surrounded by my people and be able to put a smile on their face in whatever small way I can - either with a beer in hand or laughing a joke (rarely ingeniously if ever) or any other small attention that lets my people know I care. I used to be better at small talk and being "on" but fell out of practice and some lost desire to be able to make small talk. Then Drang, just a few hours later, paid me a very good compliment by echoing my thoughts. Just after I'd started into a fit of giggles about some silly joke someone told and had to repeat, "This is why we like having Suzi around. Just a little thing and you get rewarded with that laugh." Or something like that. It made me happy. I think I cried.

I was very tired yesterday and cried tears of joy about at least a dozen times including 3 times during the wedding ceremony including during the strip show as laughter is a release, once when I hugged Drang, once when I hugged Sally five seconds later, and twice when I was driving a friend from work to the reception. There many more times of tears, especially in talking with one of my best friends who I rarely get to talk to anymore because of location and being so busy.

And just so I don't forget. The JP was on Quaaludes and it felt a bit like Romper Room. I see cenobyte and his nibs and sprogs and r:tag and tuo and buttery b and mr. tall and furlak and bne and... and it was good. [sniff]

Went to a party tonight and got home at 3:30 a.m. It was really, really awesome. I haven't stayed that late at a party. I even had a beer in between many caffeinated beverages. Hence why I'm still awake.

I'm so happy for my friends who are getting married next weekend. I was told once that a tiger is hard to catch. Apparently, it takes another tiger. And it's good.

And I think I'm going to get to see him more often because I'm going to be playing in Low Life that he's going to be running. It's very exciting.

And tomorrow, or I should say tonight, we're going to flush out more of our characters from our cabal for Mage: The Awakening. I've got the pretty book back for reading before our meeting tomorrow. Then I'll pass it back to Cheruby for his further perusal. At some point, Kazanj is going to want it again too. This is going to be so much fun!

Lastly, I have to finish fleshing out my character for In Nomine - goals, beginnings, and all that. I have the basics down on paper, just no personality for her yet.

This joke was sent around work today with the Subject line of "A 'Suzanne' joke to end the day!" I guess I'm flattered. [grin]

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night, when behind him he hears something.



BUMP...



BUMP...



BUMP...



Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog. He makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.



BUMP...



BUMP...



BUMP...



Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.



FASTER...



FASTER...



BUMP...



BUMP...



BUMP...



He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.



However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping



clappity-BUMP...



clappity-BUMP...



Clappity-BUMP...



on his heels, the terrified man runs.



Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.



With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.



Bumping and clapping toward him.



The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!



Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...




















and,




the coffin stops.




Happy Hallowe'en everyone! Mwa-ha-ha-ha...

____________________________
This joke was first presented to me at a werewolf moot by a certain very tall gentleman. It still makes me happy to think about that. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I didn't remember turning on the basement light. So when I got home tonight, and it was on, I was surprised. Then I found a note from my mom on the counter. My mom was in the basement as a pleasant surprise. She has an appointment tomorrow.

I didn't remember turning the VCR off. So the timer didn't go tonight. I missed Gilmore Girls. The synopsis of an episode never holds the same value. [pout] Maybe I'll get lucky with some reruns.

I'm still glad to see my mom.

Today is the 6-month anniversary of my first date with Cheruby. I'm very happy. Can you feel the happy? You should be able to because it's very powerfully happy. Much more powerful than cenobyte's Manchurian Melfing Sickness.

So I went to my first ever drag show last night and it was awesome. I was giddy when I picked her up just because I was actually feeling pretty good. I cleaned up my backyard yesterday. It looks like I got robbed, actually. So barren. Right, drag show.

My brain was in a particularly peculiar state to which got me to thinking about a lot of strange things while sitting there in the oontz-oontz music which was too loud to try to have a normal conversation waiting for the show to begin. Old friends and their exes in compromising situations because I thought the ex might be there in the diverse crowd and what had ever happened to her anyway? Also looking at the diversity of the folks out for such an event was fun. The guy in the green stripping shirt that kept making Rilla think she was in a movie by spontaneously breaking out into dance behind her. And this guy really moves when he dances. And then there was the flirty girl in the red shirt. Obviously, her friend who got stuck purse watching several times in the evening has a huge crush on her. Poor guy, but she's not right for him anyway. A couple started dancing on a table and he lifted her up to girate on his hips. That stuff only happens in the movies, right? The diversity in the crowd really did astonish me because I obvious don't get out much. It was at Louis' so I expected a more university crowd, but it wasn't, it was the Diva's crowd which makes more sense to me. So diverse.

Now, the show was great. I laughed my ass off because some were so funny and others were so good. There did a fantastic rendition of the dance number from Thriller. There were some "brothers" who did a montage of songs which included Mahna, Mahna which made me think of Kazanj which made me imagine him up on stage doing the number which just about killed me with laughter. Of course, they ended their musical number with a song about choking your chicken which was very, very funny. The final performance was of Vogue. I realized that the gaggle of girls that had been watching behind us weren't singing along with that song and I felt a little old, but only old enough to be able to appreciate more jokes and old enough to think they have so much to learn and experience yet. I was impressed by how good the drag queens looked. I mean, it takes the same discipline (or natural metabolism) to be skinny whether you're a boy or a girl, but dang! There was a sensational version of some Justin Timberlake song that I don't quite know, but the guy was really, really good. I think someone around me called it "Sexy Back" but I'm not sure. It was very, very good. I don't even remember all the performances last night which is really too bad because they were all so good.

Proceeds went to the USSU LGBTA Centre Bursary Fund.

I went to work today, but was lying on my home office floor by 3:20. You know, just in case someone tried to contact me cuz I was feeling really useful. All bad. Then I went to bed.

Only up now because mom stopped by and had to get something on her way to Calgary.

And then checked my email. There are rewards in life. I nearly peed myself laughing so hard at this from her. Of course, I just scared the cats with the high-pitched squeal involved when I laugh that hard, but it was so worth it.

Thanksgiving went well. I freaked out as usual. I can't seem to make it through a family gathering at my house without freaking out. Ah well, they love me anyway and I love them.

I was made incredibly happy by R&R's attendance at Thanksgiving dinner. There was much tomfoolery with my niece and nephew, especially my nephew. He's a quiet kid normally, but he bloomed into the centre of attention that evening. And my niece, who is usually the centre, just let it be that way. I was quite proud of her, actually. She shared the spotlight or went and found someone else to pay attention to her.

We celebrated my dad's 60th that weekend too. I love him very much. It was really good to see him and he fixed my front stoop. He's a good man.

A few short (but very, very long) days at work and I had a vacation day on Friday the 13th because I don't work on any Friday the 13th if it can be helped. Just a general rule I like. Makes me happy.

So Cheruby and I went to his uncle's cabin for the weekend. We left on Thursday night and had a very relaxing weekend without any obligations of our real lives. Lots of game playing. They taught me Civilization although we didn't finish the game. I read a lot in my pretty new Mage book. We're getting together a cabal for the new Mage LARP. It's going to be hella fun.

I felt so wonderful after the weekend away. Monday at work was so much more manageable. Then I got to hear my Cheruby play at Cluricaune that evening before coming down with melfing and the runs. Thanks to Cenobyte for that. And this.

***





Find your Celestial Choir
***


Got a half day work in yesterday before getting too exhausted to go on. Then Cheruby got the Manchurian Melfing Sickness. And then I almost started again, but maybe it was just sympathy. So today, I'm really hungry and scared to eat. Rightfully so, everything zoooms through very quickly - too quickly. More than you wanted to know, but I'm in a sharing mood.

Taking it easy today. Decided that work can wait until the weekend when I can think in full sentences. Maybe finish some of my outstanding work and get organized a little. Maybe not.

I took today off work so I could prepare for my family's visit this weekend. I had all last night to start the process too.

So, Purrrsia's finally level 44 in City of Heroes. I've also created a new hero in anticipation of Issue 8. YAY! Free costume modifications are good. My newest is on Champion - Dryad Huntress. Very exciting. I also noticed that Purrrsia has 24 free costume changes. Heh.

I was reading Neuba's blog and she was mentioning how she doesn't have a lot to say these days. I have to say I know how she feels. Even though I am working - it's the same work that I've been doing for quite a while now. And it has it's ups and downs, but whining about it on my blog isn't going to make anything better. And in fact, will likely make them worse because I'll be dwelling on them. The best I can do is just keep my focus and keeping doing my best - accept what I need to and keep being there for my team. It's rewarding and frustrating when I can't support them.

Now, I'm watching the old Battlestar Gallactic. It's very amusing - the costumes and special effects. It reminded me of an upcoming event on October 7 on Space that I'm really excited about which doesn't have anything to do with trailer trash. That's tomorrow. SQUEEEEE!!

I hope everyone has a very happy turkey day. I am very thankful for all my wonderful friends and family wherever in the world you may be. Here's to hoping that you are all healthy and happy and in good company.

I giggled a lot so I'm sharing.



Darth Tater

This week hasn't been the most wonderful. Work went south very quickly. My staff are so amazing though. After being told of the situation, one of them even volunteered to take on some of the work. I cried. They're so great. I wouldn't love my job as much without them.

There was some annoying stuff with this loan that I got. Stupid folks had my wrong home phone number and so they kept calling me at work after I repeatedly told them not to. AND they couldn't call me by my middle name no matter how many times I told them that either. Well, the first person I talked to was great, but the others have been annoyingly oblivious of the meaning of good customer service. The guy didn't show up for our meeting and then showed up later to find the nasty note I left him on my door. We finally got the deal done, but I was pretty frustrated before it got that way. And to make this meeting that the guy didn't show up for, I had to leave an important board meeting for the charity I volunteer for because the number he'd given me to reach him had been out of order all day.

Then a meeting was cancelled, but no one bothered to phone me, just an email to my home account which I didn't have access to during the day. So I showed up because I have to go there straight from work to make it on time. No meeting.

Tonight, I went to MacNally Robinson to look around and get a present for a friend. Cheruby and I spent some time looking around before heading back to my house... to a broken garage door. Some jack@ss ran his/her car into my garage making it inoperable. My garage door is dented and broken. And the one wall is 3 to 4 inches displaced from its usual home. The police were nice enough to drop by and take a look and give me a file no. They're not going to investigate any further, but they were nice about it.

And then there's all the other stuff that didn't go right this week.

Good stuff:
- People ordered Tupperware from my party last week even though only one other person besides my mom came. And I get free stuff.
- Got that loan I wanted.
- Got to meet my boss.
- Another week with Cheruby making me smile.
- Ordered a beautiful blue shawl.
- Mom and dad are coming up next week and for Thanksgiving.
- Got to see lots of friends recently that I haven't seen in much too long.
- Went into work and actually got to socialize with my coworkers rather than just be connected to the phone in my little corner of the office.
- Made plans to visit more friends in a week and a half.
- Booked some vacation days to help me relax.

See? Lots more good than bad.

How is it that I know that I have a good reputation at work, I have a good relationship with my boss and I still am nervous about meeting him in person? I got all caffeinated at work today just so that I could be talkative at dinner tonight with him.

He's so short. One of my coworkers actually said that I was bigger than him. And yes, I am, and not just around. He's quite vertically challenged. How wrong would it be to mock him as I so dearly want to? Heh.

So here I sit - tired and too caffeinated to sleep.

Ril and I were girly girls last night. Makeovers and learning how to put makeup on. Fun stuff. So much so that Rilla wanted to do it again, but go through a whole colour analysis. So we are in a couple of weeks. Such girly girls.

Of course, getting that stuff off my face was a little more than I bargained for. Wait, it was all free, nevermind. Heh.

And I got a very pretty wedding invitation in the mail. I love weddings.

Fresh warm plums just off the tree are really, really good. Sometimes, they're small enough to just pop right in your mouth and explode when you bite into them. Warm plum goodness fills your senses. It was a really great walk around the yard with my Auntie Cool. She's very awesome and made me have a nap after having plums.

Caffeine can keep one awake even on a lonely drive between Edmonton and Saskatoon after a day at the office and one episode of Six Feet Under with a friend. A friend who can supply much of said caffeine. Oh, and there was sugar.

Being there for an employee's first day makes a difference into how welcome that new team member feels. I was very happy to be able to be there for that.

Seeing a loved one after being away for a while is a joyous occasion. Five days is nothing compared to an entire summer, but it's still enough to make me very thankful to be home. Cuddling with kittenses who missed me is also very good for the soul. With that much love, it is pretty much impossible to stay stressed.

Being on a budget and a diet while travelling is really, really hard. Good thing I have understanding and supportive friends.

I really, really dislike seafood (excluding fish). The reason for that is not because of the taste as I love the taste. It has to do with the squish-pop factor involved in cooked seafood. In my experience with salting eggs and turning them to rubber, I believe that the salt water also creates the squish-pop factor in cooked seafood.

squish-pop - the inability of one's teeth to immediately tear the flesh of cooked seafood. Pressure must be applied before the cooked flesh gives way and breaks apart. The first bite is usually the worst for the squish-pop effect, but all subsequent chews also have lesser squish-pop effects as they rend more cooked flesh.

Because I have been accused of being safe when ordering and eating food, I make myself try things now and again that I used to dislike just in case I like it this time because so many other people enjoy it. Lasagna used to be in the dislike category. Obviously, I was very very wrong in that opinion. This trend lead me to attempt calamari again this evening.

And wow! It was truly awesome. I have had almost good seafood once before at Genesis in Saskatoon and it was scallops. MMmmmm.... scallops. Of course, they too had a slight squish-pop factor so I only ate two before getting all squidgey-like. I've also had mussels that were almost great as well. That was in Halifax this summer at the Five Fisherman. Tonight, I had truly wonderful calamari. It took me three tries to actually put the first piece in my mouth, but DANG! So amazingly yummy and non-squishy-poppy. YAY! It was at a Mexican restaurant in the Comfort Inn downtown Edmonton called El Toro.

How is it that I can't seem to keep the house clean lately and can't keep with my friends' blogs for two months, but I can find time to play a new online game?

Having too much fun, I guess. [grin] I think that a certain Cheruby has been occupying much of my time. It was a mere 4 months ago we met. Seems like so much more time than that has passed - in a good way. Scratch that, in a fantabulous way.

Tonight I should get a little more caught up on things as I prepare for a trip to Edmonton to visit Bne and all my new Edmonton friends. And my old Edmonton friends too. And family. Did I mention that I took Tuesday off work so that I would have time to visit all my friends and family?

It was a toss up at the end and I had a tie breaker question. Am I more female or in touch with my instincts? I had to say more female for biological reasons. I can quantify being female, but not being in touch with my instincts. Besides, I really am a girly girl sometimes.

You scored as III - The Empress. The Empress is a maternal symbol. She is the mother figure who loves, nurtures and protects. She will protect you, she will always be there when you are in trouble. When you fall over and graze your knee, the Empress will kiss it better. Yet she is not a weak figure. Her compassion is strength. If her children are threatened she will stop at nothing to protect them. If well aspected in a Tarot spread, the Empress can symbolise security, protection and unconditional love. If badly aspected it can represent over-protectiveness, fear of risk taking and refusal to face the real world. II - The High Priestess 94% III - The Empress 94% XIX: The Sun 88% I - Magician 69% XI: Justice 63% 0 - The Fool 63% IV - The Emperor 63% VI: The Lovers 56% XIII: Death 56% X - Wheel of Fortune 56% VIII - Strength 56% XVI: The Tower 38% XV: The Devil 13% Which Major Arcana Tarot Card Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

That's right, pirating. While we only plundered the other raft, it was still awesome. Pirate shirts and bandanas galore, one Jolly Roger to be claimed back and forth and one captain's tricorn hat makes for a glorious day. That all lasted about half the trip down the river. The other half was laying back and soaking up the sun while the river took us wherever we needed to go, mostly.

We lost most of the oars at one point as the other team had five of the six. We had to compensate somehow so we trailed our feet in the water and kicked. This only worked for a little while before certain folks were sucked under the boat as we got into a deeper, swifter part of the river. And when I say, deeper and swifter, we're talking about 4 feet of water here and while it was difficult, it wasn't impossible to just stand. They floated ahead of us for a while until we caught up so they could get back in the boat. I was also out of the boat for a while there and the only challenge with me getting back in was that I was laughing too hard.

For those expecting me back in Saskatoon today, I am spending another night in Calgary so that I can stay awake for the entire drive. I'm very tired. Good night.

I decided to take it easy on the drive to Calgary this evening which means I wasn't even doing 100 km/hr at times. It was a nice drive. The lightning around Drumheller was spectacular as usual.

I listened to my iPod play such classics as Tentacles and Saturday Night. Saturday Night came on at a crucial point in the drive about 25 kilometres out of Hanna. I don't remember the last time I had to pee that badly. I was almost crying. I usually stop at the Husky or Esso actually in Hanna, but the Shell station won this time by being so much sooner on the road.

Clark got many boxes of stuff this evening and we've just finished unloading the car. Hopefully, whatever was scratching from within one of the boxes for the entire drive has gone back to sleep.

My dad likes to talk. A lot. I love him very much and on a long drive, he's great.

Yesterday, I was talking to him about my uncle. And then he started telling about this friend of my great aunt's. He was going on and on. Finally, I had to interrupt him to ask him if he had a point. To which he replied, "Well, she died." I started laughing so hard. There was absolutely no connection between the topics of conversation. NOTHING! And then he just ignored my laughter and started in on something new! LOL

Tonight, I phoned mom just to find out if they were going to come visit me this weekend because she had told me earlier that they were. It was a short conversation and we were done. But then dad had picked up the other line and was wanting to talk to me. I just started giggling because of the conversation last night. He knew why I was laughing so he asked me what I was going to do when I had to take care of him. It's obvious - stick him in a room full of cats to talk to all day. He hates all the cat hair everywhere so I told him I'd vacuum often. How was I going to vacuum without having to talk to him? Sedation in the food I put under the door, of course! It was at that point he finally called me bad. Heh. My dad talking to a room full of cats. It'd either be a hit comedy or something the likes of About Schmidt.

This note was from my Director of HR Operations. He said some nice stuff and then he wrote, "People like you make me love my job!"

That's been making my day every time I come into the office for over a week now.

He's the only consistent male in the Halifax 2006 pictures finally linked on the right. All the other males are ones we picked up at our restaurants.

I had a very relaxing weekend. I spent Friday night through Sunday afternoon with Cheruby. We went to see Creeping Zombie Insanity at the Fringe, took a walk along the railroad tracks at Clavet, watched some Battlestar Galactica (for which I saw an episode preview on Space and know part of the future - grrrr...), played City of Heroes, napped, went to Buttery B's going away party, and went for lunch at Cheruby's mom's.

I got to have supper with my parents tonight too which was very nice. It was good to have some time with them. My mom was telling me that my niece said she liked Cheruby well enough, but that she didn't think he was right for me. She's a very intuitive girl about people. She picks up on a lot of things that most people don't notice at all. She's more intuitive than I am and I like to think that I'm pretty intuitive. Of course, I also can be pretty intimidating so people wouldn't be likely to tell me I'm wrong.

I had such a great weekend and I'm very happy.

Instead of Traeger's, we went to Grainfield's as Traeger's was closed. Heh. Can I tell you that it makes me happy? I don't care for Traeger's. I know that will make some gasp in horror, but I don't. Grainfield's didn't treat us very well though. It took over a half hour to get our food and made me late for D&D.

However, D&D was fantastic today. We beat up orcs and a manticore and let a family die because we were too scared to go on and saved a town from an orc invasion. And we sang more Golden Girls theme music. D&D with mostly girls gets weird in a different way sometimes.

Then I got home to find out that mom and dad and my niece weren't coming to Saskatoon tonight because The Maze isn't happening this year. I was very disappointed and so was my niece. It didn't make sense that they arrive here late and don't get to spend any time with me. So I'm making them lunch tomorrow. Chili and buns. Should make the rest of their drive to Calgary fun. Heh.

So I played City of Heroes all night. It was a nice break before heading back to work tomorrow. And on that note, I need to sleep.

I took Cheruby on the tour of Nipawin after supper at my parents' on Wednesday. It took less than an hour. Heh. Dad mentioned that part. And Cheruby loved the old bridge as much as I do.

The next day we went on a fabulous boat tour on the Saskatchewan river which turns into Tobin Lake on the north side of the new Nipawin bridge. We saw loads of pelicans at the dam and some eagles, bald and golden, while touring the river. The golden eagle was being harried by a smaller bird and just looked annoyed more than anything else. We went on shore at one point so the dog could do his business. Cheruby found a fabulous walking stick.

Cheruby and I took off back to Saskatoon shortly after that. We took a scenic route which took us through Melfort and Prince Albert. It also took us on a river ferry after we had visited LaColle Falls. It was VERY dusty and my car is still awful.

Friday was fantastic as it was the first day to myself in weeks. We played some games at Neuba's house as there were some folks coming in from Calgary. We then went to eat at BPs when the storm hit and the power went out. Romantic meal in the dark. Heh. We played Earthdawn and then had a games night with hottubbing on Saturday.

Sunday had me playing some City of Heroes finally, Fringing with MM, supper Ril and Clark at her new cute house and then some much needed kaiser playing. MM was a kaiser virgin, but no more. Heh. The girls ruled!

The last day is today. Hanging out in my backyard with MM as I write. We're going to Traegar's for brunch, then I'm off to D&D and then mom, dad and my niece are coming through Saskatoon and we hope to do The Maze and visit the Strawberry Ranch tonight if they are still open.

I have to get back into work tonight when I create the agenda for the meeting I'm chairing first thing in the morning, but that isn't now. Now, I am still on vacation.

Well, after our first day of fun which she told you about, we had lots more. We did rent some movies, but hardly got through any of them as there were many distractions to be had.

Let's see, Monday a friend and her two little girls, 8 and 3, came over and played. We just painted and coloured and watched very little of a movie, but that was in the evening. Earlier in the day, we took all my bottles back, rented movies, did a little shopping, and sorted her bead collection into better containers. We maybe should have had some luggage specifically for her stuff, but that didn't happen so there are a lot of trips to the car to pack.

Tuesday was Princess Diaries. It's such a good show. I really should own that someday. I really do love the movie because I'm such an incredible sap. It's all good though. We went rollerblading on the sidewalk and my niece did really well. She only held onto the fence for the first time down the sidewalk and back and the rest was mostly hands-free. She fell a couple times, but then so did I. Good thing we got her new pads that fit her. The wrists guards from the new set really didn't fit as they were too small but everything else fit well. So I'm hoping her wrists guards will last a long time and she can grow from her current pads to the old big ones and keep on blading. And yes, I got some rollerblades and they're a lot of fun. The sales guy was poopy though. He didn't even repack the box for me after I'd tried them on. They're still good blades. We went for ice cream at the double decker bus that night with my friends and her kids again as they got along really well. We went for a walk along the river and went on some rides at Kinsmen Park. I had to have a nap because I was getting so tired. My niece was really great about it and watched TV in bed with me for about a half hour while I rested. We set up the table to do some painting, but never got around to it because our evening activities. Cheruby came over to watch Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events with us, but my niece didn't make it through 10 minutes before sleeping so I carried her upstairs as she was a limp noodle (although much, much heavier). Cheruby and I then watched some Battlestar Galactica before sleeping.

The next day was full of fun and some interesting conversations between my niece and I. We picked apples at an old roommates house in the morning. It was really good to see him and his girlfriend. It was raining a little so we took the fabulous orange umbrella I got in Halifax. She doesn't know what it says so it was all good. Then we got home to find Cheruby home from work as he wasn't feeling well so we went for food at BP's and then over to swim for a bit at Cheruby's moms. Cheruby just slept in a comfy recliner on the deck while my niece and I swam. She really tested the deep end a few times and freaked me out, but I kept my patience and just had myself at the ready to bring her to safety. We had pool noodles so she mostly held onto those. She did freak herself out once, but I was right beside her to bring her a flotation device (pool noodle). After that, we spent some time in the shallow end at her request. We wrestled pool noodles (thanks, Ril), had contests about who could shoot water further, had back kick contests across the pool, and did other various watery things. After that, we drove straight to Nipawin where we had supper with my parents.

Everytime I go to Calgary, I run myself ragged trying to see everyone I miss so much. Of course, this only gets worse when I work every day that I'm there now. I'll start taking a day off in there so that I can enjoy myself and maybe get enough sleep. Just a thought.

I had a great time though. I always do. I did miss Bne as he was gallavanting on another continent, but that's his loss really. I got to see quite a bit of Clark and E&MM which was awesome. We picked up a barbecue that his company gave him and even though I wanted to take it home with me, it stayed in Calgary. I also got to see W&H&E which is always a good time even though it's usually on a weeknight when we all have to work in the morning so it's a short visit.

One of the best things about the trip was a chat with one of my coworkers in the Calgary office. I used to work with her very closely and had no idea what was going on when I first started on her team. So her behaviour which was induced by significant stress levels left me feeling as thought I was incompetent in some way. Of course, she wasn't in any kind of headspace to try to make better for herself let alone anyone because of the pressures of the business. I've grown up a lot since then and can take responsibility for my own actions and perceptions of the time in question which were very wrong. It was a really good chat and I did learn a lot from her, but for the most part, I just wanted out at the time. I almost quit and was blaming her. Now, I see it wasn't really her fault. There were circumstances that I knew nothing about and she had been so stressed for so long, she had become a different person than who she thought she was. I get that now. And I feel bad for putting all the blame on her, but I'm truly not stressed about it anymore. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to have that talk with her. I've wanted to for a very long time and it opened my eyes a lot.

I spent Friday night and Saturday with the family and drove home with my niece late on Saturday night. She only slept for a half hour and we finally got to Saskatoon at 3:30 or so in the morning safe and sound.

There was a house full of people when we got here, but I was expecting that. It was great to see everyone from Edmonton before they went home on Sunday.