Meme

Liked it alot... kinda funny, stole it from M. and look we both come up with the same card.

You are The Tower

Ambition, fighting, war, courage. Destruction, danger, fall, ruin.

The Tower represents war, destruction, but also spiritual renewal. Plans are disrupted. Your views and ideas will change as a result.

The Tower is a card about war, a war between the structures of lies and the lightning flash of truth. The Tower stands for "false concepts and institutions that we take for real." You have been shaken up; blinded by a shocking revelation. It sometimes takes that to see a truth that one refuses to see. Or to bring down beliefs that are so well constructed. What's most important to remember is that the tearing down of this structure, however painful, makes room for something new to be built.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I Ache

I ache from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.... add that to the hip and lower back pain and the lack of sleep I am one hurting unit. Of course the fact that my new family doctor (yes I finally found a new doctor) has me taking one, yes I said one extra strength tylenol every 4 hours... it's doing wonders for the pain, really, seriously... I wouldn't believe me either. So next time I see him I am going to ask to start the elimination process for the diagnosis of fibromylagia... I know the 18 pressure points that are used and so far I am able to hit 8 of them, need 11 for a positive diagnosis, that I have a serious reaction too. Wouldn't that be grand, guess what goes hand and hand with fibromylagia, chronic fatigue syndrome... nice eh? Oh yeah and depression, pain, lack of sleep and so much more. All this is starting to sound vaguely familar.... Anyway, I have had my rant... so now I will go back to counting down the minutes until my next Tylenol.

Insomnia

So it's 3am, and I have been up for the last hour, and it would seem that there is no chance of going back to sleep. Or i'll finally feel tired and want to sleep right when I need to be getting up for work. Gawd.... it's going to be a long day.

I'm Ready for Winter

Well at least the car is. Was up to the parent's house this weekend, had a nice visit with the family, including my grandma and got my car all ready for winter. It has its snow tires on and gotta love those guys, cause they did an alignment too and they didn't see any obvious damage to the car from the accident. So overall a good weekend.

It Finally Happened....

ok, actually 2 things have happened. One is a good thing and the other not so good. I'll do the not so good first so that I can cheer myself up with the good thing.

Bad Thing: I was finally in an accident on the DVP, I don't count the multiple stone chips and replaced windshields, anyway... I was rearended while stopped in traffic. The is car is ok and I'm ok (so that's some good news), though I did take yesterday off just in case. Blah... going to have the backend checked out on the weekend to make sure there was no structual damage. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Ok, now for the Good Thing.... and it will come as a shock to most of you as I have not mentioned this really to anyone. I have met a boy, that's right me the chronically single friend,has met a boy, a very nice boy, and a very cute boy, so I'm in the seeing where things may go stage.

So... that's what's been going on.

Murphy is on the DL

So Murphy is out for at least a week. He has been having issues with his right hind leg. I gave it a week or two to see if it was just a muscle strain, but it continues to act up, so off to the vet we went. The vet offically put Murphy on the disabled list, no off leash activities. So now he is moping on the couch. I hope that it is no more than a muscle thing... it could be worse, arthitis or hip dysplasia... my poor puppy. Now he's on dog anti-inflamatories for the next 5 days and no really active play. Hopefully the rest and meds will clear up the problem.

I'm Sick

It's not even fall yet and I am already sick... fever, body ache, sore throat and cough... Tomorrow is going to be a sick day. No work for me.

Finally

Someone has woken up and noticed that models are waaaayyyyy too skinny.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2006-09-12T163513Z_01_L11573495_RTRUKOC_0_US-SPAIN-MODELS1.xml&src=rss

I think I heard on Breakfast Television that the smallest models allowed would have to be a size 8. Can you believe it... normally the average is size 2. Finally, finally, finally.... and I could so care less how this is going to impact those 'naturally' thin American models. Maybe now they will eat something.

B-day Thing

Your Birthdate: January 13

You're dominant and powerful. You always need to be in charge. While others respect your competence, you can be a bit of a dictator. Hard working and serious, you never let yourself down. You are exact and accurate - and you expect others to be the same way. Your strength: You always get the job done Your weakness: You're a perfectionist to a fault Your power color: Gray Your power symbol: Checkmark Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Vacation:

Blog update:

Tuesday August 8, 2006
So I am on vacation, sitting on the deck of the cottage enjoying the sunshine and sounds of the waves hitting the shore. Murphy is relaxing in the shade and it is quite. Nice and quite. Only the sounds of nature. It’s great. My mom, grandma and Mike went into town to pick up some stuff that we forget to bring with us yesterday. As we were in a hurry to leave – trying to get away from my crazy sister-in-law. So I have the cottage all to myself for a little bit. I’ve decided to hang out here until Thursday and then head back into Owen Sound for a few days by the pool and going to the beach. Being out here is so amazing, it is totally the way I would love to spend every summer, through in some camping and I would be in heaven. Too bad that I have to work all summer and only can take like a week of vacation. I could do this for a whole month. Though the lack of internet is a bit of a drag, no checking my email or reading everyone’s blogs….it would be so easy to get really out of touch… though I can get a signal on my cell, so at least that’s
something.

Came up yesterday after spending the weekend in TO – lots of things to do. Friday was Laura’s birthday so we all went out for Ehiopian food and then beer at Café Volo. Though I was only able to make it through one beer, I was insanely tired and it was a struggle even to get out the door. Saturday was pretty much cleaning up the apartment and napping. Sunday was also cleaning up the apartment, getting ready for my vacation and napping. Good thing I had that nap because we went to Velvet Underground for Spirit of the Edge night. It was great, lots of good music, a little dancing and beer. A very fun night out. Up early on Monday, believe it or not, packed up the car and headed north, stopped in at the parents and had a swim and then piled into my mom’s car and came out to the cottage. Where I find myself now. Relaxing and not worrying about anything. The weather is great and the breeze is nice and there is no one around. All in all a good start to my vacation.

So vacation has been great up until now... warm, sunny, at the cottage reading books. Arrived back in Owen Sound on Thursday which was perfect timing as the temputure decided to cool off in the afternoon. Made it out for a couple of drinks with Alison... was home by 10pm mind you. Pretty crazy, I've discovered that I need to have a nap in the afternoon. That's the problem... need more time to sleep. Well actually I need to get my sleep disorder figured out but hey... I'll go with naps in the afternoon until that happens. So if anyone knows of someone hiring a parttime person for a full time wage and benefits, let me know.... I will not be holding my breath.

And now for the kicker... took my car in for it's regular service + brake service... does everyone remember my track record with brakes.... well this time it wasn't $700 at least. $378 later.... so no going out for me for quite some time as I am now officially broke and I mean broke.

And now for some pictures:


Murphy on the deck in Toronto: this one is getting blown up and framed


On the way to the cottage in the car.


Sunset at the cottage.


Murphy enjoying a light read at the cottage.

Thinking of Updating....

I was thinking of updating this morning, but never did... I think it's because I don't really have all that much to say. Or the fact that I really don't feel like doing it. So I'm updating about how I really don't feel like updating right now.

Stolen from M.

It's so very true....

You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything. You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life. You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you. Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace. You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life. Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times. At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you. You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others. You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperment Are You?

I make less money....

Yes I am still amonge the working poor. Over the last two days the goverment has managed to rip me off by $263.72 per year.... I now make $4.52 less per pay, and because I make over $30,600 they reduced my GST credit by a good $30 - wow... doesn't seem like all that much but for me it's a big deal. I feeling very screwed over. I just don't have any luck when it comes to money. :-(

I made it up....

in time to take the dog out for a walk this morning. First time in weeks, I've just been so exhusted all the time and just can not wake up at my usual 6:30am. But, today I managed to get up and feel somewhat human, more awake then I have in weeks. Though when I came into work I had people asking if I was tired, and telling me that I looked tired... god what must I have looked like for the last couple of weeks then - Zombie Colette - I wonder if last nights good sleep had to do with that beer I had.... mmmmmm I will have to do some more research on this thing called beer.

Update

Let's see... I talked to the head huncho of the Fines and Returns department from U of T - he decided to remove the $50 overdue fee but then proceeded to tell me that I was going to owe $150 for a book I claimed to have returned in 2003. I really love how they inform people of this sort of thing. I figured it was all sorted out because I had not heard from them, but no..... He kept trying to tell me that it showed on my.Libarary account... no no it does not and never has... have the screen shots to prove it. So not too happy about that... and he hasn't called me back with another update... so I'll have to call him again. There has to be a point to all this... if anyone has any idea what it might be, besides to just fucking piss me off, let me know.

Friday night was spent hanging out with Murphy, nothing really to write home about. Saturday started out great, Murphy and I spent a relaxing hour and a half at the PARK. Just sitting in the sun, well Murphy sat in the shade, tossing the ball every once in a while. It was nice. But by 2pm I was an emotional wreck... barely made it through Murphy's afternoon walk... had to hold back tears for most of it. I hate how that sort of thing can sneak up on you like that. So the rest of Saturday was a complete write off. I slept for a couple hours and then just hung out on the couch. By Sunday morning I had recovered and was out to meet Laura for a stroll through the Outdoor Art show and a yummy brunch. Before having my arm twisted to join her for the World Cup final. So off we went. Started at Hoops for the first half and then went to meet Darcy at an other place as there was no way that he was going to get in at Hoops. Meet some nice new friends, tried to drown our sorrow as France went down to Italy in a shootout... quel horreur... Then I was lured by free beer to an after game party, but I tried to be good and stumbled home by 10 pm. Poor Murphy was beside himself... Monday was evil. Good thing I drank 2 bottles of water before going to work, I managed to get around the headache that was brewing. Yesterday was a normal Tuesday, work, walk the dog and meeting Laura for belly dancing.

Otherwise it's been a pretty non-eventful kinda week. I have had no motivation to do anything, and have pretty much none nothing... the sleep problem is continuing to cause havoc... hopefully in Aug. when I see the Dr. we'll be able to find a solution.

Sometimes I can be so Dense....

So here I have been panicing about the fact that my family Dr. decided to shut down his practice and that I haven't had a family Dr. since the beginning of May. I have been trying to find a new Dr. and it has been hell. So today while surfing the Ontario College of Physicians, what do I see... Dr's at the University of Toronto Student Health Centre... DUH.... I'm a student at the U of T.... hey wait... that means I can go there and they offer full services and have appointments in the evening. I was able to get a female Dr. and an evening appointment, and I don't even have to wait that long. I have an appointment on Aug. 2 at 5:45pm. If I wasn't so picky I could have been in even earlier. Panicing has now stopped. : )

U of T Blues

and no I don't mean the sports teams.... So I have been trying to figure out what course to take in September from the numerous selection of 1.5. There is one full credit course and one half credit course that I can fit into my work schedual. I was leaning towards the Archaeology of Ancient Mesopotamia for a half credit, so onto ROSI I went to register. But it would not let me. So after fiddling and searching for an hour I discovered that somehow I owed the Library $50, for a book that was checked out and returned in 2005. Arg.... this is the second time this has happened. Still waiting to hear back from the Overdue and Fines department, hopefully I will not have to go down to the school to fill out some sort of crazy paperwork. This is no way to start a long weekend.

Too Busy to Blog...

So here are some pictures to fill in the missing posts:

Murphy at the vet - super healthy dog

my Guardian

couch in a Kia

heee I have flowers

couch in a Kia II

new expandable bookcase

Murphy on the new couch

new TV stand

Murphy on the couch again

old colour of the apartment

new colour of the apartment

Ever have One of THOSE days?

Well, today would be the day for me. It all started at 5am this morning, when I woke up the omnipresence of back pain, from which I tossed and turned for an hour and half until my alarm woke me from the semidream state that I was in. Guess what I was dreaming about... having a sore back... go figure. Then I barely managed to get the garbage out in time for pickup, as I decided not to get out of bed until 6:50am... I swear they are coming earlier and earlier and since I put out a garbage bag I refuse to put it out the night before due to the overgrown racoons that live on the upstairs balcony. The drive to work sucked, as I vaguely recall, my memory of the drive is slightly hazy as I was half asleep. Once at work, the phone started ringing right at 8:30am and I had to spend 15 minutes explaining how to find a file and attach it to an email to send to us. Just to top it all off when I went to start up streaming radio and do you think it would work...of course not. Someone please send the waaaaahhhhhbulance stat.... ugg and it's only 10am.

A whole week....

A whole week to update. I've been a naughty blogger. Lots of stuff going on and no updates. Ok, lets see.... last Friday I redid 4 loads of laundry, which wasn't all the laundry that had been washed in that evil Downy with bleach. The hives have finally receded which means I don't look like a leper anymore. On Saturday I met up with Laura and we went to the technical rehearsal for the belly dancing Student Gala. I must be crazy for letting her talk me into that, though it's not like she strong armed me or anything... I just couldn't let her go alone... "aside" Laura, next time we decide to do something like that can we do it at the start of the 6 week practice time instead of the Tuesday before? 'aside finished' Anyway, we managed to get through the rehearsal. I went home and cleaned up while waiting for my doom. Ok... I might be being 'alittle' melodramatic. :) That evening we met up again and actually performed, on stage, infront of lots of people. Good thing I didn't know anyone. Managed to get through the whole 3 minutes without messing up, but right at the end, damn those shimmies, I started to lose my hip scarve. It started sliding down. So what do I do, but of course, I start laughing. But somehow I was able to hold on until the finish and then quickly do an exit stage right. Oh well, I guess the point of the exercise was that we did it.
On Sunday, Laura, Darcy and I went to the Gypsy Co-op to see our teacher dance. She just makes it look so easy.... She was absolutely amazing. Maybe one day.
The past week has been otherwise pretty quite. Tonight I am hopefully going to finally get the living room area painted, as, weather permitting, I will be hopefully getting my couch this weekend. Oh boy, how exciting can one be? ;-pppp

Feeling better now....

So yeah, I went through a couple of weeks of just feeling like crap. Migrains, upset tummy and overall blah. Of course I tool Murphy to the vet and he was super duper.... If the vet had not know his actual age she would have said he was 3. All the vet assistants loved him and he was centre of attention the whole time we were there. So he just turned on the charm. They were all gushing about how cute he was and what great shape he was in and how shiny his coat was and what a great mom I was that I was getting embarressed, but proud all at the same time. I'm just not that great at taking compliments.

Last weekend was busy... L. held this months SnB so headed over there for some good bitching...not so mucg stitching for me... but hey at least I try. M. and I decided that it was a Cosmo day, it was so nice out and we figured it was a girly drink kinda day. After some bitching and drinking M. and I went to meet A. to head to a BBQ at a friend of M.'s. M. called up and asked if I could bring Murphy, 'cause I was feeling guilty that I was out all day.... so Murphy came to the BBQ with us. And of course he was the life of the party. Go figure. On Sunday, I went to my first belly dancing class in 2 weeks. Unfortunently it was taught by the one instructor that we really don't like. She just does stuff and doesn't really instruct. Oh well, we now know when she teaches and we will avoid those days.

This week I've noticed that I have developed a bumpy rash across my upper back and neck...now it seems to have spread to my right hand and along the right side of my head. The only thing that I can think of that might be causing this is the Downy I bought... I normally use scent free, but I thought I would try the new one that has colour safe bleach in it. But it also has a scent.... So that will mean I have to wash everything sheets, clothes, towels etc... again. Fun....... Hopefully that's all that I will need to do. Otherwise, I will be completely covered in little bumps. I think that my back and side of face is from when I am sleeping, but I'm starting to notice it on my shoulder too... kinda were the tank top goes. I'll have to see if I still have some medicated cream around the house. :(

Update

Very healthly dog, not so healthly me and a nicely painted bedroom...

























and oh yeah.... you can fit a couch in a Kia....
well ok... a small couch :)

The Pictures are up....

So all the pictures of my trip are up. About 570 or so.... I took a few out here and there as they were way too blurry, damn not being able to use my flash... my hands just are not steady enough for that. You can clicky on the side panal on the right and you will go right to my Flickr account. Enjoy. Oh yeah, still working on titles and descriptions and things...

Rain, rain go away....

Ok, I know that we need the rain, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. This kind of weather makes me tired, sore, and grumpy..... oh wait that's just the way I am... ok shut up.... it makes me more tired, more sore and more grumpy. To cheer myself up I have to tell everyone what happened when M. and I went shopping last Saturday. We had stopped at the Tim Horton's by Old Navy et al. and there was a pop can in the cup holder, so being the good friend she is, she took the can to the garbage. On her way back she tried to get into the wrong car.... I so wish I had my camera... the look on her face when she figured out that it was the wrong red car was priceless. Of course the owner of the other red car didn't seem too amused by the whole thing... but I sure was laughing. The other thing that I'm doing to make myself feel better is planning where I'm going to in Egypt next March. That's when I've decided that I'm going to go again. I should have most of this trip paid off... well at least the shopping ;-ppppppppp If anyone is interested... I'm thinking a group of 6 would be cool.

Tired already

I've only been home for a week and a half and I'm already exhasted. Tired to the point of barely being able to get out of bed in the morning. Blah. I was probably just as tired when I was away but was too distracted by all the stuff to see. Fell asleep at my desk yesterday afternoon, good thing it was on my lunch hour. And with S. going to the 6th floor, I'm now here all by myself... no one to talk to and no one to make sure I don't fall asleep. Waaaaaabuuuulance where are you?

Addition: Fun with Credit Reports

I decided to get a credit report... it was way too much work, but now I have one. And actually my credit is pretty good, I have better credit than 52% of the Canadian population. However, by debt ratio is not so good. Oh well, I will survive.

More Pictures...

Since I just can't bring myself to typing a whole lot....
Me in front of the Pyramid of Khafra

Kissing Moses

The Sphinx

There I am...

Look where I am now...climbing Menkaura's pyramid

On the train

At Abu Simbel

Sailing on the Nile

Feluccia sail

Belly dancing anyone?

I'm Home

So I arrived home on Friday night, and I'm just getting around to posting today. Damn jetleg... I went to bed yesterday at 4:30... PM woke up around 10:30pm (Sorry L. got your message then) and then went back to bed around midnight and didn't get up until 8 this morning. Holy sleep. Though I feel much better now.

Ok... now that I am home I'm going to get some pictures up.... so here goes.

The Pyramid of Khafra and Sphinx

My new necklace - 18k gold and Lapis Lazuli

Sunset over the Nile

Me in front of the Stepped Pyramid

The Great Pryamid

I'm hoping to get some up on Flcker, I guess that means I might actually have to pay for a membership.... Especially since I have over 600 pictures.

Last Day

So this is my last night in Egpyt, we head out tomorrow morning on the long trek back to Canada. It has has been amazing here. As I type this there is a wedding going on behind me. Well the wedding part is done, now it's the celebrating time, and they are definitly celebrating lots of music and bellydancers with candlabras on their heads. Very Egpytian, though the bag pipes earlier was alittle out of place, but hey, why not. Scottish/Egyptian wedding.... very exciting. Anyway, as I was saying I will be back in the Great White North tomorrow night. I'm still trying to figure out how I will carry all the stuff I bought. Can you say shopping spree. I'm running out of time on my internet card so I'll just say that I'll see you all when I get home... get ready for pictures... there is a hell of a lot of them : )

Safe and Sound

Just to let everyone know that my Aunt and I are safe and sound in Cairo. I know that you may have heard of the bombings that took place just the other day, they were centred at a resort in the Sinai which is a fair distance from where we are. Actually we really didn't know about the attack until I started reading emails that were saying that everyone was worried. We had noticed an increased police and military presence but that would seem to be fairly common here, so we didn't really think too much about it. Anyway, like I said, we are okay and had a relaxing day here in Cairo which included some suntanning, swimming and a massage. And if you can believe it, I think I'm all monumented out. We have seen so much and there is still so much to see that I have already started a list of the places to see next time.
I'm starting to think that I could start my own tour operation to Egypt. Especially, since all the guides here just loved me. They all want me to stay in touch and if I need anything just to let them know. Can you say business opertunities. Anyway, my Aunt wasn't able to marry me off, she was only getting offers of camels and she was holding out for Arabian horses.... though I've heard that a 1000 camels is quite the fortune. So I will be home on Friday afternoon, am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. At least until I can afford to come back... though that might take a very long time. I somehow learned how to shop while I was here, and shop I did. I so don't want to see my credit card bills when I get home. All the best everyone and see you all soon with lots and lots of pictures (over 500).

Day of Rest

After an overnight train we arrived in Aswan this morning. I can not sleep on trains. So I had a really great nap and then hung out by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. My aunt and I both realy needed the break. We have to be up and ready to go at 2 am to go to Abu Simbul. Long drive. But it will be worth it. I finally managed to get some pictures ready. So here goes. Blah, this is getting complicated, it takes so long to get the pictures to upload... All I want is to show some pictures... is that so much to ask. It would seem so. ugg... this just will not work... I'm going to try something else.

Day 1

So we just got back from our first full day here in Egypt. It was amazing. I saw the stepped pyramid, the pyramids of the Giza Plateau, the Sphinx and did alot of shopping. Tomorrow is the Egyptian Museum and most most likely more shopping - belly dancing outfits. So hopefully L. I'll have found us some great outfits. I don't have alot of time on my internet card so I will get to the pictures. Ok so I lied no pictures today... it does not want to bring up the USB connection to my card reader.... anyway, I'll try in again a little later.... Hope everyone is doing well and I will post again soon.

Today is the Day

I can't believe it. The day is finally here. It's amazing how fast the time went. Now I am doing all those last minute things that need to be done. The dishes, clearing out the fridge, giving everything a good clean, packing my carry on. I have already been out to go down town to pick up some Egyptian pounds, managed to get the bedroom all cleaned and clean sheets on the bed, the fridge is cleaned out and now I'm slowly working in the dishes. I was doing ok for the morning but Suz called me and we talked about going and now I'm starting to get that nervous/excited feeling in my stomach. It seems so unreal that I'm actually going, I'm absolutely positive that I'm going to cry when I get there (shut up)... I think that I will be uplifted by the whole experience, it's probably the closest thing to a religious experience that an Agnostic like me could have. I hope to be able to keep everyone posted while away. If I can't, don't worry, I have a gig memory card for my camera so a powerpoint picture show might be in order when I get back. I will probably do that anyway, but hopefully I'll at least get to write about what's been going on. See you all when I get back.

The Final Countdown

So it's Tuesday... I leave on Thursday. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...... so many thngs to do. I have to goto Shoppers, the bank, study, clean up the apartment, laundry, study, pack, study that sort a thing. Oh yeah did I mention study? Exam tomorrow night... I just can not get into the whole studying thing. Maybe not the best ideas to go on vacation, especially to Egypt, when I have an exam. However, I had to use up my last year's left over vaction time before the end of April. So there you go. Well I better try and get my day going... It's almost half over already.

ONE WEEK TO GO!!!!!!!

OMG there is only one week till I go to Egypt. I think that I might be almost ready. There are just a few little things I need to pick up, like travel size toiletries, make sure my email contacts are all upto date, get some AMEX travellers cheques, pack and oh yeah sunscreen. I've been keeping an eye on the weather in Cairo and it has been nice - right at this moment it is a reasonable 23 degrees at about 3 in the afternoon. Not too hot... good for sight seeing. The first full day I am there it is supposed to be 31 degrees... I will definetly be sweating when I see the pyramids.

If anyone wants me to bring back something in particular drop me an email and I will try to oblige - L. I already know what you want... ;)

2 WEEKS TO GO

There are now only 2 weeks until I leave for Egypt. I am so unprepared, I have nothing to wear. Went through my 'summer clothes' and there was only one pair of comfy capris that would be ok to take with me. I have plenty of tank tops, since that's pretty much the only kind of top I wear. However, I don't think a whole bunch of tank tops and a single pair of capris are going to cut it. So I am thinking of going to Scarborough on my own tomorrow night to do some shopping. Since my shopping buddy has been deathly ill for the past 2 weeks. It seems to be one of those lingering types of flu that just don't want to go away. Get better soon M.

And now for something completely different -
I thing i'm going to start my own anonymous group... CA Carbs Anonymous...
Hi my name is Colette and I am a carbalholic....

Weekend Update

Oh boy, I need to go shopping. I pulled out the summer clothes, blah, it's mostly work stuff of course. There was one pair of capris that I will be able to take with me on my trip. I have some scooters (skirts with shorts attached to them), but they are kinda short and I don't want to be like those crazy Americans who don't respect the culture of the place they are visiting (that was a generalization, I'm sure that there are culturally sensitive Americans out there... though I have yet to met one). I'm thinking linen... 'cause it's going to be hot... temperatures are already hitting the mid 30's, I also want to find a nice shawl... I was kinda thinking of going down to Gerrard, to Little India, if anyone is interested in going let me know, I've never been and someone to come with me would be nice. At least I have a good pair of shoes, since I see alot of walking in my near future, maybe some climbing and crawling... heee though I don't really think that I'll allowed to climb or crawl on/in things.... it sure would be fun if I could.

Saturday was clean up the apartment day, I normally do that sort of thing on Sundays but M. was having her Stich 'n' Bitch Sunday afternoon. Oh and I even managed to fit in some P0P - I haven't played since mid Feburary... I will eventually finish and finally give M. her Xmas present. : )

Sunday involved lots of walking and cursing... walking was done with the dog and the cursing was when I went to M.'s house. Now I knew that it was Greek Independance day on Sunday and I knew that there would be a parade... but generally they have it in the morning, not at 2pm. So M. calls me to see if I was coming and if I had passed the IGA (which I had) and all I could do was curse and swear about all the people and the stupid fucking parade and how it was in my way. I don't like big crowds especially when they don't know how to walk. Oh, lets stop in the middle of the sidewalk and take up the whole damn thing so no one can get by. I hate it when one or two people do it, try to imagine the whole Greek commmunity stopping infront of you. Blah. Good thing there was some yummy wine (homemade) and knitting at M.'s.

3 Weeks to Go!!!!!!!

In three weeks I will be here:

24 Days and Counting

The days are counting down and I'm starting to get excited. It's kinda weird, I can go all day without thinking about it and then suddenly I'll 'remember' that I'm going. I guess I won't believe that I'm really going until I get there. So at some point this week I am going to pull out my summer clothes and see what I have. Then I'm going to go shopping.

This weekend turned out to be a complete write off... I was supposed to meet L. and friends for Korean BBQ and then pub for St. Paddy's day, unfortunately, I managed to fall asleep and slept through the festivities. I was chilling with Murphy for a bit, playing and snuggling on the bed, when I thought I could just 'rest my eyes' for a minute.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz was the result of that. I feel bad for not making it out, so a huge 'sorry' to everyone. Believe me when I say that I'm sick of having sleeping problems, 1st I don't get any sleep, now I just fall asleep... I'm thinking of getting a new mattress, of course I'm only thinking of it... I definitely cannot afford a new one... So I'll just have to look into mattress toppers, which can cost a pretty penny and see if that helps. Blah, I hate living with chronic pain and all the crap that goes with it... waaaaaaaaaaaaa Send out the waaaaaabulance.

Groceries

delivered to my door. Why didn't I do this ages ago? I finally tried grocerygateway.com and they were great. It was quick, easy and the delivery guy was really nice. I didn't have to lift a finger. Made my life so much easier, I was able to clean up the apartment, do laundry, walk the dog while waiting for the groceries to come. He phoned to say he would be here in 5 minutes and he was. And the best part, I did my groceries while at work - you know since I don't have anything else better to do. ;pppppppp
In other news - 4 weeks until I head out to Egypt. I'm already having dreams about how I'll be the last couple of days of work before going on vacation. Too bad I have to worry about a final exam before going. I will be writing my final on the 12th and get on a plane on the 13th. Ohhhhhhh I can not wait.

Winter Wonderland

Well I assume that no one will think that it's Toronto that I'm talking about... Went up to the parents this weekend and oh boy was there snow. In a weird way I kinda miss it. But not enough to want to to through the storm that brought all that snow. Anayway, here's some pictures to give everyone an idea of what it's like.














The really snowy ones are from last month's storm.... the birch tree, or what's left of it, is what happened during the storm. One of the branches end up on my parents car. The others are just cute pics of Murphy and some landscape shots of the woods while we were out hiking.

Wow, Did I Fall off the Planet or What

Hey everybody, long time no blog. The reason.... laziness, sickness, exam... did I mention laziness... Anyway, I'm back. Now lets see, what has happened since my last post...
1. My Aunt came to town and we pretty much spent the whole weekend together - lots of fun - on the Friday we went to dinner and comedy at the second city, then on Saturday I dragged her out to a belly dancing class with me(since I wanted to go and you get your first class free). Then we went out for dinner at the Kit Kat and just happend to see Kurt Russel(Goldie Hawn's husband) who was there for a drink and to hang out. The waiter told us that he's a regular there when he is in Toronto. My Aunt that that was really cool. Then it was off to the theatre... to see The Lord of the Rings stage production. Was surpizingly good... long but good... first show I've been to that had 2 intermissions.
Needless to say, it was a very busy weekend.
2. Then I was pretty much sick for most of the following week - took a couple of days off but still felt crappy.
3. Studying.... oh boy....
4. I've lost a total of 6 pounds
5 Exam was last night - the best I can do is 71/75 and the worst.... well... I'll have to wait for the marks... I'm pretty sure I passed.
6. Tomorrow, I'm heading to the parents for the weekend - Murphy will be happy, hikes in the woods yea.

Been Awhile...

Seems that I have negaleted to update for a few days. Oh well, shit happens. Anyways, lets see... Murphy now has his own webpage at dogster... he's so cute. Now I'm trying to decide if I should set up a blog for him... more to show off really cute pictures of him. Yes you now all can call me your weird single friend with the dog... at least I don't dress him up and put him in a carriage... yet.

Started exercising again and trying to eat right... the goal.... lose 15 pounds by the time I go to Egypt... 1.2 pounds gone and 13.8 to go. The long term goal is to lose 25 pounds... no real set date for that yet. Must accomplish the small goal first.

Knitting news - I am knitting a hat... much easier (if I can keep track of my rows)than the lace scarf I was attempting.

The Countdown Begins

9 weeks and counting - in excately 64 days and about 9 hours I will be getting on a plane and going to Egypt... I know... maybe a little early to start a countdown, but I'm so excited that I had to start now. And I'm still hoping that M. and A. between the two of them come up with a neat counter for me to post here. Heeeeee..... I have to remember to buy a bigger memory card for my camera because I plan on taking a whole whack of pictures.

Long Weekend...

That included sleep. I actually slept this weekend, for the last couple of weeks I couldn't sleep and this weekend all I wanted to do was sleep. And sleep I did. Though I still feel tired, but I'm much more alert and feel much better. No more insane breakdowns just lots of yawning and naps.

Mental Health Day

So I decided to stay home today... well actually I decided yesterday at about 3pm that I was not going to work. Which is good because I went out for drinks with M. and A. last night, thanks guys just going out made me feel better - didn't really help with the whole not sleeping thing - but I had a good time. So today I'm going to relax and maybe nap - try to catch up on some sleep - of course Murphy will pester me all day... if it's nice later on I might even take him to the P A R K hopefully the walking will tire me out. I'm also going to cut my meds back from the insane 450mg to 300mg between the two of them - hopefully this will help especially when both have insomnia as possible side effects.

How am Il?

Well let me tell you....FUCK EVERYONE AND THE FUCKING HORSES YOU ALL RODE IN ON
I'm so sick of telling people that I'm fine - 'cause guess what - I AM NOT FINE and the next person who asks me how I am I think I'm going to scream and tell them excately how I am starting at the bottom and working my way up, hope you have lots of time. Then rev up that waaabulance 'cuase I'm going to need it. All I want to do is stand in the middle of my apartment and scream FUCK over and over again until I'm unable to scream anymore. Unfortunately, that is out of the question so I guess I'll just stew about and wait for the next person who asks me how I am. Consider yourselves warned.

It's Official

My deposit has been recieved - Egypt here I come... well in almost three months... I guess I should start a count down counter - if I had any idea how to do it, I would -

In other news, I have decided to set myself goals.... oh boy.... goals.... 3 goals that I need to do per week, 3 goals to be accomplished in 3 months and 3 goals to be accomplished in 6 months...

My weekly goals are:
1) Take Murphy for a walk everyday and go to the park at least twice
2) Attend class
3) Go to belly dancing twice a week

The next three months:
1) Get my hair cut - professionally
2) Write an internal dialoge journal for at least 21 days
3) Start the massage registration recerification process

The next six months:
1) Get new tattoo
2) Recertify massage registration
3) Be able to have one hour of my own time every day

We'll have to see how I do.

So Tired

I went to see my Dr. on Friday and was told that I am suffering from non-restorative sleep. That is when you go to sleep, but don't actually get any rest. This has been going on for I don't know how long. I am so tired... I go to bed and wake up feeling like I didn't. I can not get anything done, I forget things ie: putting water on to boil for pasta last night, then forgetting about the cooking pasta... got lucky and it wasn't too overcooked. I can't concentrate on any one thing for any amount of time and just feel grumpy. I resorted to taking OTC sleeping pills last night to see if I could get a little rest... I guess I'm slightly more awake today in comparison to yesterday... it's hard to tell anymore. My Dr. has prescribed more drugs, but they'll take anywhere upto 3 weeks to kick in so if I suddenly go absolutely mental it's due to sleep deprivation so please forgive me. Hopefully it's nothing more than another side effect of chronic pain - I can just add it to the list of things that I find myself suffering from. Of course it comes right when it seemed things were getting back on track... anyway... must think positive and hope the Universe is still up there looking out for me... I really good use the extra help.

Bday Pictures....

Better late than never.....