things change..

so im not going to update about the rest of my trip really.

i did have a great time in florida, but its somewhat bittersweet now, and i dont really feel the need to log it here to look back at later.

texas was super fun and damn cold! it was all tattoo convention, with some flea market and beers mixed in. ok maybe cider too. and wine. and a couple tattoos. and ok, pretty heavy on the great people!!

back to work was wild. the layoffs have hit everyone pretty hard. i stop to talk to the guys here and there, and they are sad about friends that are gone now.

i extended my trip to hawaii by two weeks so i am not there from feb 7 to march 8. i can not wait! i need this relaxing forced to do nothing time, like whoa.

when i get back i will be working for two more months at my current job. they love me so much that they will do anything to keep me. its a good feeling. but it also makes it hard. its all hard right now.

i want more than anything to get out of vancouver. i do like it, much more than i felt about calgary when i left there, but i still feel like im stagnant in my life here. i need to get out and do something new, something different. find whatever it is that i am looking for. but this whole damn world wide economy crashing thing is scary!

is it smarter to stay put where i have the best paying job of my life, and wait til things look better to move? will that even happen in the near future? no one can say. arg.

ill see how i feel after hawaii.

so far january 2009 has been mostly about bad timing. im super ready for february to happen.
i will spend it in hawaii so it cant be all that bad. as for march and my return, i will be moving back into the building i lived in before this one, with my friend steve. my rent will be 120 cheaper a month, and there is laundry in house! that, in itself, is exciting. also, i get my own bathroom in my room! oh yeah. i dont have any furniture left really, so ill have my futon for a bed, my old chair thats been around for longer than i have in my family, and some odds and ends.

in a way im sad to leave this apartment, but ive been here for 4 years almost. time for something new. the new one will be dingy and a bit scummy. ah well. adventure!

i feel like im 20 again and moving out for the first time. it should be scarier or worrying more than it is, but im excited for it. its time i loosened up a little again. ill be saving more money for that move that will happen soon soon soon.

oh, also, to start the new feb, i have an appointment with deandra on tuesday. remember that pic of me with 'short hair'? yeah... eek!

urg

my week has been hell.

they laid off more than half of my team. my boys. i love those boys. they were what made me love my job so much. and while there are still many left, its not the same. it doesnt feel the same. and im not the only one to feel that way. its sad.

i had to work saturday, one of my four days off left, to move everyone around in the studio. all this really allowed me to do was see exactly who was let go, as i didnt get a list or anything. even sadder. at least i got paid overtime to be there. that is always a plus.

ive been stressing still about my jaunt to florida. but i had two really good conversations with my buddy jay in florida and my lysa in san fran. i am feeling good about the whole thing now. i have a contingency plan for the states, that will allow me somewhere to go if florida doesnt pan out, so i dont have to feel as though i am turning right around to run home. i can go to cali for a few months, hit vegas for APP and then off to Denmark!

i like having back up plans. makes me feel safe.

other than that, i packed up my clothes today. so weird. but my closet is empty. i just have to get my dresser out of the place, and figure out when my other friend will come to take the bed. then i can start cleaning up lots, and getting rid of the rest of my stuff. hopefully i can get all those boxes to the thrift store next weekend. fingers crossed.

the time crunch is really starting to get to me now. i have 10 days left here in vancouver before i head off to hawaii for two weeks. then im back for 3 or so days with no home and no where to be, and then back to florida. so quick. yikers.

so much to do yet still too. and too many people that want to see me before i go.

ill see what i can do.

sorry this wasnt more uplifting, and there were no pictures, and still no updates from the trip.
but hey, its a post! sue me.

oh dear...

yes yes i know. i havent been blogging. for weeks.
i will get on the updating, though i guess by this point in time, it wont be as detailed as it may have been before.

in any event.
tonight i did something my mother always does. and that, was buy a bottle of wine and proceed to have a couple glasses while chilling at home alone. (on an empty stomach mind you)

what prompted this was an extremely stressful day at work, due to the unknown future for most of my team. there will be announcements made later this week, which will undoubtedly result in some lay offs. its like walking around on egg shells right now, plus, with no direction, its very quiet and restless as well.

my day did get much much better, however, when i got home and called my friend heather to see if she wanted to take over my place. at first i was hesitant to give it to her, as i dont think she will be as quiet as i was. no where near actually. and i love this building, and its soooo quiet. but in the end, i wanted to save money! so whatever. not like ill be here to blame. so she came over, said she'd take the place, and even took most of my furniture. that means money for me, and the fact that i dont have to worry about getting it moved out of here. also, i can keep it all as somewhere to live until i go and not stay in an empty apartment.

the fun part now will be my bed. i want to list it for sale now, so that it sells, but i want to sleep in it til i go. or almost til i go anyways. february lets say. we'll see how that pans out.

so, my poor readers who may or may not have lost faith in my blogging as of late. there you have it. an update. more on the trip at some point soon? (like you even believe when i say that now)

new york

has been hectic so far!
caught the bus at 10 am and tried to sleep most of the way.
it wasnt easy.. but i made it!
walked up canal street, through the madness that is there (would have been better if i didnt have my luggage with me) and made it to the shop that kevin manages.
sacred heart tattoo in manhatten.
liz and i went shopping from there. soho. noho. (didnt know about that one..)
i got a couple shirts, some skinny jeans and some boots that im returning tomorrow cause they are slippy and i dont like.
now we are in their apartment in uptown.
it has the tall steps up to the door like ive seen in movies!
i love it.
simple pleasures..

anywho, bed soon.
tomorrow is central park, a john lennon memorial in central park, times square, the tree, the empire state building (which is lit up red and green right now! yay christmas!) and maybe the statten island ferry. action packed!

more later. maybe even some pics if these cats have a cable..

boston

is amazing.

i still dont have pictures but i have lots to update with.

friday, my flight was long but i made it unscathed. got down to the shop and then headed back to bills to drop my stuff off. went to a pub called deep ellum or something and hung out for the night with his friends. super fun bunch! i even had a cider... dun dun dunnnnn

saturday, after a very cold night (the heat wasnt on in my room) we got up, went for a yummy breakfast of sour cream pancakes, and then headed down town to wander. we went through the boston gardens, where bill got bit by a squirrel (yes, bit by a squirrel), saw city hall, hay market, other stuffs.. and then went to the science center. so much fun!

after that, we needed to eat. i wanted to go somewhere bostony, so bill suggested mcgreevys which is bostons first sports bar and is owned by the dropkick murphys. i thought that was neat cause my friend josh plays bagpipes for them. josh was the dj at the underground, the bar i spent most of my time at when i turned 18 and on. anyways, we get down to mcgreevys, and it turns out that josh is there! so i get to visit with an old friend, from calgary, in boston, which is fun enough, but then we get on the guest list for the mighty mighty bosstones hometown throwdown 11. fun fun fun! it was a great night and yes, more cider was had. oops? im not sad about it.. so..

today i got up and we grabbed some breakfast and i took the train back down town. ah yes, i forgot to mention that *both* of my cameras died in the start of saturdays walk. so i backtracked it all today and took some pictures. first, i found some people at the train station giving away free hugs, so i got three of those, then went off. wandered through the north end, which is the italian area, helped a little old lady get off the curb, and took some pictures of the church that paul revere lit up when the british were coming. i also stopped for some gelato and chilled to some christmas tunes.

after all that, i did some shopping, but didnt buy, and went back to the shop. now we have eaten pizza (4 cheeses! including riccotta!!) and watched tropic thunder (ummmm...) and are now chilling to some old bill cosby stand up.

tomorrow, at some point, i am going to be at a bus on my way to new york. hopefully earlier rather than later.

pictures and more elaborations later!

YYC-YYZ-BOS

im off today to boston. its 520 am. im tired.
ill update more about the last couple days when i next have nets.
wish i had a laptop...rats.
so far it looks like all the flights are going on time!

calgary excitement?

well, the last couple days have pretty much whizzed by.
monday i hung out with my mom most of the day, and then went to have dinner with heather and mark, and holly. afterwards holly and i hit the mall and it was actually super empty! a nice surprise.
i think ive spent most of the money that i saved for the states here in calgary. but for family so its all good. i will just have to take more from my savings. dun dun dunnnnn.
tuesday i went to the doctors, was told i didnt need to fast, had blood taken, was then told i had needed to fast.. and then went to my aunt and uncles. only got to see my one cousin, jennifer, but i did get to see all the pics from their trip to denmark last june.
today i got more blood taken! i was able to make an appt downtown at a clinic so i fasted and did the last test. bah.
then i had breakfast with dan and his girlfriend, and walked to my moms work.
while there, her friend jackie came in with a coffee and some baileys, and then the two of us (jackie and i) went to safeway for some food.
i came home and tried my hand at candied peppered almonds.
the first batch burnt a bit but they taste ok.
the second batch is better but alot of the candying part stuck together and not to the almonds.
not sure why.
now im going to eat something (not candied almonds), wrap a few presents, go to the bank to get american dollars and head to my aunts for a bit. hopefully grab the car so we can move the tv over there tonight. more on that later.

that was a big ugly bunch of sentences, and no pics. sorry.

cold!

in calgary now.
i think i forgot my usb cord so i cant get pictures off my cameras just yet.
dont worry, ill get one..
so far i think i only have pictures of frankie, kristins cat.

its been anywhere from -25 to -36 so far.
my aunts car froze last night so i couldnt drive it today.
delightful!

my flight here was only delayed about 30 min due to de-icing.
i hope my flight to boston will go well.

people are so stupid this time of year. i overheard one guy getting all upset when security told him he had to dump his coffee before going through. like, where have you been for the last two years?? you cant take liquids through security anywhere! honestly...

anywho. just got home from seeing the nutcracker ballet with my mom, and from my aunts where my aunt carol and uncle roger are visiting from ear falls, ontario. never heard of it? thats cause its a small as it sounds like it might be. my mom grew up there.

i dont have anything constructive to tell about right now, but i wanted to update.
so there.
i hope to shop a bit tomorrow, though ive already spent more money here than i came close to planning, so this trip through the states is going to cost me so much. yipes.

last day of work in 2008!

today was insane. so hectic.
i was a huuuuge stresscase.
but now its done and i am almost all the way packed.
just waiting to see what time janine will come over to hang and stay over.
she is going to drive me to the airport cause she rules!

i got my hair cut after work by deandra.
no noodles for us all, so dee and i just had pizza.
i showed her this picture to see what she would think about me with short hair.
i love my hair long, but when i pinned it up after my christmas party, i thought it looked really cute.
deandra agreed.
i dont know... should i cut my hair off?

so tired

i didnt get home til after 2 this morning. i am SO tired!
nothing of any note happened.
it was a fun party, but small.
i waited til the end for my friend to be done, so we could share a cab home in the cold.
everyone was pretty wasted by then, so im sure i was being grumpy.
ah well.

i did get ahold of a company yesterday that can ship my stuff to denmark though!
and for waaaaay cheaper than i thought too!
by sea it will take about 4 weeks.
i just hope i dont run into issues with customs when i go to pick it up..
only one way to find out!!

ok, i have to go to work.
man im tired...