Fun!

Today was the annual company ball tournament-what a great time! I really think that of all the years I've been attending this was the absolute best team we've ever fielded.

We stunk with regards to skills, but we made up for it with good sportsmanship and team spirit. My throat is sore from cheering and screaming and I've got wind burn. It's awesome!

I'll post more later when I actually get home. :)

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Interesting.

Today's my day off--and it was lovely so far. I accomplished more than usual, but that's not saying much! :)

I read a metric-tonne of blog posts, and in one of my favourites, I found this list. It was originally written by H.Jackson Brown, Jr. (author of Life's Little Instruction Book, among others).

I quite liked it. Enough to re-post it here--so I hope you find one or two tips that you enjoy too.

21 Suggestions for Living Wisely and Well - H.Jackson Brown, Jr.

1. Teach by example.
2. Bless each day with a generous act.
3. Never waste and opportunity to tell someone that you love them.
4. Do something every day that maintains good health.
5. Take family vacations whether you can afford them or not.
6. Stand up for your principles even if you stand alone.
7. Judge your success by the degree that you're enjoying peace, health and love.
8. Be there when people need you.
9. Be devoted to your spouse and dedicated to your children.
10. Be of service to your community and to your country.
11. Have courage when things go wrong.
12. Tell the truth.
13. Maintain your resources wisely.
14. Be satisfied, don't grumble.
15. Don't overlook life's small joys while searching for big ones.
16. Discover the power of prayer.
17. Discover the power of forgiveness.
18. Love people more than things.
19. Look for the good.
20. Search for the truth.
21. Hope for the best.


I think this is a fantastic list, and a really great reminder to be present in one's day to day life. Don't let your life be a series of things that happen to you, or around you. Be an active participant, and EXPERIENCE your life. Something we all forget to do, now and again.

You all know how it goes. The longer you don't do this, the harder it gets to do.

I sent a big post from my new toy (my crack-berry) but for some reason, the internet has ceased functioning on that toy. I need to go in and complain to someone, but a) finding the time and b) finding the energy to do so is a real challenge on most days.

I'm in the worst shape of my life, and yet I have no time in which to do anything about it. I've made a commitment to myself to purchase less crap at the store, and to give in less often to the cravings that are making me pudgy. I'm bigger than I've ever been, and while that is still not 'big' by most people's standards, it's disgustingly oblong by my own. I don't generally judge others, but Boy-oh-boy do I judge me.

I went out tonight with Billy and Brent for an early Thirstday. I had to skip last week. I couldn't imagine going three weeks without Thirstday, so I had to make sure I went out tonight. Tracey and Brent are home from Edmonton, but Trace wasn't feeling well--so even though we'd been planning the get-together for a month, she didn't come. I went anyway, even though I was imposing a little on the boys' time together. Bill said it was okay, so I can only assume that he'd actually tell me if it wasn't. It's funny, so long as I've known him...I still don't know if that's true or not. I THINK that it is...but I'm not sure. Oh well. I'm kind of glad of that, to be completely honest. I like that he'd still be concerned about my feelings.

DD and the boy-child are coming to Hali for the weekend, so they arrive tomorrow after school. Christine and her hubby are also coming to the city for some wheelchair basketball and some R&R. I'm excited to see them both, even if it's just for a few hours over the course of the weekend. I am glad to have the company of people that I love over the weekend.

Trace & Brent are heading to Mabou for some visits and festivities, and Billy's heading up there too. My feelings are a little bit hurt that I wasn't invited, but I had plans anyway and couldn't have gone. But it would have been an honour just being nominated, if you catch my drift. Anyway, bygones.

It'll be interesting having a kid around for the weekend, considering it's Easter. It'll also be interesting to see how DD reacts to me heading to church on Sunday. He hasn't yet experienced me ditching him asleep so I can head off and pray with a bunch of strangers. Likely as not, he'll find it uber-odd. I wonder if Chrissy will come with me to the home of the Anglicans, or if she'll head to the Pentecostal festivities. We shall see. :)

Anyway, I miss you guys. So I'm working on it...honest. And if I ever manage to get the crackberry fixed, I'll send you my lame-o post from traffic court last week.

Happy Wednesday--and Happy Thirstday--all at once. :)

Pooped!

Yesterday I was so exhausted that I was asleep by 10:45pm. I woke at 6 o'clock with a startled jump when the alarm went off. I didn't know where I was, or why I was getting up. I wasn't sure if it was night-time, day-time, or even what day it was. And then I remembered.

It's visit day. Yesterday was also visit day. Monday night I came home on time, but Tuesday we worked from 7 am until 9:15 pm. I hit my bed around 11 after doing a late-night delivery with my own auto. Yesterday was also a 7-7 day. I didn't stay late, as I was beat.

Tonight, I work until 9:30 pm, but I went in at 7 am. I am home to shower, change clothes, and go back in to wait for the Uber-boss to visit. All reports indicate he's in a foul mood too, so it should be FUN-FUN-FUN! Whee.

I'm at the point where I'd almost welcome getting canned--which is unfortunately unlikely to happen. I am definitely at the point though where I'm finished taking shit for things that are beyond my immediate control, even if they SHOULD be within my control. Circumstances are what they are, and I'm finished (HA! Like this will stick!) taking grief for things like weather, poor supply from vendors, and paying too much for salaries because I'm paying four extra people who are currently out on disability.

It's actually quite liberating to be at this point, even if I AM tired and physically pooped. I've done a lot of really physical stuff at work the last few days, and I'm really enjoying the muscle fatigue. I can see myself back at the gym in a couple of weeks when the COB returns to work full time.

Woot! Back to the grind--happy Thursday, boys and girls!

Poor life decisions are fun!

Tom Fun was awesome on Saturday night. :) The show was great--the opening band, The Stance, was okay. Good, talented, but not really 'special'--they sounded an awful lot like Sloan. The best song they did was the last one, and it was a cover-tune. Granted, they rocked it seriously, but it wasn't their own song so it hardly counts.

I nearly didn't get to go because I ended up not having a place to stay. Steve had a date, and Duffy was having a party. The whole 'finding a place to stay' business is a real pain in the ass.

Anyway, I got home from an absolutely exhausting day at work on Saturday and logged into my MSN. I was about to go shower when Billy msg'd me. 'Shouldn't you have left by now?!'

I said I didn't think i was going to be able to go since I didn't have a place to stay. He offered to let me stay with him if I wanted. I said 'are you sure?' He said yes, so I said 'Thanks, I will!'

He was going to meet up with some guys from work at Shane's house first, and invited me to meet him there first if I wanted. As it turned out, the guys all bailed and Billy was wandering around downtown waiting for the bar to open when I hit town.

We parked the vehicular, and went to the club. At the club we chatted, and commenced beveraging.

The shows were awesome...I danced and danced. Billy even danced, and he generally doesn't. Shows what the gin will do to you! *laugh*

After, we cabbed it back to Darkness and commenced the search for food. I had a cookie dipped in peanut butter. Also a finger dipped repeatedly in peanut butter. Good thing I'm cute or people wouldn't put up with that shit. *grin* Billy had a piece of cold pizza. We'd have eaten more, but his cupboards were a bit bare from cleaning out his fridge earlier in the week. He's just as lazy as I am at the basic housekeeping tasks.

I played 2 notes on his mandolin! It was fun, but I wasn't any good at it. Not having any sensation except pain in my forefinger makes it difficult to press down the strings properly. He played me a song on his guitar, then fiddled around on his mandolin himself. Finally, around 3:30 it was time for sleep.

I said 'I'll need a blanket or something' then I went in to the bathroom. I came out, and it was dark. I said 'Hey! it's dark!' He turned his lamp back on.

I said 'where am I supposed to sleep?'

'You can sleep here, if you want.'

'Umm...'

(I didn't say this post was full of great choices! I said it was full of fun!)

'Alright, hang on with the light then.' I got out my jammies, and went to change into them in the other room. I climbed into bed, and the light went back out.

Billy has a single bed, so I'm sure I've mentioned before that I never really had a good sleep when we shared. I sleep on my left side, curled up, so I was facing into the middle of the bed. Not really an issue, he was facing the other side. We were not touching. It was going to be fine.

He rolled over to face me.

He reached out for me and hung a leg over mine.

I feel it necessary to mention at this point that we had both been drinking copiously. Not that it makes any difference, you don't do things drunk you wouldn't do sober, you just do them sooner.

I said 'Will we be okay if I do something really stupid?'

He laughed and said 'what? What kind of stupid thing were you going to do?' He was truly puzzled.

'I think we'd be okay if I did something really stupid. I hope we will, anyway.'

'Seriously, what are you talking about?' (Keep in mind that he was still hugging me at this point.)

I said, 'something like this'...and kissed the heck out of him.

'Oh. That. Uh...'

There was much smooching, and nearly 3 hours of the hottest sex I've ever had in my life. Seriously, it was so good I thought about it all the way home on my drive on Sunday. And Sunday night, and yesterday. And...for a while to come, I'm sure.

Shame it took so long to be able to get to that point.

In the morning when we woke up, we didn't snuggle or have an instant replay. I would have very much enjoyed a replay, but we didn't. I did manage to play by myself for a few minutes while he was in the bathroom, but it wasn't the same.

Sunday morning we cabbed back over to get his car, then went to Spartan for breakfast. He dropped me at my truck, and we left it quite casually. We didn't hug goodbye, which could be a step backwards from where we were last time, but it's likely a better choice for that day.

We've chatted since on MSN. Not about that, but we seem to be fine.

I know that it was a poor choice. I know that we are not in a place where we will ever be able to do 'casual'. But we seem to have pulled it off for the moment. I don't know.

I THINK that my heart is okay. I really do, so since these things always cost somebody, I'm wondering how his is doing. Not that it's any of my business or any of my concern. Anyway, I had an absolutely fantastic weekend--it was great to hang out with a good friend and not think about work. It was even better to dance and be silly with a good friend, and even better still to get some crazy-good action!

Happy Monday. :)

Oh my.

First, let me begin by saying... Happy Easter!

Then...let me follow up with Happy Belated Saint Patrick's Day!

I didn't go out on St.Paddy's day after all, which was a good thing overall. I had decided that I wasn't going to go if/when DD called, so when he called with apologies that work had waylaid him, I didn't even have to feel bad about it.

It was good too, because I was still physically pooped from my weekend last weekend. Which I have to say, I've been dwelling on in my mind quite a bit this week.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what was said between Billy and I, and trying to reconstruct the pieces that are woefully absent from my memory banks. I blame that part on the lack of sleep, as I choose to not believe that for the first time ever my poor memory of a specific event is alcohol induced. But in addition to that, I've been thinking about how much I need a vacation. And how much fun the last one was. And wondering if it'd be okay to broach the idea of another roadtrip in the next couple of months or so. I'm still just pondering--but I REALLY need a vacation--and the last one was a riot. We'll see. I don't know if I'm that brave/stupid/healed yet. Well I do. No/yes/hells no. Heh.

Um...worked all week. Was supposed to be off Saturday--worked. Worked Friday too. The guys were in to wax the floors at work, so we had to move all the freight off the floor on Thursday night. I had to let the guys into the store on Friday morning at the crack of dawn--then go back a couple of times.

I was going to go back at lunch time, but I got a little side-tracked. I had decided to make stew for supper--so got chopping and boiling. It was well on its way to being delicious, when I decided to make a smothie for my lunch.

I've been on a bit of a smoothie kick the last couple of days. I had one at Tamara's a couple of months ago, and it was delicious. Ever since I've been coveting a mini-blender. I bought one of those hand-whizzers early in the week. It's a PC one, and it comes with a mini-chopper for doing veggies, as well as a beaker-type cup for making shakes and such. I have been eating ice-cream, OJ, and frozen raspberry smoothies all week. DELICIOUS.

So I was making one. It was kinda huge. I was kinda hungry. I pulled out the whizzer from the cup. I pulled out the plug from the wall. I stuck my finger in to wipe out all the extra berry goo, and apparently there was still some dormant power in there. And also, apparently, I managed to squeeze the button as I was poking. So Yeah. I'm a moron. A moron with stitches. But thankfully still with all her finger bits. I'll post a photo of my bandage tomorrow--and the wound itself on Wednesday when I get to take the bandage off.

I'm a genius.

Friday I was here--save the 2.5 hours at the hospital (pretty good for stitches on a holiday!). Saturday (my day off) I worked for 4 hours putting stock away that had been moved on Thursday. I then came home, frigged around, had a nap, then headed to Halifax to chill with Duffy and his buddies. Steve was still in NF for his granny's funeral.

We headed out to the Lower Deck (my HappyPlace*TM*) for some fun. I'd had a tylenol with codeine (just OTC T-ones) at 7:30, and didn't have a drink until 10 at Duff's. Then, when we got to the bar, I had another. I was starting a third when I began to feel like absolute crap. I just couldn't make my way through the bottle. Anyone who knows me, knows this is NOT usually an issue.

I felt nauseous, but not pukey. I felt just generally out of sorts. I wanted to stand. But I wanted to sit. By 11:30 I just wanted to die. I had gone upstairs with Cal*lan at one point to look for the others. There was nobody around, so we danced to one song. I couldn't stay moving for more than that. Anybody who knows me, knows that this also is not normal. I'm a dancing MACHINE.

I went back downstairs to see the band. Coming around the staircase, I bumped into the newel and grazed my rib. Today? I have an enormous bruise. Apparently I didn't just 'graze' it so much as pile into it. Oh well.

A man standing next to me at the back of the room began some idle bar-chatter. I was trying hard to be polite and cheerful, but I was dizzy. And sweating. Sweating, I say! Ridiculous. I knew I was in rough shape.

The problem comes here--I was staying at Duffy's. Duffy, who I know only slightly, through Steven. And they were loaded and having a good time.

The lower portion was closing and everyone headed upstairs to dance. I went up, but couldn't see them, so I went downstairs to talk to my friend who happened to be the coat-check girl. This way I could have lots of fresh air, not be crowded, but also not miss anybody should they decide to leave.

Anyway, I was there until about 2. At this point the bar was closing, I was feeling slightly better, and I went up to find the boys & girls. On the way home we stood briefly in line at Cheers, and also at the Alehouse. Then we had horrible pizza, and went home.

I felt so much better at this point, that sleep was good.

The lesson, boys and girls? Beer and codeine don't mix. Even if the codeine should have worn off by the time you drink the beer, and you don't have much beer anyway. Because wanting to die isn't a fun feeling. Just sayin'.

Today was a great day--beautiful drive home, got here early-ish, baked some delicious new muffins, avoided doing any work at all (BAAAAAD); and finally, although I put it off all day long, blogged.

I don't know why I have had such a block about it all week. I've had time. I've been bored, in fact. I've been stalking all of YOUR blogs. I just have not had the oomph to post myself. I've *wanted* to--just not really known where to begin, I guess.

Part is likely that things are still shit at work, and I am tired of dwelling on that. Part is that I've been very introspective all week, and have been thinking a lot about things I know I shouldn't. I've been thinking about things that are necessary changes, as well as things I'd like to see magically improve. I have been trying to come up with some goals--I haven't had any for a while now, and I need some focus in my life.

I read 2 books this week. That was a hugely positive change. I haven't read for pleasure since Christmas. I missed it. It also challenged my brain in a way that managed to keep me away from my internet connection for a while.

To be honest, I know that the net is sucking out my brains and all of my free time. I'm seriously considering a semi-boycott. I'm considering cutting out my FBook addiction, as well as my blog reading. I'd keep the blog, and a reduced daily reading list. I don't know if I can stick with it or not, but I know that the last 2 weeks that I've been 'appearing offline' on MSN and not keeping the crack-book logged in in the background I've gotten a lot more accomplished at home. It seems that the second I power up the laptop, I lose 4 hours. It's not good.

As I said though, I'm just considering right now. I need to give it some more thought.

Guess who...

...is surrounded by box upon box of glorious stuff?!?!

ME!

That's who.