My Little Place in the World

So much Hotness

2012-01-24T19:11:00.000-06:00

I have a co-worker who is not really into sports so I started to introduce her to the various very fit, attractive athletes in the sports world. We call this "Hottie of the Day".

It seemed like a good idea at the time but now we're 3 weeks in and I'm having trouble both coming up with someone each day and remembering who I've already done. It also doesn't help that I am pretty familiar with most of the hot hockey players, a good number of the football players, I know where to go to get my soccer player fix, but I am extremely fuzzy on basketball and baseball.

Any thoughts? Is this something I should institute for the blog too?

So much catch up

2012-01-22T19:55:00.000-06:00

so yes I've been a bad blogger lately. There are several reasons for this, mostly it comes down to just not being in the mood to write. But I think it's time to start again .

So here we go:

Love life: Broke up with my boyfriend in November. It's sad but there were a lot of confounding factors; distance, unresolved feelings for someone else, occasionally feeling smothered by his caring. He's still a huge part of my life just not in a romantic sense. In fact he's coming to visit later this week. Yay!

Family: They're good. Went home for Christmas got to see everyone. No nieces or nephews, no engagements. I talk to my mom at least a couple times a week, she freaks out if I don't. My younger brother and I text every couple of weeks. The other two brothers I pretty much don't hear from.

Work: Work is great. Busy but great. I love my job, I love my co-workers, it pays the bills, but it's exhausting. I'm very much looking forward to this 4 day weekend I'm taking to accommodate my friend's visit.

Travel: I went to Phoenix in October, other than that it's just been to Winnipeg to see my family. I'm hoping to go to Washington, D.C. late this spring. I'm a history geek so I love museums and for some odd reason national capitals tend to have a ton of them.

Fantasy Football: Finished 3rd in regular season. Lost my best receiver the last week of the regular season so I was screwed going into the playoffs. Lost my 2nd round matchup by 1 point. 1 measly point.

Real Football: As a Colts fan this season blew chunks. Honestly I knew Manning was good, but who knew the entire team would implode without him. On the upside Tim Tebow.

And on that Tebow note: This is fantastic. Tebow as a centaur is hilarious.

Okay that's enough for now I think. I'll try to keep this thing much more up to date.

How do people manage?

2011-11-14T11:31:00.000-06:00

I am so stressed. I have so much work to do to the point that even though I am supremely organized I can't stay on top of things, nor can I figure out where to start on some things.

It just all becomes a big ball of overwhelming. And working from home isn't going to cut it. I tend to get distracted, and lately because I'm so tired all I want to do is sleep. At least in the office I push past the tiredness and keep on working.

Any advice on how to juggle things?

Cutting back

2011-10-31T09:40:00.000-05:00

I recently returned from a trip to see my boyfriend in Phoenix. The trip itself was wonderful. The flights on the other hand not quite so much. Due to connecting flights I was in 4 different airports in the 5 days between the time I left and the time I got back. That also means I took 4 different planes. I had difficulty buckling in every single one. Though granted it was a little more difficult in the very small regional planes.

So that leads me to my first cut back. I'm putting myself on a diet. So far it has been very difficult. It was going really well trying to eat just a little less than normal. Although I have to admit I would get a major case of the hungries around 9 pm. Then last week happened.

Let's just say last week was a total disaster. I had done really well the week before so I cut back my calorie budget to lose 1.5 lbs per week. Well that was a mistake. I was falling more and more behind each day. But today starts a new budget week so I'm going to try to stick with that.

The other part that I'm cutting back on is spending. I'm not really used to having to live within a budget. I've always been in a situation where I made more money than I spent so it was never a big deal. Spend what you need/want and tuck the rest away for later. Well this last year has been a bit of a wake up call for me. I've definitely overspent what I've made. So I've had to put a budget in force. The first thing is to track spending this month and cut a little bit. First went the cable, my beautiful, beautiful cable. I insisted on keeping my Super Sports pack though. As good as the Lions and the Bills have been this year I can imagine facing the NFL season without it. It also includes NHL centre ice, which kind of makes up for losing TSN.

I'll keep you updated with my progress.

Big meeting today, no sleep last night

2011-10-26T05:55:00.000-05:00

Okay no sleep is a little strong I got a solid 4 hours.

Today I have a meeting with senior management at my company which will either result in me getting paid more money, or moving back to Manitoba to move back in with my parents. In the end it just costs way more to live here than I had anticipated and I've been drawing out of my savings and going into debt in order to pay my bills. I have worked really hard at getting better after being off work for 2 years with illness and have been walking a tight rope of living a high enough quality of life to stay health and paying for it.

I'm against this whole occupy Wall Street thing but its hard to understand how a person can have a full time job which is well above minimum wage and still not be able to pay their bills. I should also note that I don't have children or a car, so it's not like I live extravagantly. I do live alone, but shouldn't a full time job allow you to do that?

I don't know maybe I'm spoiled. But I need to pay off my debt and I'm not sure I see another way.

You know you're old when...

2011-09-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, September is upon us. You know how I know? The students have returned. And you know how I know I'm getting old? Because it's 11 o'clock on a Saturday night and while the university kids are waiting at the bus stop to go out for the night, I have just returned from my evening's activities.

Now to get a good night's rest in anticipation of the first Sunday of football season. Speaking of which, I purchased NFL Sunday ticket, which means I get any game I want for the next month. It's on a month to month basis so I may or may not continue with it, depending how much use I actually get out of it.

My boyfriend is so amazing

2011-08-25T06:36:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while. So I'm sorry for that. But it's time to start posting again.

First of all my boyfriend and I just celebrated our 6 month anniversary last month. It was nice to have him there for the occasion. Secondly it's my birthday in 2 days, so he sent me a card (and a letter) in the mail because he forgot to bring it with him. Before I tell you what the card said let me also tell you that until I got home from work yesterday and had a 2 hours video chat with him I was about 80% sure that our relationship (or at least the romantic part) was over.

But the minute I read this card I started crying. I know it was just a Hallmark card, but I also know that it echoed a lot of the things that he tells me or has told me in the past. So here's what the card said.

Everyday, I write you love letters in my mind.
But for some reason, when I'm with you,
I can't seem to find the right words to tell you what's in my heart.
I think of you every single day and discover something about you that makes me love you even more.
But when you're together, I get caught up in the moment and I forget everything I've wanted to tell you.
But on your birthday, I want you to know that even though sometimes the words fail me -
in my heart I write you love letters everyday.
Happy Birthday.

Then of course he added his own little personal note about how much he loves me and that he'll be thinking about me on my birthday.

As it stands, relationship wise, there are still some things that he and I need to work out. But we had a long talk last night and I think we're on a good path now.

disappearance without warning

2011-05-10T19:54:00.000-05:00

My life is just so out of control these days. Rather than talking about what is going on in my life through my blog I've been largely internalizing it. Trust me, this is for the best. So for now I'm putting the blog on pause, hopefully I'll be back soon.

So it's all muscle stiffness

2011-04-17T19:31:00.000-05:00

I have been feeling absolutely terrible the past couple of weeks. So bad in fact that on a number of occasions I have been close to packing up all of my stuff and moving back home. I've had headaches everyday for weeks. I've had to leave work on a number of occasions. I've gone for massages and they've helped a little but never really managed to break the cycle. I even talked to the head of my company (it's a small company), and told him that I may need to take some time off for medical reasons.

But today I decided to go and sit in the sauna in my building for a half hour and hope that I would be able to sweat out some toxins or something and start to feel a little better. And wow did it ever work. I'm not going to say that I'm 100% better because I'm not, there are definitely some other things going on. But today is the first time in a long time that I felt like I actually had energy to do things. I even did a few reps on the weight machine.

Easter in AZ

2011-04-10T20:11:00.000-05:00

That's right I'm going to visit my boyfriend in less than 2 weeks. I can not wait. Long distance relationships suck, but we try to make the best of it.

We've got most of the trip planned already just waiting for his work schedule to be finalized then we'll know for sure how much time we have together and what we can do.

Time to finish a post

2011-04-06T19:11:00.000-05:00

I just looked at my list of posts and found 4 unfinished drafts that I've started in the last 2 weeks. I thought I was about time that I sit down and finish one. In addition to those that I've actually started writing there have been about 3 times where I have started mentally drafting a post but haven't been at or near a computer.

So what to talk about? Well first of all that lotto ticket I mentioned... not a winner. Secondly work has been nearly unbearable lately. Third, I think I have the most amazing boyfriend in the world. Okay let's talk about that one a bit.

My boyfriend is awesome, but lately unbeknown to him (although it will be now since I know he reads this) I haven't been exactly fair to him. I don't know if all women compare their current boyfriends to past relationships, and I don't know if that will ever stop but I hope so. Because anytime anything happens with my current bf, let's call him Micheal (pseudonyms are fun) I compare it to my last boyfriend (or kinda boyfriend or whatever the hell it was). and I don't think that's fair to Micheal.

See the thing is I'm still friends with my kinda ex. Well not even friends. It's really hard to describe our current relationship, much like it was difficult to define our previous relationship. There is still a lot of flirty comments being bandied about. And I know I really ought to put the kibosh on things in that respect but to be honest he and I started flirting about 5 minutes into our first conversation and never really stopped. Except for those brief occasions when we didn't talk at all. And honestly if it's a choice between a little harmless flirting and not talking to him at all I'll take the flirting, because he's become one of my best friends.

I know I'm not technically doing anything wrong, but it still feels wrong and maybe that should be enough for me to decide to make a change. I don't know. I am just so scared of losing either of them. Any thoughts from the readers about how I should proceed?

Did I win the lotto?

2011-03-27T19:29:00.000-05:00

I don't play the lottery. I never win anything anyway so why spend my money on it. But when my parents came to visit me I guess my mom bought a ticket and when I went home a couple weeks ago she gave it to me. Turns out she had a free play, so I got a ticket for this week's lotto. I heard it's 40 million this week. I could use 40 million. So I guess I have to go check and see if I'm a big winner.

Do you play the lotto? Regularly or just when there is a big jackpot?

Election Time

2011-03-23T17:55:00.000-05:00

Hello Canadians,

Looks like we're heading for an election. We already know who I'll be voting for, though this time more for lack of better options than actual support for some of the stuff the government has been up to lately. This post is a plea to those of you who are undecided or have already decided to vote Liberal.

Let me ask you one question, how can you honestly vote for a party who decided to vote against the budget BEFORE the budget was even announced? That's like voting for a 3 year old who doesn't like what you have to say so sticks her fingers in her ears and sings "nah, nah I can't hear you." At least the NDP took the time to listen to what the government wanted to spend our hard earned tax dollars on before dismissing it.

You hear that people I just supported Jack Layton. Yup rather than being partisan even I have to support those who actually want to provide a government for Canada that actually does something for Canadians, when they can. Kudos to the NDP!

My absence

2011-03-20T14:39:00.000-05:00

My blog has been sorely neglected lately. I apologize. Work has been crazy. Add on top of that a wicked head cold that has had me laid up in bed for the last 4 days and well it hasn't left a lot of time for blogging. Nor has my life been particularly interesting of late.

I DID go back to Winnipeg last weekend though. I can't believe it was only a week ago. It was fantastic to see my family. I didn't realize how much I had missed them.

I will try to keep you more up to date. I promise.

Reading for fun

2011-03-06T19:36:00.000-06:00

Now that my e-reader is working again I can get back to all the reading I've been putting off. Sure I've read a couple of books in the meantime but it's just so nice to read it on the reader.

Before I broke my reader I started reading the Vampire Academy books. I heard about them through Goodreads.com and some of the reviews said they were better than the Twilight series. Having read them I have to agree. Yes they are teen fiction but sometimes it's nice to give your brain a few days off the hard stuff. There was lots of action, and Rose was not nearly as annoying as Bella. Sure the love story was kind of the same, Rose is in love with a guy, he leaves, she leans on another guy, first guy comes back and she's confused. Sadly that's kind of the story of my love life at the moment too.

But all in all these books were a nice, easy, enjoyable read. If you're looking for something to curl up and relax with I highly recommend these ones. Now I'm off to read some more non-fiction.

Do you enjoy books about vampires or are you over that now? What's your favorite genre? Any authors you'd recommend?

It's working

2011-03-02T12:05:00.000-06:00

About a month ago I dropped my e-book reader in a tub full of water, accidentally of course. I was absolutely devestated as it was a gift from my brothers and I know how expensive it was. And also that my younger brother went out at 4am to pick it up from futureshop on boxing day because he had been going everyday for almost a week and they were always sold out.

But it is working again. It's a little worse for wear. Seriously it looks like I've had it for 5 years, instead of 3 months. But now I can use it again. In fact I downloaded I new book just this morning. More on that to come.

Goal of the Week

2011-02-26T18:39:00.000-06:00

As usual lets start with last week's goal. I wanted to finish chapter 4 of my course. I did in fact finish chapter 4, what I didn't realize though is that the whole course is due at the end of April and I'm only halfway through. There is no way I'm going to finish. And so I have to purchase an extension.

I actually don't have a goal of the week for this week, except just to survive. There is so much going on at work that I can barely survive. I just come home and cry every night. I'm really considering packing up and moving home. I'm living in a constant state of anxiety and it's really wearing me out. So long story short, no goal this week.

The work road trip

2011-02-22T18:14:00.001-06:00

Today I got to do my first traveling for work. Sure it was only to Simcoe but still it's something. My co-worker and I conducted interviews for a project we're working on. I'm hoping that this is the start of a lot more off site work for me. But we'll see what happens. Tomorrow it's back to the office to catch up on things that have come up over the last two days.

Goal of the week

2011-02-18T20:42:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've done this, but I'm starting to stagnate a bit so it's time to start working on my goals of the week again.

This week's goal is to finish chapter 4 of my psych course. I haven't worked on it since December and I'm starting to run out of time.

Going on a budget

2011-02-14T17:34:00.000-06:00

I've never really had to worry about my spending. I've always made enough money to cover my expenses. But since I've moved out to Ontario I've noticed that my expenses have sky rocketed. A big part of that is living on my own. If I had a roomate to share the Rent/TV/Internet with it would make a big difference in my excess income. But now I'm going to have to watch my spending.

So I've figured that my budget is about $30 per day excluding rent, internet and phone. That means I've got to eat for under $30 per day too. I plan to keep track of how much I spend each day and keep a cumulative balance to see how I'm faring. This will allow me to "save up" for big purchases like shoes and clothes.

I know there are some great websites out there to help with personal finance. Do you use any? What would you recommend to keep me on my budget?

I think my cat is depressed

2011-02-08T16:58:00.000-06:00

My parents flew in this past weekend to see me. It was really nice to see them. And they brought my cat. But my cat doesn't seem to be adjusting very well. He seemed pretty good the first couple of days but now he seems to be scared of me. And he's not eating or drinking much. I bought him some toys today, but he's never really been one for playing with toys so I don't know if that will help.

Any other ideas, besides taking him to the vet of course?

A Romantic Weekend

2011-01-31T12:33:00.000-06:00

It's been quite the past couple of weeks. New furniture. Friend potentially coming to visit, then same friend not coming to visit, then deciding to come after all.

In the end I'm quite happy that he did come. We had a wonderful weekend full of exciting adventures. Unfortunately because we weren't sure if he was coming some of our original plans didn't work out. But we had a really nice time anyway.

Thursday night was the first time I had met him in person. I was very nervous waiting for him. But it turned out alright in the end. Thursday night we just hung out. Then on Friday after he walked me to work, I had to work a half day, then he picked me up at my office and I gave him the grand tour and he got to meet my co-workers. Then we went to my place.

We spent a little bit of time setting up some of my furniture. Then went for an early dinner/late lunch at East Side Marios and toured the mall. I had to take him to Tim Horton's since he had never been. Then back to my place to finish putting together the table and chairs and watch the NHL Allstar Draft.

Saturday we went to the local university and did a quick wander through. We took a beautiful picture of us in our snow gear, but it turned out he had set the camera to video mode. Then we checked out the free food samples at the organic food conference that was going on there this weekend. Then we went to the mall so that I could buy some shoes for a romantic dinner we had planned.

Then we headed downtown where we walked around little shops and such, nothing compared to the Forks. Then off to church. We went to this really old, really beautiful Catholic church. And just barely made it to the restaurant in time for our reservation. We had a 3 course fondue dinner. It was wonderful.

And then Sunday we had a very relaxed day and just tried to enjoy our last day together. And he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was a good day but also a sad day.

Stressing out

2011-01-19T11:51:00.000-06:00

AHHH!!!! My projects are due in like 2 weeks. Actually I had one due on Friday. I have one to do this week. And then I have to buckle down and get on the others. I might even put in some weekend time. We'll see what happens.

Oh and then there are all the little one-off things that they've asked me to do. I'm going to have to put my time management skills to good use. Oh right AND I have to work on my Psych course which I haven't touched in over a month.

What a week

2011-01-16T08:44:00.000-06:00

Honestly this has been a crazy week. Work has been busy, so busy that I've barely felt like I had time to breathe. So busy that even though it's Sunday I have to get some work done. I'm not really sure about my job. Am I doing a goo enough job? I'm working hard for the 7 1/2 hrs I'm there per day, but maybe I'm not working on the right stuff or maybe there is a better way of doing things. Either way I'm feeling overwhelmed but the amount of work that's being thrown at me and how much I'm not managing to get done during the work week.

On Tuesday I found out that my friend --- okay more than friend, let's say almost boyfriend, who was set to visit in 2 weeks won't be coming. There are some family things that he needs to take care of. So we're in a period of postponement. I just hope that it doesn't turn into cancellation. So that's been very stressful and disappointing. I kind of feel like I've just barely been keeping it together because I knew that he was coming and things would start to get better after that. Now I'm not so sure.

Yesterday I went shopping for the last of my furniture. I needed a chair and a kitchen table. Well I found them, at Walmart, but since we didn't have a truck I need to go back another day and pick them up. I also found a bedroom suite. I had originally intended to only pick up a dresser and maybe a night stand but this was a good deal and it was really nice. So it's being delivered next Saturday.

And my couch and bed should be arriving today. Which is good because I accidentally left my laptop on my blowup mattress yesterday while I was out and came back to find the whole thing deflated. I guess the heat melted it or something. So I'll have to buy a new blow up bed before my parents arrive in 3 weeks.

I've got a new home

2011-01-11T18:48:00.000-06:00

I finally moved into my new place. Right now it's pretty bare. Just an air mattress. But I get my new bed and my new couch on Sunday. And hopefully I'll be able to buy some other stuff this weekend. I still need a table and chairs, a coffee table and at least one armchair. I'd also like to get some end table since my mom sent my favorite lamp from her house to me.

As for how it's going, well I just can't adjust to being an Easterner. First the people complaining about the weather. Seriously -10C is nothing to complain about. It's barely even cold. And then there is the fact that no one seems to know where anything is. I've gotten a little lost at least three times now in my travels and neither the bus drivers nor the people I stopped on the street could tell me where to find the places I was looking for. In Winnipeg it seems like if one person doesn't know where something is at least the next person that comes along does. Especially if you're in the right general area. And then there is the cost of everything. Everything is so much more expensive.

I'm still trying to give it a chance, but I really want to go home.

Give Away Winner

2011-01-05T08:48:00.000-06:00

And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the winner of my give away. The lovely and talented JV. Check out her blog Life after Convacation.

Sometimes you've just got to let go

2011-01-04T11:10:00.000-06:00

A wise woman once said:

"Don't talk to him. I know it hurts now, but could you ever truly be friend, or would you just always hope for something more. I've done the friend route lots. It never works out. Just my two cents."

If only I had heeded her advice at the time I probably wouldn't feel the way I do now. She was right the friends thing just didn't work out. Not because I was hoping for something more, I got over that but because as we moved on with our lives I realized that he wasn't the amazing guy I thought he was. Turns out he's kind of a jerk. And so it was time to cut him loose. It still hurts and I feel pretty terrible right now. But I know deep down it was the right thing to do.

Why you should never date an American

2011-01-04T07:40:00.000-06:00

Did you guys see that World Junior's game last night? Totally awesome! The goaltending performance on both ends of the ice was amazing.

But it did cause some relationship tensions. See my almost-boyfriend lives in the Southern U.S. so of course he was cheering for the red, white and blue. We even made a little friendly bet. Loser has to buy a bottle of wine for our big romantic dinner at the end of January. I was trying really really hard not to gloat when Canada went up 2-0, then 3-0, then 4-1 and then we gave them the mercy goal.

Hope those American boys enjoy playing for bronze. And the Canada-Russia game should be amazing. Everyone brings their A-game to play Canada.

gone fishing

2010-12-29T22:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I went ice fishing for the first time in my life. And I even caught a fish. My dad often goes fishing with his cousin and her husband and yesterday when they went I got to go too. Between the 4 of us we caught 28 fish. Not great numbers but it was fun none the less. And we got to have a nice fish dinner for supper.

The Christmas Haul

2010-12-29T17:57:00.000-06:00

Okay obviously Christmas isn't about the gifts you get. For the more religious amongst us it's about the birth of Jesus. For me it's about getting my family all together in one place. This year that place was my parent's farm. Everyone gathered there on the 27th except OB1's girlfriend who was supposed to have the day off but ended up being scheduled to work. We had a lovely turkey and ham dinner. It was really great to see my family.

But there were also gifts. I got pretty much everything I wanted this year. My brother's all went together to purchase me a sony ebook reader. It's the touch screen one. It's pretty sweet. My parents bought me a Tassimo, just like I asked for. I also got some socks and some jewelry from my folks. OB2's girlfriend bought me a pack of 3 DVD games, "family feud", "who wants to be a millionaire" and "deal or no deal". And my younger brother bought me a wireless router for when I get my internet hooked up in Guelph. Oh and I got a book from my parents and a little book with quotes about courage from my dad's cousin.

There is still one mystery gift to be had. It's coming by post, it was supposed to be at my parent's waiting for me when I got home but alas it did not arrive. So now they're going to have to ship it too me in Guelph when it does get out to the farm.

Christmas Christmas Christmas!

2010-12-24T07:36:00.000-06:00

I'm flying home tonight! I'm so excited! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again. And see my family of course. I just want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas to all!

Want of the Week

2010-12-21T18:18:00.000-06:00

I want an e-book reader. I was thinking about a kindle. But with all the upcoming flying and what not I'd love to have it now. However I'm waiting until after Christmas, just in case anyone actually paid attention to my Christmas list this year.

So as soon as Christmas is over I will be getting myself a Kobo.

More Things are Falling Into Place

2010-12-21T18:07:00.000-06:00

Wowie. The last couple of months have been everything that I could have asked for. New job when I was just barely looking, place to stay while I looked for an apartment, an amazing guy in my life who is planning a visit in just over a month, and now I have an apartment to call my own.

Well technically I don't get possession until the 7th but still it's pretty much everything I had hoped for. Close to work? check. Walking distance to shopping? Check. Allows pets? Check. Also it has air conditioning, a balcony, an indoor pool, a weight room and laundry facilities in the building.

It's a little pricier than I had originally intended. But I can live without a car for a while. And since heat and electricity are included I only really have to worry about TV & internet and food of course. Now to furnish it.

Living on coffee and carbs

2010-12-16T11:48:00.000-06:00

Since I've moved I've not been eating healthy at all. Part of this is that I'm lazy and I don't want to pack a proper lunch for myself in the morning and part of it is that I'm not living in my own place so I don't feel comfortable making a mess of the kitchen. I'm not one for particularly healthy eating to begin with. I LOVE fast food. These factors taken together present a bit of a challenge for my overall nutritional health.

Lets start with lunch. I like to sleep for as long as I can in the mornings. Particularly when I've stayed up late making phone calls to people 2 times zones away (you know who you are!).Not that I'm complaining about the phone schedule. I manage to survive that but it does mean that I don't want to have to deal with making something for lunch everyday. So usually I just grab something out of the cupboard, which usually means I'm eating a cup of noodles for lunch. Today I went with Uncle Ben's Bistro Express rice.

And supper is usually a matter of trying to eat something quickly so that the lady I'm living with doesn't try to tell me her life story. She's about 75 so she's had a long time to come up with these stories. So usually that doesn't leave a lot of time for proper balanced meal making. Usually it's whatever I pull out of the freezer and heat up.

And then there's the coffee. My work place offers free coffee, so I've gone from my usual pre-work double tall caramel machiatto to about 4 cups of regular joe throughout the day. Some days I feel like it's the only things that gets me through the day.

First week review

2010-12-12T14:59:00.000-06:00

Well I've been in my new city, at my new job for a week now and I thought I'd better let all of you know how I'm doing.

First of all I'll talk about the place I'm staying. For an apartment it's HUGE. Very nice and only a 15 minute walk from work. It's also right behind the mall, which has the only Starbucks in the entire city. Yes I have already been thrice! There is also another Cafe not far away that I went to study in today.

I've looked at a few apartments. I plan to look at a few more early this week and then put in a few applications. The only thing is I'm not sure how long I'll be staying, since I've got 3 months probation.

Things at work aren't going that well to be honest. The people are really nice. One of them even invited me to have dinner with her and her family next week. But I'm just not sure that I'm the right person for the job. I guess I have high expectations of myself and thought I could just fit right in, but I guess there is a bit of a learning curve as I get used to what they're looking for from me.

So that's the first week! I'll try to update more frequently now that I'm a little more settled.

500th Post

2010-12-07T17:27:00.000-06:00

Well here it is people, my 500th blog post. Although I have a lot to update you about what with the move and the new job and all I'm going to leave this post for you, the reader.

Please help me make my blog better. Let me know in the comments what you want to see, what you like or don't like about my blog. Is there anything that I've said that you'd like more follow up on? Should I open it up to guest blogger? Give me a shout and let me know what you want to see!

And don't forget there is a giveaway going on, so you could be rewarded handsomely for your efforts.

Thanks for stopping by, stay tuned for more!

I'm here

2010-12-05T18:05:00.000-06:00

Well I made it to my new temporary home. Tomorrow I start work at 9. I've very nervous. But it will be a good change for me. I'm excited to be going back to work. It's been a very long hiatus and a whole lot of stuff has happened since then. Hopefully this is the beginning of a whole new chapter for me.

Also a plus, the apartment building where I'm staying for December is right beside/behind the mall, which has a Chapters and a Starbucks.

Giveaway

2010-12-01T19:13:00.000-06:00

Hey commenters,

In honor of my upcoming 500th post (have a seriously had enough to say to write 500 posts?) I will be doing a giveaway. I've never done this before so you'll have to bare with me a bit. But the idea is that one of my commenters will get an Amazon.ca (or .com if you're American) gift card. I haven't settled on a value yet probably $25.

Essentially if you comment between now and the end of December I'll put your name in a draw for the card and then announce the winner. Thanks to the new commenting features on blogger I'm able to figure out when comments were made. I'll also be announcing this on 20 something bloggers once I've done my 500th post.

The only thing is you're going to want to put in some identifier so that I'm able to tell who commented since I can't really send a gift card to anonymous. So using a nickname that I'll be able to identify or using a blogger ID would be helpful. If you're not sure that I'll know who you are you can e-mail me at j_sweetl@yahoo.com with your name and e-mail.

Good luck and thanks for dropping by.

-Janalee

Need a new car

2010-12-01T18:57:00.001-06:00

So I've talked about the move a little bit and that's going to happen. Besides finding a place to live the most important item on my list of things to do (other than go to work and make money) is to buy a new car, since my current car wouldn't even make it to southern Ontario. So I've been pricing things a bit. Oddly enough the Ford Focus, the Chevy Cobalt and the Honda Civic all work out to about the same price so assuming I would get the same financing regardless of what I choose (which I realize isn't exactly realistic because companies offer different financing at different times of the year) I have no idea what to get.

I haven't test driven any of them, so that's the next obvious step. But does anyone have any comments on these vehicles or any advice on other things I should consider? This will be the first car I've bought so it's kind of a big deal.

A case of nerves

2010-11-28T17:37:00.000-06:00

This moving thing is making me crazy. It's less than a week away and I feel like I still have so much to do. I don't REALLY have that much to do, it just feels like it. But yeah by this time next week I should be in my new (temporary) home. I'm staying with a friend of some people that I know. I don't expect to be there too long as I'm hoping to find my own place for January, but this gives me a little breathing space on the apartment hunting.

As for the nerves, well the week before last I was on the phone with my parents telling them that I just didn't think I could go. Now that I've booked my flight and made my pick up arrangements I feel a little better. I also get a week off at Christmas so I've booked my flights for that too. So if things don't work out in those first 3 weeks then I just won't go back after Christmas. But I'm really hoping everything works out fine.

Are you kidding me Winnipeg?

2010-11-23T16:59:00.000-06:00

Nothing like a nice wintery send of for me. It was -23C with the windchill this morning. And we're expecting 8 inches of snow over the next 3 days. Compare that to my future home where it was 13C last night. I just did a quick historical to compare the temperature here to the temperature there for last January, the low for here -30C there -22C. Both pretty cold but if you wonder how much that 8 degrees makes a difference? LOTS!

I can't wait!

God that feels good

2010-11-22T14:37:00.001-06:00

Alright it's time to step out of sick mode now. Time to get back to real life. That means trying to find joy in all of the things that I used to or at least finding new activities that I enjoy doing.

I started yesterday by sitting down to watch some football. Due to a number of different reasons I haven't had nearly as much time to watch as I used to. Today I decided to check out some political blogs, which I haven't done in ages. It felt really good to reconnect with the that nerdy side of myself.

What are some of the things that you enjoy doing that you just haven't had time for lately?

It's fast approaching

2010-11-16T15:32:00.004-06:00

Alright it's been 6 days since I had my wisdom teeth out and while I'm still in a little bit of pain it's much better today.

Now I have to go about all of my business to get ready for the big move and my new job. I know I haven't talked about this much yet so here's the whole story.

As you know I've been off work for quite some time with illness. While I was away apparently there were some scary times at my workplace and there was a whole departmental restructuring. In some ways I'm glad that I missed all of that, but at the same time I got lost in the shuffle. I was terminated. End of story there. They say it wasn't due to performance but come on I hadn't been there in over a year so while I was a good employee they just decided they didn't need me.

Anyways I started to feel better my doctor and I discussed going back to work somewhere else, so I started looking for something. I found a position that I really wanted and I applied. I had no idea that I would even get an interview since I wasn't the ideal candidate but I guess I was good enough. I had a phone interview the day before I found out I had lost my job. And then within an hour of my meeting with my former employer I got a call asking if I would come out for an interview.

So I flew out 3 days later, they offered me the job and here I am packing and preparing for a new career. I start in 3 weeks! Which means I have to say goodbye to all of my Winnipeg friends before I go. I've already started the process a little bit, had a few farewell lunches and what not. But over the next 2 weeks I'm going to have a bunch of them. I'll try to see as many as I can when I'm back for holidays and to see my folks. But there won't be much time for that for a while.

Wish me luck!

And They're Out

2010-11-10T21:44:00.002-06:00

I've been dragging my feet about getting my wisdom teeth out for years. They never bothered me much but they were growing in crooked and starting to push my other teeth out of line so it was time to get them out. I was also hoping to get them out before I lost my dental insurance. That last part didn't really work out but it's okay.

They're gone now. I had to have oral surgery to get them out. So I had general anesthetic and well once I got masked I don't remember anything until waking up in recovery. Then my mom drove me out to the farm and here I am. Lots of gauze (for the bleeding), several ice packs (for the swelling) and half a dozen T3s later and honestly I'm not feeling too bad.

The great thing about being on a liquid/soft food diet is that most of the soft foods are sugary. Jello, pudding that sort of thing. Delicious though not overly nutritious. I should be able to have soup tomorrow and I'm kind of looking forward to that.

That's What Friends Are For

2010-11-08T14:10:00.002-06:00

I'm starting to do my goodbye lunches since I will be moving soon to start my new job. Oh I neglected to mention that I have a new job? Oopps. Well actually that was kind of intentional since I didn't want to say anything until things were all settled with my old job. But it looks like that's been done now so now I can talk about it a little bit. But that's not the point of this post.

This post is about having wonderful friends. See I went for lunch today with a former classmate and the co-worker. We talked about the job situation but mostly we talked about the boy situation. The thing is she reacted exactly the way I had expected her to, very happy for me but also warning me to be a little cautious. She also said I had a perma-grin on my face as I was talking about him.

So many big changes in my life. I can't wait to have goodbye lunches/dinners with all of my friends so that they can see how happy I am now because it's been a long time since I've felt like this.

Want of the Week

2010-11-01T15:30:00.006-05:00

I don't know if you guys know this but I love Starbucks. When I was working a double tall caramel machiatto was sometimes the only reason I made it to work in the morning. Now I've moved on to more soothing drinks since I'm trying to mellow out and deal with the things that have been happening so I'm drinking far more Chai Lattes and Cinnamon Dolce Lattes. If you've never had one with soy milk then you really must try it!

The problem with making coffee for myself if that I only really need one cup. And while there are a number of one cup coffee makers out there I'm also not a huge fan of drip coffee (although I'll drink it). So with that in mind I present this week's want of the week, a Tassimo Coffee maker.

This is the one with the discs, where you put in the disc, you put in the water and BOOM!, a perfectly brewed cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or a latte. Definitely a gift for the Christmas list.

It's been a while

2010-10-30T20:38:00.005-05:00

Yeah, I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything. There has just been a lot going on with me lately and I haven't been able to put it into words.

First of all I lost my job. It was kind of a big shock and I felt like a horrible failure. But now I've been able to see a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. I've done my grieving and now it's time to move on to bigger and better things right?

I'd like to thank a very special person in my life for helping me through all of this. I can't even describe how much I appreciate all of the support he's given me over the last couple of weeks. It's really shown me how much he cares about me, and well I feel the same about him. So that's kind of the other big news. And while I'm not quite ready to call him my boyfriend I think I'm getting pretty close.

So that's the current update. I'll try to stay more current, I promise.

I got an interview

2010-10-18T21:18:00.003-05:00

I've been holding this one for about a week but I had an interview for a new job today. It didn't go as well as I would have liked but I managed. Apparently there were 70 applicants for the job and I was one of 6 that they interviewed, so I guess something in my application must have impressed them.

It was a phone interview. Phone interviews are hard. You can't tell anything about how your answers are affecting the interviewers. But I guess we'll find out in a week or so how I did. Thanks to everyone who wished me luck.

And even if I don't get the job it's good experience to do the interview.

I got my boots on

2010-10-17T16:59:00.004-05:00

For normal people getting a pair of boots on might not be an accomplishment, but I can't even describe how excited I was that I could get my cowboy boots on this morning.

At both of the shows we went to this summer I was unable to get my $200 boots on. I had only worn them about 3 times and I thought I'd have to give them away. But I managed to get them on today, so maybe it'll turn out okay.

Want of the Week

2010-10-14T18:13:00.006-05:00

I've started doing my Christmas gift shopping (sort of), right now I'm in the price comparison stage. I'm also going to Minneapolis in a couple of weeks so I'll probably do a lot of my shopping there.

But I've come up for another thing that I want:

For those of you that don't know Civ is a computer game, possibly the most awesome strategy gaming franchise ever. It allows me to fulfil my life's dream of taking over the world.

An eye opening moment

2010-10-13T22:44:00.002-05:00

I never thought I really cared what people thought of me. I just went along doing whatever I felt like doing and not really worrying about whether someone else would think it was right or not. For example I've been told that I might be more attractive if I lost some weight, but I like to eat and I hate to exercise. So if somebody thought I was fat that's their problem not mine.

Then I went to the library today. I love the library, I'm a read-aholic and they have FREE books! Lately I've been spending a lot of time up on the 4th floor where they house the non-fiction. I've read books about the Clinton impeachment, I've read books about how George Bush should have been impeached. I've read about how the Obama presidency so far resembles Tony Blair's leadership of England, and most recently how the American right has been hijacked by crazies. As you can see it's quite a complex mix.

Well today I was just wandering the stacks for no specific reason when I came across a book about Women and the KKK and I kind of want to read it. I want to read it because often when you see documentaries or movies about supremacists,the women are often portrayed as brain washed by their spouse, partner or male parent. That somehow this isn't their idea but an idea that has been implanted in them by someone else. Now I'm no feminist but I've got to wonder about the accuracy of this portrayal and I'm wondering if this book sheds some light on the issue, or if it's just more of the same.

But getting back to the point here, I didn't borrow it because I was worried what somebody looking at my library record might think of me. I know that's a little bit silly but frankly I've heard enough about conservatives being connected to these kinds of groups to know that someone just might try to make that connection here. And so I'm avoiding my pursuit of knowledge so that I don't look bad... for now.

Trip Planning Take 2

2010-10-11T18:06:00.002-05:00

I think I've found myself the perfect travel companion, now I just have to figure out where to go.

I'll address the first part first. So back in April I met these a few people through a chatroom. One of whom you've already heard quite a bit about as our relationship has progressed through friend and more than friend to basically to mere acquaintance status and everything in between. The other I've mentioned briefly here (don't worry I'm sure you'll be hearing more about him in the future as well). As we talk more I feel like we're becoming closer and closer each day. And we've discussed things like places we've always wanted to visit. Turns out we enjoy many of the same things so finding something to do that we would both enjoy is really no problem.

Some of the places we've talked about going are Denver (roughly half the distance between the two of us), Boston, Nova Scotia, and Portland or Seattle. I've already looked into Nova Scotia a bit for myself, as you might remember. And today I took a look at Boston. After reviewing the tourism website, I have to say I want to go even more now.

Now all I have to do is convince my parents that this guy is on the level (which given how they reacted to the previous situation might be difficult) and that it's safe for me to travel with him.

Goal of the week

2010-10-08T09:35:00.003-05:00

Another week has come and gone. Last week's goal was to finish unit 3 of my course and that didn't happen. The last 3 days or so I've just been living in survival mode. I've had little or no motivation. Sometimes when a goal seems so far into the future and maybe even improbable you tend to lose focus. Hopefully I can get some of that back starting with this post.

So this week's goal of the week is to finish up with unit 3 and then do the reading for unit 4. Wish me luck!

Time to Pick a new course

2010-10-02T13:46:00.003-05:00

My psychology course is going really well. I don't technically start until Nov.1 but I've already taken two of the unit quizzes. On the first one I got 80% the second I did much better 95%. There are 8 units. So I'm 1/4 of the way through which means I should be registering for a new course.

But I can't decide which. You can take a look at all the courses I need to take in this post . This morning I had decided to register for Physics I, but my registration didn't go through so now I can change my mind. I could also do Chem since there is a lab component that I'd have to do in January and I was planning to register for it to start in December anyway. Or Bio since I didn't actually schedule it into my plans at all (oops!).

Anyway I should get to work on the course I do have and worry about the others later.

Want of the Week

2010-10-01T16:16:00.002-05:00

Since I'm trying to save money for school I won't be able to buy all the things that I want so I'm starting a series of posts to keep track of things I want so that I can ask for them for Christmas. Either that or buy them when I start making money again.

So this week's want of the week comes from NFLshop.com

Goal of the Week

2010-10-01T16:13:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't done this in a while but now that I'm getting back into the school thing I have a lot more motivation to get started again.

This week's goal of the week is to finish the reading/study notes for unit 3 of my psychology course. This means that I have to finish off unit 2 and then get on with the reading.

You've got to be kidding me

2010-09-28T15:44:00.004-05:00

No sooner does a whole online relationship end and I finally feel like I'm over it when a new guy appears on the scene. Okay that's not an entirely true statement. He just wasn't on my romantic radar until recently. But as we get to know each other better I feel more and more like this is someone that I could share my life with.

As for the other guy? Well we're still talking but I'm pretty sure KEG is right, we're not going to be friends. He says he never lost the romantic feelings for me because his other thing ended so quickly. But my heart is saying "you just can't trust him", while my head is saying "everyone deserves a second chance".

How do you choose? Not surprisingly I've never been in the position where I've had to before. I don't want to hurt either of them but making a choice leads to that very thing. At least it does if they like me as much as they say they do.

Embarking on a New Path

2010-09-26T17:30:00.003-05:00

I just got my books for my first pre-chiro class. It's Psychology. I'm really hoping to have the whole thing done by Mid-November. I'm planning to finish the first lesson tomorrow. And have all the reading done for the second lesson by next weekend.

I think it's doable. There are 8 lessons in all. I just have to get my brain back into school mode. It's been a while!

Everything is coming up Milhouse

2010-09-20T15:03:00.004-05:00

I just got another info package from a chiropractic school and I have to say I'm very excited. There is so much work left to do though.

First of all pre-reqs. Lots of science courses. But I'm hoping to expedite things a little bit. I'm starting to take courses through University of Athabasca. My first one starts in November.

So here's what I'm looking at taking:

General Chem 2
Bio 1
Bio 2
Psychology as a Natural Science (in Nov)
English
Physics 1
Physics 2
Organic Chem 1
Organic Chem 2

I'm going to take some of them through Athabasca and some hopefully over summer through U of M. We'll see how it goes.

Budgeting

2010-09-19T07:44:00.003-05:00

For the first time pretty much ever I'm going to have to learn to stay within a budget.

Here's the deal, I'm still off work so I'm living on insurance money. This generally covers my basic costs of living - rent, hydro, heat, ect. My work place actually has pretty good benefits so it also leaves me with a little extra once all the bills are paid. But in the time that I've been off work I haven't really changed my lifestyle all that much, I still go to Starbucks, I still eat out regularly and I've still added to my already large wardrobe.

So now comes the budgeting part. Chiropractic school is going to set me back about $80,000 for tuition alone. Now I can manage to live on the cheap while I'm going to school. I did it when I was an undergrad I can do it again, but I do need to save up so that I don't have such massive loans when I'm done. The things about Chiropractic school is that my parents aren't 100% supportive. Yes they love me unconditionally, but they aren't convinced that this is what's going to make me happy. So I'm on my own financially if this is something I want to pursue.

More Education Planning

2010-09-13T19:53:00.003-05:00

Alright so I've officially given up on grad school. At least as far as agricultural economics goes. In fact I've kind of given up on agriculture all together. My new plan is to become a chiropractor. I could write a whole essay about why I want to become a chiropractor and I will have to do that for some admissions (or interviews), but for right now I'm just going to focus on getting all of the pre reqs out of the way. Starting with Psychology. I'll be starting a course called Psychology as a Natural Science by distance ed in November. if that goes well I'll take another course and then if that goes well maybe I'll look at summer courses.

Although it all depends what happens with work. I'm also hoping to be well enough to go back to work and then hopefully move to a different department or perhaps a new company altogether. We'll see what happens.

The Wisdom of a Country Song

2010-09-02T16:40:00.005-05:00

People give me a lot of crap about being into country music with the whole "my wife left me, my car broke down and my dog hates me stuff", but given the recent love life situation I've found that country music covers pretty much every emotion you could possibly have.

There are two songs in particular that are really hitting me these days. Both of them are by George Strait. One of them has been on my iPod forever the other one I pretty much forgot about until recently.

The first one is "You can't make a heart love somebody". This has been one of my favorite songs since the first time I heard it. I still remember exactly where I was, what I was doing and who I was with when I first heard it and it's stuck with me ever since. I actually remember crying when I heard it for the first time.

The other is "I know she still loves me", which if you listen to the song isn't exactly how the situation went down but as time goes on I think this is kind of how I feel. Yes I still care, but in someways I don't even have the urge to talk to him anymore. Possibly a sign that I'm ready to move on. Or a sign that I'm going back into Janalee Robot mode in which I don't really feel anything about anything.

Are there any songs out there that really speak to you? Has listening to a specific song ever gotten you through a tough spot?

Vacation Planning

2010-08-31T20:14:00.002-05:00

I'm getting to that point in my life where I've got to start thinking about doing all of the things that I want to do in my life. I guess in someways I hoped to have someone to share that with and I'm getting kind of old to go on vacation with my parents, although I had a great time with them in Scotland last summer. So I'm starting to plan my first trip alone.

I've always wanted to go to the Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. So I'm looking into that. But so far I've run into a couple of obstacles. Number one, there is next to nothing to do in Sydney and if I'm going to pay $500 round trip for a flight I want it to be a couple of days at least. Also anything I have found to do so far has been for couples or familys. And since I am neither a couple or a family that leaves me with nothing to do, except rent a car and go out to Louisbourg for a day. I was thinking I might be able to hit up a spa or something too. But that's all I've got.

Anyone ever been? Any ideas? Should I just wait until I have someone to go with or scrap the idea altogether?

The Birthday Weekend

2010-08-30T21:30:00.004-05:00

This weekend was my birthday weekend. Normally I don't do birthdays they aren't a big deal but I had already made plans anyway so I thought I'd make a whole weekend of it.

It started out Friday with the baseball game and dinner, which I've already talked about. But before that I had a little time to do some shopping around the Forks. I didn't get to a lot but I went to Kite and Kaboodle and picked up the second book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Now some of you may be saying "but aren't those books written for teenagers?" To which I would reply, what's your point. Seriously they're good. You should check it out.

Then on Saturday I went to see Dinner for Schmucks with my brother and his girlfriend. Overall I would say it wasn't a good movie but it had funny moments. But I got to the mall early, so again I had shopping time. So I stopped in at Chapters and picked up a couple more books. The last book in that series and also the latest book in the Outlander series which I also recommend. I've been putting off buying this book because the paperback version is a different size from all of the other books in the series, but finally I broke down and picked it up.

So I spent Sunday reading, finished off the book I was reading at the time and then watched the Emmy's. Why oh why did I watch the Emmy's?

So that was birthday weekend.

My First Ball Game

2010-08-27T22:42:00.002-05:00

Okay so maybe I don't hate baseball quite so much. Or maybe it was the company.

Today was my first live-action baseball game. And while it wasn't the major leagues at least it was entertaining. We did a little pregame dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory since it was my birthday and the game started at 7 and my friends got off work at 5. Then we walked over to the ballpark just as the first inning was starting.

The home team lost 3-0 but you can't win 'em all I guess. But we did win free pancakes because the Goldeyes' pitcher struck out the "original pancake house's pancake batter". So now I'm going to have to go collect on those some day. Tons of foul balls though.

All in all I'd say it was a pretty good birthday outing.

Fantasy Football Season is Back

2010-08-25T21:16:00.003-05:00

Last year's fantasy football season was kind of a bust for me. I spent about 5 weeks of it hospitalized and unable to participate fully. As a result I finished second last (the last place guy just quit). Anyway I had kind of thought since I wasn't really able to put out my best effort and it was getting close to the beginning of the season that I wouldn't be invited back this year.

But I got my invite yesterday and set up my team. Last year I named my team "Off Constantly" which was my brother's suggestion. And since my team was terrible I'm sure more than one of my league mates said "I beat Off Constantly this weekend". See how that's funny?

This year my team name is more topical. I went with "Favre's Sexy Texts" based on this Deadspin story. Also see this video tribute to the situation.

Can't wait for the draft to see who I get. Happy Football everybody.

A week later

2010-08-23T21:09:00.003-05:00

Things just seem to keep getting more complicated. A week after this happened I'm still struggling with what to do.

A brilliant woman told me to quit talking to him and I think that's where I'm at. I took some time and tried to discuss with him how we were going to carry on as friends without all of that other stuff getting in the way. There was no satisfactory solution but to hope that over time it wouldn't hurt so much. Well almost a week later it still really hurt. And frankly the last thing I need in my life right now is more hurt. So I reached the conclusion that while it would be hard I would suck it up, take KEG's advice and stop talking to him.

So I tried to tell him that. It didn't go well. First of all it hurt like hell. I mean to go from spending hours a day together to none at all was just a terrible thought. But I rationalized it by saying to myself that the only way for both of us to truly move on was to make a clean break. For some reason he got angry with me. He told me to take some time to figure out what I wanted, and then when I told him he got mad. So mad in fact that he said some really, really terrible hurtful things to me.

He later apologized for these things and told me he spoke out of anger and pretty much begged me not to cut him out of my life completely. I told him I'd think about it and he agreed to give me as much time and space as I needed. The problem is now I'm just not sure that he really is the guy I thought he was. I can understand that he was upset but what he said was totally uncalled for. At this point if he's waiting to hear from me it's looking like it might be a long time, and might be a simple FU. Yes I realize that's not real grown up but I'm not so sure that he even deserves a grown up reaction from me.

The end to the relationship that wasn't

2010-08-18T16:41:00.006-05:00

I'm sure some of you have been wondering about my love life since I wrote this post about a month ago. Well here's the story.

I met this guy online (hey we're in the digital age I won't feel bad for meeting people online!) about 4 months ago and we've been talking everyday ever since. Usually for several hours a day. But sadly he's 19.5 hours away by car. About 3.5 by plane. From the beginning I think we knew that distance was going to be an issue, but in a world of Skype and webcams and long distance relationships it was possible that maybe it could work out. Well it didn't. As much as we always wished we could be together physically to kiss or hug or cuddle it just wasn't practical.

Even when we talked about visiting each other there was always a problem. And neither of us is exactly rolling in cash. So I guess it just wasn't meant to be. So we had the where do we stand talk and settled on friends. The problem is it's hard to talk to him now because all of those romantic notions I had about him are still in my head.

But it's even harder now as I'm finding out there are things he didn't tell me because he didn't want to hurt me. Like that he's been dating. We had talked about how we were going to deal with the issue of dating other people because we weren't together and we live so far apart. And I said I wanted to know. He was always reluctant and didn't want to tell me unless things got serious but I needed to know so that I could properly prepare myself for what was to come. So he agreed. Or at least he agreed in theory, apparently in practice he felt the need to protect me.

So yeah we're done. It's been a couple days now and it's still a little rough. But I'm not quite ready to cut him out of my life completely. I know he cares about me, and I care about him. So it's hard to just say so long. But right now I'm so pissed at him that I don't even want to talk to him. Am I out of line? Am I over reacting to his lie by ommission? Have you tried the long distance thing?

Edit: After reviewing the transcripts (of course I save these things) it turns out it was an actual explicit lie and not a lie by ommission. Which makes it a little worse.

Losing Touch

2010-08-15T19:44:00.002-05:00

I went to a going away picnic today for a friend who is moving to Switzerland next week. I'm super excited for her and wish her all the best of luck on her journey. She and I lived in residence together at University my first two years and we've tried to keep in touch ever since.

Which got me thinking about all of the people that I know from residence that I HAVEN'T kept in touch with. Have our lives just diverged that much since our student days that we no longer have anything to discuss? Was residence really our only common link? Is it worth attempting to reconnect with these people or should I just remember the good times and reflect on that part of my life from time to time?

I may never have answers to these questions. Do you still keep in touch with your friends from college or university? Have you been able to reconnect with anyone you've lost track of over the years?

Rain Delay

2010-08-14T19:39:00.005-05:00

So I didn't ever mention that I won tickets to a baseball game. About a month ago I was in the Chiropractor's office and there was a draw for tickets to a game for the local minor league team. Then they called me last week and told me I won. I was going to take my Dad because he's never been to a game but my cousin was getting married that day so he had to be at the wedding. So I called my brothers and they were all busy that day too. So I asked one of the guys from work if he wanted to go. He agreed and so I was pretty excited for the game today.

But wouldn't you know after standing around for an hour and a half the game was rained out. So now I have to go back to the stadium and exchange the tickets for another game. Hopefully my friend will be able to make it to the game.

Karma

2010-08-12T22:13:00.003-05:00

Sometimes being nice just has it's own rewards.

So my brother and I have been going to Folklorama shows for the past two weeks. We whipped through our first family pack by Thursday of last week and thought we could easily get through another by the end of this week. However circumstances were not in our favor. He was tired, then I was sick, then he had stuff to do, and when we did go to a show on Tuesday I forgot to take the tickets. So we had a lot of tickets left when my older brother and I finally did get to a show tonight.

I looked at the family pack which had 10 tickets left and thought there's no way I'm going to use all of these in the next 3 days (Folklorama ends on Sunday) so I turned to the group behind us and asked if they already had tickets. They didn't so I offered to use some of my prepaid tickets to pay for their admission. We all missed the first show cut off by about 10 people so the organizers of the pavilion shuffled us upstairs to see the cultural displays and get some food before the show. Although some of the food was downstairs but they took us to get it and we were allowed to bring it up. Once my brother and I had gotten our downstairs food and found our way upstairs again we were sitting at the same table as the group of young girls (and a mother) that I had paid for. So we chatted a bit. Then we went down to watch the second show. Just before the show started the mom comes up to me with a plastic bag and says "the girls just wanted to say thanks". The bag was filled with all sorts of Scandinavian (that's the pavilion we went to tonight) goodies, Daim chocolates, some sort of Swedish strawberry cream cookies, Danish baking.

So it just goes to show that sometimes doing something out of the goodness of your heart has rewards. I didn't expect anything in return for admission I just thought I'd do a good deed for today. But I thought it would be rude to refuse the gift. So now I'm just going to have to eat sweets for the next week. THANKS GIRLS!

And this is why you need to have a backup credit card

2010-08-10T18:41:00.002-05:00

So my mom called today to tell me that I had a call from CIBC fraud services. I didn't think it was a big deal just that maybe they were checking on my recent trip to the US. So I called. Then they started asking me all sorts of questions about my account "to verify" they said. Well I'm no dummy and the number I called wasn't the number on the back of the card so I called that number and started all over.

Well as it turns out my card was compromised, that is one of the stores at which I purchased something had their information stolen so my card number was made public. So they voided my card and they are going to send me a new one.

Thank goodness I have two credit cards (one for just such an emergency) and also thankfully CIBC was looking out for me.

Well this should be interesting

2010-08-08T13:34:00.005-05:00

There is something wrong with my cell phone. I don't really know how to describe it other than that the screen doesn't always work. This is an issue when you've got a touchscreen phone. So i took it in to Rogers today so that they can send it in for repairs, but of course while I was there the phone worked perfectly fine.

Anyway they did give me a donor phone but it's one of those old late 90s models. At least it's a flip phone. But I have no idea how to use it. But the good thing is I won't be stranded on the highway without a phone. But I guess no texting for me for a while.

The problem started occurring after the bar on Friday night. I suspect they're going to tell me it's water damage but really it's more like perspiration damage. So it won't be covered under warranty, but we'll see. Until then I guess I'll just have to figure out how to use the clunker.

Another Random Sighting

2010-08-07T01:13:00.002-05:00

Okay it's been a couple of years since the first one. About 4 in fact but still. Tonight I had another random run in with Jonathan Toews. The first one happened when me and my friend went to the mall, then to River City Sports and finally to Tim Horton's where he was with his family. Kinda strange but it was also a little exciting.

Tonight I was at the club with a couple of friends for a friend's birthday. I haven't been to a bar in about 6 months. Not since the last birthday party I attended. And who should arrive at the bar about 10 minutes later but our favorite Conn Smythe trophy winner. I knew right away that it was him but I didn't care, he's a young guy out on the town, big deal. But all night long you heard whispers of "Jonathan Toews". Then the birthday girl found me on her way to the bathroom and got really excited to tell me he was there.

So if it's not a big deal why am I writing about it? More to keep track of it than anything else. I mean if it keeps happening I have to assume he's stalking me, right? For the record I'm just kidding about the stalking part.

What to do? What to do?

2010-07-31T13:31:00.003-05:00

It's been a while I know. But there isn't too much to report. I'm trying to figure out a new career path and finding all sorts or road blocks along the way. As I said before not having taken physics in high school is a problem.

I found a really cool sounding program called Cardiovascular Perfusion. But you have to either be an RN or a Respiratory Therapist first OR have a BSc. with a bunch of specific courses including physics.

I also looked into Clinical Genetics but you have to be a certified MLS (Medical Laboratory Scientist) to get into that program. I've actually thought about taking the MLS program. My mom is a MLS and my younger brother is a Medical Radiological Technologist. So I actually know a lot about Medical Diagnostics and how all of that works and what the job prospects are like. I just don't know if I would love it for the rest of my life.

It's kind of a lot to take in I guess. Stupid quarter life crisis.

Have you found the career of your dreams? Do you have any advice for me?

My Adventures in Golf

2010-07-24T20:20:00.004-05:00

So we had a family gathering this weekend. Which is fun for about an hour, then the kids start being kids (loud and well loud), you run out of things to say to your aunts and uncles, and you've already asked all your cousins how their jobs, spouses and children are doing. Then you have to
find something else to entertain yourself. In my family's case it involves pulling out a guitar. Which again gets old real quick, especially if you don't know any of the songs.

So when my cousin and brother were going golfing with his girlfriend and they were looking for a 4th, I said I'd do it. I had been golfing very briefly once in school for gym class but that was the extent of my golfing experience. So at first I kind of chickened out and changed my mind but I ended up going anyway.

Because I was sharing my brother's girlfriend's clubs we had to ride together, which was fine. Except she thought it would be funny to make me drive the golf cart, since her parents own a cart so she's driven one several times. As it turns out the best part of golfing is driving that cart around.

I was so bad that I didn't keep score and we played best ball most of the time, between the two of us girls just so it didn't take as long. Yup, golf is NOT the sport for me. But I did manage to outwit the sun this time. 2 hours on course and no sunburn.

Post Vacay let down

2010-07-21T16:43:00.003-05:00

You know that feeling you have when you come back from vacation and you just want to go back? Well I'm experiencing that now. I needed a couple days at home to get myself back in order again but now I'm ready for the next vacation. Lucky for me I already sort of have plans. Although they aren't exactly finalized.

I can't believe how much shopping we did. Seriously it was mostly eat, shop, drive, shop, sleep. I'd like to see the sites and do some stuff the next time and not just shop all the time. But we'll see what happens.

It was a nice trip though. But I'm glad to be back. It felt so good to sleep in my own bed.

Have you every experienced post vacay let down? Where are you planning to go next?

Vacay time

2010-07-16T23:52:00.002-05:00

Everyone needs a little summer vacation. So my brother and I are taking ours this weekend in Fargo/Minneapolis. We're mostly going to shop but also there will be food and resting. And a whole whack of driving. Follow along here if you'd like.

A minor change

2010-07-11T22:35:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note on the new template. I'm not in love with this one but I felt like it was time for a change. So chances are I'll be changing it in not too long. I've found a couple of templates I liked but when I tried to but it into blogger it kicked it out saying that it was ill formatted. Well until I learn XML I'll have to use the ones that do actually work here.

Let me know what you think.

And we're off

2010-07-11T13:32:00.006-05:00

I'm not going to attempt to live blog the World Cup Final because it's soccer and half the time I have no idea what's going on. It would really just be a bunch of "hot guy passes to other hot guy", "hot guys hit the post", "hot guy scores". So instead I'm just going to say that it started and I'm excited.

In case you some how missed it I'm cheering for Spain. Not because I have any Spainish ancestral background, but simply because the Spanish boys are hot. Even if Nando isn't starting today. I suppose I'll just have to focus on Sergio Ramos instead. Definitely an acquired taste that one.

Viva Espana!

How does that even happen?

2010-07-07T12:28:00.003-05:00

I must be the most accident prone person ever. Well no that's not true, I've only ever broken one bone in my life. But I do manage to run into things, or scrape myself up on things or step on things everyday. So it should come as no surprise that I would somehow manage to get a sewing needles pierced through my toe.

That's right I didn't just step on it and it got stuck in the fleshy part of my toe. Oh no, It went right from the bottom up through my toe and out right near the side of the nail. Somehow this needle was on my bedroom floor and when I went to go to bed last night, bam! right through the toe.

It hurts like hell too, but it doesn't look infected and my brother wrapped it in gauze for me so I'm sure it will be fine. But really how does stuff like this keep happening to me?

On the Show Road

2010-07-04T20:14:00.004-05:00

I know it's been a week since the last time I've done a post and I apologize. It's been a really weird week, full of ups and downs. Capped by today's trip to yet another cattle show.

I got up shortly after 5 this morning to get the animals all packed in the trailer and get out on the road for the 2.5 hour trip. We had to make 2 pit stops along the way. The second where I bought my breakfast of beef jerky and cheddar chips. We got to the show and as always Dad had a bunch of little errands to run and people he needed to talk to, which lead to me washing every animal and fitting most of them for the show. Luckily Dad's not too picky about fitting so really it involves blowing them (with what is essentially an industrial strength blow drier) and spraying them with finishing spray (kind of like shine serum).

The show itself was kind of disappointing but there were some good cattle there. So what can you do? But this is probably the end of the summer show circuit for us (which really just consisted of the two shows). There is one more in Saskatchewan at the end of August that we might go to, but somehow I doubt it. So our next thing with be Agribition in November.

Agribition is a bitch (10 days, most of which are spent sitting around doing nothing) but if you want to be a big player on the cattle scene it's the place to be. At least in Canada. With that said I think it's sleeping time.

A little Musical Number

2010-06-27T23:20:00.003-05:00

For those of you that don't know me very well I'm a country girl at heart. I was raised out in the middle of nowhere so naturally my music genre of choice is country.

So I picked some new tunes the other day. Not all that new but new to me. A lot of Johnny Reid. I love Johnny Reid. Seriously who else can get away with using bagpipes in a country song? So awesome! Also he's got a lot of really romantic songs. If I can swing it with whoever I'm marrying I want "A woman like you" as my first dance. I'm considering going to see one of his shows at the Concert Hall when he's in town in October. But I don't really want to go by myself. Anyone want to go or know someone who might?

Need I remind you bagpipes.

My Lack of Physics Bites Me in the Butt Again

2010-06-23T20:09:00.004-05:00

Every once in a while I think maybe I should go back to school and take something completely different. One of the things I've thought about a couple of times is Applied Chemistry. I took the intro chem courses as part of my first degree and I didn't do too badly. I also find chemistry kind of interesting. And mixing things to create new things? Awesome.

So I looked into it a little farther, and in order to do the industrial chemistry option I'd have to take physics. I didn't take physics in high school because my high school physics teacher was kind of a jerk. And I didn't take the prep courses in University because well why would I spend $300 for 0 credit courses that prepare you for courses you don't need to take?

So no physics means no Applied Chemistry. I'll just have to come up with something else.

Well at least I'm looking well these days

2010-06-23T14:37:00.003-05:00

Over the last couple of weeks I've run into several people who I would have called co-workers if not for the fact that I've been on an extended sick leave. I don't even quite know what to call them.

Anyway I guess it's not a big mystery that I'm not working there at the moment but most of them have asked where I'm working now, which concerns me because I don't know if they just assume that I've left the company or if they've been told that I'm not going to be returning. But that's not something to worry about at the moment. For now I'm just going to focus on the fact that they've said I'm looking well.

There may be several reasons for my looking better (probably more relaxed than anything else) these days. First of all I've been off work for over a year. When you don't have the stress of having to deal with work everyday. You know that look that people have when they come back from 2 weeks vacation? Well multiply that by 26. The second thing is the drugs, once you're on the right combination of things to help deal with your illness you start to feel a lot better and that probably comes out in your actions and mannerisms. The third contributing factor is probably the new man in my life. You know how people in love just have this glow about them, well I don't think we're at that point but there is some definite like going on. Things aren't exactly perfect in this respect, we're still trying to work some things out, but as he reminds me all the time we'll figure it out. But if someone were to make a movie about my life he'd definitely be the love interest.

So yeah there are probably some good reasons I'm looking better these days, even if I don't feel it all the time. Now I just need to gradually add some very mild stressors to my life to try and get things back on track.

Construction, Construction, Oil Spill, Parking Ticket

2010-06-21T18:24:00.004-05:00

Today has been a bad day for me and driving. Luckily no actual injury to the car but some definite frustration.

First of all this morning I decided I'd go to the mall to pick up some casual clothes at Old Navy. I like Old Navy because there stuff is comfortable. I got stuck in a construction zone for almost half an hour. That sucked. Then on the way back even more construction.

Then I had a nice hour and a half break to watch soccer , before I had to drive to the hospital for a treatment. A stretch of my usual path to the hospital was closed due to an oil spill so I had to detour. The traffic was so incredibly heavy on the detour that I was very nearly late for my treatment so I parked in the first available spot with an open meter, paid and ran inside. Sadly this spot was handicapped parking only but I was in such a rush and distraught from the terrible drive I didn't read the sign properly. So now I've got a $150 fine to pay.

So next time I take the bus.

First Nando sighting of the World Cup

2010-06-21T14:12:00.005-05:00

I haven't been watching as much of the World Cup as I had expected but today I caught part of the Spain-Honduras match, entirely accidentally. I had turned the TV on to watch Wimbledon and it was on CBC, from the last time I had tried to watch soccer. Turned it to TSN it was commericals so I turned back and there was Spain.

Oh good times. Horray for Nando. Though he's a lot less noticeable with short dark hair than his long blonde locks. Also look at the picture above and tell me Spain isn't bringing the hotness to the World Cup. Iker, Yes. Sergio, somedays. Nando, everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

Technological Advancement

2010-06-20T15:33:00.003-05:00

I've decided that it's time for me to venture back into the world of cellular phone ownership. I haven't had a cell phone in about 6 years. Not since my dad lost my phone somewhere in the pasture while fixing fences.

The main argument against having a cell phone all these years was a combination of a) you needed a landline to get highspeed internet and b)I'm usually somewhere where I have a phone, you can call me at home or at work and if I'm not in either of those two places then I probably don't need to be talking to someone anyway.

But things have obviously changed. Now we have cable internet which doesn't require a landline at all. I've been off work for a while now (I can't believe it's been this long) and I've suddenly found myself without a phone when I really wished I had one. I've also been driving back and forth to the farm lately (almost every weekend) and you never know when you might need to make an emergency call from the side of the highway. The other big recent life change has been developing a relationship with someone who lives a fair distance away. We spend a lot of time IMing each other and well we could text more easily if I had a cell.

So now the problem is to choose a service provider. I know people who are on MTS and people who are on Rogers and not really a whole lot of complaints for either company. So it's a matter of figuring out what works best for what I intend to do, which is a lot of texting and a little bit of websurfing. Which then brings up the question of Smartphone or Voice Only? I'm still torn here as I don't really get enough e-mail to make it worth it, BUT I would like to have web capability that isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg. Someone recommended waiting for the new iPhone to hit Canada and I was going to take her advice, but what do I need a $700 phone for?

So anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I'm going with Rogers or MTS because come this fall they'll have the best province wide coverage. Which I'll need if I'm out at the farm a lot. Is there anything else I need to consider when looking at what to do here? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Poor, Poor Independant Ice Cream Sellers

2010-06-15T21:27:00.002-05:00

I don't know if this is a whole new franchising option or what but the Tim Horton's by our place hooked up with Cold Stone Creamery. Sadly it is right beside one ice cream place and just a block from another.

As much as I like our independant ice cream stores (the one is so punny it hurts, because I'm always laughing you see) I have to say after trying out the Cold Stone ice cream these places are screwed.

Another Fair Complete

2010-06-14T11:32:00.002-05:00

There are probably 3 big events in my hometown that bring in a large amount of people from outside of town, the winter carnival, the bull sale, and the Agricultural Fair.

I have strong ties to each of these events. The carnival was the big finale to our figure skating season. The bull sales was more of an opportunity to socialize with people I had either met on the show road or in school when I was at University. And the fair was really THE must see event in our town. For me it meant 4-H achievement and showing cows for mom and dad.

I don't do much showing anymore, it's kind of a combination of I have my own life now and I don't get out to the farm enough. But I realized this weekend that I kind of missed it.

We took 7 head to the show this year. Which means we had a lot of work to do. Lucky for me dad did most of the prep work while I was in the city during the week but I've been home every weekend for a month to help out.

All in all this year was a pretty forgettable show as far as our results go. I don't begrudge the judge for his placements but I am disappointed that maybe our animals weren't quite ready for the show.

But anyway that's another Fair in the books. I don't know if I'll do it again next year but we'll see what happens.

And now to wait for October

2010-06-10T08:16:00.004-05:00

In case you missed it the Stanley Cup Finals are over. Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Chicago win is important to me for only one reason, the Cup is coming to town! I probably won't go to see the public viewing but it's nice to know that I could if I wanted to. I also won a little wager I had going with a friend so now I'm just hoping that he pays up. I'm sure he will though. Oh and also Jonathan Toews won the Conn Smythe. Good times.

No more hockey until October, what's a girl to do? My own plan is to check out sexy soccer players during the World Cup.

It's the finals

2010-06-06T08:15:00.006-05:00

I've been so distracted this year that I've barely watched any of the French Open, which is my favorite major. It's so bad that I didn't even realize until I got up this morning that the Men's final was today.

I shouldn't really comment here because well frankly I haven't watched much of this year's tourney but Nadal is in tough against Robin Soderling, who you may remember knocked off Rafa last year at the French.

But anyway Vamos Rafa! That is all.

Feasting With My Parents

2010-05-30T20:10:00.004-05:00

For the last couple of weekends, and the next couple of weekends I've been out at the farm helping my parents prepare for the local fair. There is a lot of work to do but at least I know that they're going to keep me well fed.

On Friday night we had fried chicken which is one of my favorite meals. Saturday was spaghetti and Ribs, Sunday we had Lasagna and Steaks. Yup even if it was a terrible weekend the food would have saved it.

For the record it wasn't a terrible weekend but the weather sucked and it's awfully wet outside.

Quick Hits

2010-05-28T06:12:00.003-05:00

Sorry I know it's been a long time since my last post. There's just been a lot going on, and nothing at the same time. Well nothing worth writing about anyway.

Volleyball has ended. It was good time, I had fun. We did a wind-up at Boston Pizza on Wednesday after we were done playing. So that's the end of that. We might play again in the fall. And I might play even if my brother doesn't, but it was a lot of fun playing together.

Things are going well at the Museum and I'm hoping to increase my hours in the next couple of weeks just to see how it goes.

It's pouring rain here right now and I love it. I love the rain and I love thunderstorms, easily my favorite part of summer.

That's about it for now. Enjoy your day.

I just got PWN'D

2010-05-24T15:52:00.005-05:00

So remember that awesome board game I was telling you about ? Well my younger brother just kicked my ass! So badly that we didn't even finish.

His starting line was a 63 power ranking, you get a extra goal to start with for every power point over 52 so he had a automatic starting 11 goals. I had zero goals to start, so there was no way I could win a match. Even if I scored the maximum 3 goals per period I still would have lost by 2 goals.

Here's what his starting line up card looked like:

The 10s mean the power ranking, the card under the top middle card is the Hart Trophy for MVP. And the yellow chip is a long term contract chip meaning that I wouldn't be able to steal that player in Free Agency. Not that I had any money to do it anyway.

Oh well better luck next time I guess.

The New Website Love of My Life

2010-05-23T16:13:00.003-05:00

A few months ago someone recommended that I join Goodreads.com. I wasn't really convinced because usually when my friends recommend books to me I end up disappointed because I don't like them as much as they did. But after dealing with the creepy Amazon recommendation I've been struggling to find a new source for book reviews to recommend some books that I might not pick up otherwise.

I love that once you rate a book it gives you recommendations of books in similar categories. Like the "best books of 2007" or "best science fiction", however I have noticed that a) when you chose a category there seems to be a lot of books by the same author, so if you've tried some of their stuff and you don't like it well then the list is kind of a waste for you, and b)Many of the books end up in best and worst lists, take Twilight for example it appears in both "best books ever" and "worst books of all time".

I guess you just have to take the time to read the reviews to figure out if you think you'll like it.
Edit: Just took a look at the "Worst Books of all Time List", and while I'm not suprised there were A LOT of books by conservative authors. But being a conservative I've kind of gotten used to this sort of crap.

Did I miss the memo?

2010-05-21T17:53:00.003-05:00

Was there some sort of new law passed that speed limits were reduced by 10km/hr for the long weekend. I swear, everyone on the highway was going 90 today. I passed 3 semis on my way home and I almost never pass a semi because it's their job to get things to where they need to go as quickly as they legally can.

Also anyone who is collecting CPP should have their driver's license taken away. The drive out to my parents' was excruciating today.

I need a break

2010-05-21T12:34:00.002-05:00

It seems lately that every time I need to make a decision I end up making the wrong one. Especially when it involves other people. I just don't know how to play well with others I guess. I'm trying to make the right choices for me or at least what I think are the right choices, but in the process I'm hurting those around me.

If you are reading this and you feel like I have wronged you in the past 2 weeks, I'm so sorry. I just need some time away from things to straighten out my head a little bit. I'm going out to the farm this weekend to get some good country air and hopefully get a better handle on things.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Amazon recommends...

2010-05-19T11:02:00.002-05:00

Holy crap, you rate one shape shifter romance novel and Amazon thinks you're some sort of sexual deviant.

A while ago I bought some DVDs from Amazon.ca, since then I've been getting frequent e-mails about whatever they happen to have on sale this week. Sometimes I go back and check out what they recommended to me and I'll rate things if I've seen them or read them so that perhaps my recommendations are a little more accurate to what I actually like.

So a couple of months ago this book by Shelley Laurenston came up on the recommendations list. It was a romance novel, and you know every once in a while it doesn't hurt to do a little frivolous reading just to pass the time. So I read it, I liked it, I rated it.

Well today I go to check out my recommendations and a book comes up so I read the synopsis. And holy crap, they must think I'm some sort of freak over there because this books was just... I don't even know how to describe it. Essentially 3 brothers live in a hunting cabin, one of them finds this chick in the woods and brings her home. They then proceed (all 4 of them) to partake in romantic endeavors with each other. Now granted I haven't actually read the book, but holy shit. They're brothers for Christs sake! I don't know if I'm more disturbed that people have actually read this book and given it positive reviews or that someone actually wrote this.

What kind of world do we live in? And please Amazon just recommend nice normal books. Pretty please. Thanks.

Living the Dream

2010-05-18T19:05:00.003-05:00

I'm about to start a new feature here at my blog. It consists of telling you every time I beat people at Big League Manager. But before I get into it, let me explain what it is.

Essentially it's a board game in which you run a hockey team. You pick an NHL team to represent you. Some people like to stick with one team, I like to mix it up a little usually choosing small market teams or teams that blow in real life.

Then you distribute the cash, you start with 2.6 million dollars in the bank with which to run your team for the year. Then you "draft "your players which essential means picking them off the pile of cards, you start with 2 first round draft picks. Then you proceed to choose 8 other players from the goalie, defenseman and forward piles until you have 10 total player cards. You choose 6 players as your starting 6: 1 goalie, 2 defensemen, and 3 forwards. The remaining 4 players make up your starting bench. Once you're done this the fun starts. You roll the dice and you land on squares which explain what you need to do next. It's kind of like monopoly in this way. Some of the squares require you to pay money to the league in exchange for the privilege of drafting a new player or signing a player to a long term contract. Some of the squares pay you money for random events like new ownership. Some squares require you to pick up a League Notebook cards, which are a lot like the chance or community chest cards in Monopoly. The best square though is the "play the match" square. Because the whole point of the game is to win the most matches and therefore win the game. You roll a dice with the numbers 1-3 on it for each period to determine how many goals your team scored in that period. The point is of course to score more points than your opponent. There are a lot of other intricacies to this game but I want to keep this description fairly brief. Win the most matches, win the game. If you want to know more about the game go here . If you're looking to try it out come visit. I'll take you on.

Today I picked up the Stanley cup expansion pack in which the top 2 players from the regular season play off to see who takes the prize. I took my Atlanta Thrashers to the promised land tonight, beating out the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Islanders who were managed by my brothers. That's right I'm awesome.