A Romantic Weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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!