Category Archives: Photos

i don’t know where to begin.
spending the weekend with mom was fun. as previously mentioned, i spent a lot of money buying swanky new sheets, some fun, on-sale clothes and flip-flops, none of which i really need, but there’s just something about the island that makes me go shopping. crazy island! we ate the hazelnut mousse cake she “baked” me for my birthday, went to see charlie’s angels: full throttle, had an international I-food night with indian, italian and israeli items on the menu. we even stopped in at the casino where, in 20 minutes, i doubled my money. woot!
i finished harry potter and the order of the phoenix on the ferry home. want me to tell you who dies? *giggle* don’t worry, i’m not that mean. of course, now i have to wait an indeterminate number of years until the next book comes out. grr. remind me never to start an unfinished series again.
i’ve booked my flight and reserved my (very first!) rental car for my 8 days in northern ontario. less than a month to go! i still have to find a dress for the wedding and figure out if they’re getting cash or a real present from the western cousin they see once every seven years. aahh! stress!
morgan has decided that he never wants me to talk to him ever again. i’m sure you’ve all deduced that something went screwy with the visit from the boy. posts appeared then disappeared or were quickly edited. he asked me (and i use that phrase lightly) to not write about him or post my photos which had him in them or he would never talk to me again. i capitulated in the hopes of salvaging a lasting friendship with him. that may have been the wrong thing to do.
i hate that i censored myself and my feelings for him. now that he’s decided he no longer wants any contact from me, i feel free to write as i see fit, without regard for other’s tender underbellies.
that being said, i really don’t have anything to say on the matter. he had much stronger feelings for me than i had for him. i didn’t want him to alter his entire life on the chance that i would maybe come around. the responsibility was too awesome for me to bear. i thoroughly enjoy him in many ways, but i just didn’t feel enough to give him the committment he was seeking. he didn’t like that. he didn’t deal well with that admission. he still isn’t, obviously.
i had hoped that we would stay close friends. we have much fun and there is a lot of comfort when we’re together. he’s a wonderful man and he’s taught me many things i’ll always treasure, but i suspected this decision of his would come eventually. i’m not surprised, nor am i very upset. i wish him speedy healing and much luck and love in his life.

and suddenly, it’s unbearably hot again. i shouldn’t complain, but i’m so good at it! it’s not really so bad, though. i think i’ve finally gotten my summer acclimation down. as long as i don’t wear any clothes or move from my futon-sprawl, i’m perfectly fine when my apartment is 30°c (86°f). i do miss the sleeping, though.
i’m going out for yet another birthday lunch today. i wonder if i’ll be able to make this birthday stretch any longer. wouldn’t it be neat if i could make it last until my next belly button day?
nothing exciting is going on in my life. i plan on being very boring until september. it’s been really nice enjoying all my free time. i didn’t realize how much i’d gotten used to always having a portion of my brain focussed on schoolwork.
i’ve almost finished order of the phoenix and have plans to finally finish the fiery cross after that. the big plan is to read like a fiend all summer. ahh, reading, i have missed thee.
now i’m just getting goofy. happy friday, everyone. *mwah*

yesterday turned out to be a pretty fine day. all the attention from my co-workers who missed me last week, a birthday lunch out, cake in the afternoon, a birthday card in my mailbox when i got home and then beer, pool and a lot of anti-subtle innuendo with shane.
actually, the evening with shane very nearly ended before it started. i’m sure i’ve mentioned it before, but i’m pretty much always early. unless we’re talking oversleeping issues on work days (such as today, actually) or uncontrollable traffic incidents, it is pretty much assured i will be early to any appointment or engagement. so, of course, i got to the pub about ten minutes early and grabbed a table and a drink out on the patio, thinking i’d not have very long to wait before i could stop feeling uncomfortable sitting in a bar alone. but, in typical boy fashion, he was late.
so i sat there, listening to almost-drunk guy try to talk the general manager into hiring his buddies and him to play on saturday nights, watching this half-naked girl and her scruffy boyfriend eat extra-crispy chicken wings (sauce on the side) and wrote imaginary lists with my sexxy new pen, all in hopes of not looking like a loser for sitting in a pub alone with a red beer.
eventually, and with ten minutes left in my “thirty minute maximum waiting period”, shane showed up looking all rock-star in his shades. god, how annoying is it trying to have a conversation when someone is wearing sunglasses? you have no idea where their eyes are behind that tinted glass! of course, i’m notorious for doing that. at least my new sunglasses are light enough that you can see my eyes pretty clearly through them. oops, i digressed.
yeah, i have a maximum waiting period. if i’m scheduled to meet with you and you are more than thirty minutes late, i will leave, regardless of any other consideration. i’ve made an effort to be on time and i expect the same respect from you. i don’t think it is too much to ask that someone be on time for a pre-arranged meeting. yeah, sometimes things get get fubared, hence the 30-minute window. after that? it’s probably not circumstance, more likely ill manners.
i almost forgot, but luckily lots of other people are talking about their particpation in 26 things this month. so, who wants to go work on their lists with me on sunday?

have you ever noticed just how sickening flourescent lights are? i’ve spent so much time outside and away from them this last week it was almost painful coming back into the office this morning. i really need to marry rich so i don’t have to work for a living anymore.
the photos were my shorthand way of telling you about my wonderful vacation week. i saw a lot of the north shore and a little of vancouver proper. i ate several wonderful breakfasts out, cheered when vancouver got the 2010 olympic winter games, picked shells from the beach, ate berries from a bush, played darts, taunted wildlife, watched many movies, slept little and kissed lots. it was a very lovely four days.
my birthday was ultra low-key and i’m a little disappointed i didn’t let people make a bigger deal out of it. i got one birthday card in the mail (and one e-card from kaydee – thank you!) and zero cake. luckily, i get one more birthday lunch and i’m guaranteed cake today and this weekend when i go to the island to see mom. dad shocked me last night by giving me enough birthday money to pay for my flight back east. i’m amazingly grateful as i didn’t really know how i was going to be able to afford it once i found out he didn’t have enough airmiles for both our tickets.
tonight, i’m going to play pool with shane and i expect there to be beer and laughing. i need to keep myself a little distracted for the next while. i’m feeling somewhat sad and guilty for how last week ended. it’s all very dramatic and emotional and private. don’t ask, i probably won’t tell.

it’s my 31st birthday today.

sometimes i don’t think i deserve to have such generous people in my life. the most fabulous and wonderful jodi chromey sent me the sexxy racing car red fountain pen you see pictured above. i very nearly started to tear up when i opened my mailbox. and i even knew to expect it! i don’t know what i’d do if someone were to surprise me with a present. i might just break down completely.
it arrived today, just in time to bouy my spirits. you see, the boy missed his transport to see me. of course, all is not lost, but instead of his arriving tonight he will appear tomorrow morning. at least i’ll get one more full-bed night’s sleep.
the entire weekend, save two evenings spent with my most fabulous of friends, was used in “operation: company’s coming”. my entire apartment has gone through a freakishly thorough cleaning. i borrowed meghan’s über-vacuum and moved all the furniture to get into every corner and crevice. i scrubbed pretty much every bathroom/kitchen surface, i did window and mirrors, i even cleaned out my freezer and microwave.
i think i may have lost my mind.
now, i’m going to settle down to a nice, well-rounded lunch, read harry potter and plot all the annoying, rambling letters i’m going to write to people with my sexxy new birthday pen. whee!

i’ve been a day ahead all week. tuesday felt like wednesday, wednesday felt like thursday and today feels a lot like friday. of course, it’s only because i’m NOT WORKING NEXT WEEK and i’m anxious to start the not working. i think tomorrow will be a very long day, indeed. especially since i can’t seem to get any actual work done and it’s starting to pile up quite significantly.
the upstairs neighbour from hell has been a serious pain in my ass lately. actually, all my neighbours have been pissing me off lately. first it was annoying laughing lady from downstairs a couple weeks ago. last night it was “let’s play norah fucking jones at volume 10 for 150 minutes straight” night at upstairs neighbour’s place.
speaking of upstairs neighour, have i mentioned the dropping of things? well, she is always dropping things from her balcony down onto mine. usually it’s things like potting soil from her plants or water when she overwaters her plants. sometimes it’s been beer bottlecaps or other assorted bits of trash. lately though the items have been getting more interesting. about a month ago, i went out onto the balcony to find half a roasted red pepper sitting on the deck. then there was a cigarette and a pack of matches.
last night, while i was sitting inside watching for love or money and i heard a little *plunk* outside. i peeked out the door to see her addressbook sitting askew on the stairs. if i were nice and friendly and not in the least bit passive-aggressive or vindictive, i would have gone out there, picked it up and then taken it upstairs to her. that would have been the neighbourly thing to do. even later, when she had the norah fucking jones playing far too loudly for far too long, i could have then taken up her addressbook and, at the same time, politely asked her to turn her music down. again, that would have been if i weren’t evil and prone to seek revenge.
instead, her addressbook will sit out there until, say, saturday when i go out to clean the deck before the boy arrives. i will either “accidentally” sweep it over the side, “accidentally” get it wet when i start washing or, and this is a long shot, i will get an attack of conscience and pick it up and take it upstairs to her. then again, this is all barring her actually coming down to ask me for it, which i don’t expect to happen.
oh yes. i love apartment living.

steve’s working on the last procedure then it’s final debugging, commenting and producing the supplemental documentation. then i can concentrate a little on studying for the exam (which is freaking me out, so i’m trying not to think about it at all actually).
i can’t wait until i have other things besides schoolwork to talk about.
update: ugh. it breaks in a dozen annoying ways. grr. this is going to be painful.

it was a lovely, busy, stressful, productive, headachy first day of summer. i didn’t get up in time to accomplish jim’s homework assignment, but i did go to school to meet up with steve, shane and sheila to work on the homework which took precidence. we got a lot accomplished, steve & i. it’s just a matter of cleaning up some loose ends between now and tuesday and we should be good to go. i’m really pleased with how this is coming together. of course, that means i still have to spend the rest of my day coding, but oh well.
after drinking three pints of beer in rapid succession before dinner, i was talking to dean about the course and stuff. at one point he asked, “so, you wrote a program? from scratch?” i started to blow it off like it was no big deal, but i kind of paused and thought “whoa. i wrote a computer program. from scratch! that’s a real accomplishment!” it dawned on me that i now have the skill to do something that other people can’t even comprehend. it felt very empowering. or maybe it was the beer.
then we ate turkey and i got very sleepy, but that didn’t stop me from winning three out of six hands of yahtzee!