A list...

Of things that bother me

1. That one of our managers writes her smiley face emoticons backwards (-;
2. People who shuffle their feet
3. Toilet paper rolls on 'backward'. The free edge should fall down the front, not the back.
4. That my husband seems incapable of putting his damn hair gel and comb back in the drawer when he's done with them
5. When doctor's office waiting rooms only have 2 year old copies of Sports Illustrated to flip through on your ridiculously long wait. Come on - you make enough money to spring for a couple of magazine subscriptions.
6. That one of my colleagues talks to her email as she's reading it. She has no internal monologue. "How am I supposed to answer that?? Well, I'm not writing back to you right now."
7. The long and cumbersome process that is submitting my expenses at work
8. Packing for weekends in London
9. Putting laundry away

That's all that's on my mind right now. Back to work for another hour, and then I'm going home. Long weekend!

I’ve been meaning to blog for over a week, but every time I’ve found some time, I just couldn’t be bothered. Winter makes me lazy. But since I don’t feel like working, I shall blog. Nice.

So here’s what’s going on: My best friend Bev just had her baby! A 10 pound baby boy. We’re going to drive to London tomorrow to meet the new little man, and see their first born son for the first time in ages. Can’t wait to spoil another little guy rotten. I love being Aunt Daphne.

I’m in the two-week wait. 7DPO, according to fertility friend, but I think I’m 8DPO. I don’t know why it set my O date the day *after* I had eggwhite and O cramps… it’s a mystery. I’ll start testing on Sunday when I think I’m 10 DPO. We still have 5 cheap pregnancy tests left, plus a digital, so I can pee on sticks as much as I want.

Daphne in 2008 - a look back

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Not much, sadly. 2008 was a pretty status quo year. I guess I got a job I loved, and that was new for me.
2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Probably not. I’m guessing since I don’t remember if I even made resolutions that I didn’t keep them.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister-in-law had a baby boy in September
4. Did anyone close to you die?
My best friend’s grandparents – I’ve known them my whole life, and they were wonderful people.
5. What countries did you visit?
Jamaica, Cuba
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A baby (or at least, a baby bump!)
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 25 – the day I started at my fabulous job.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Got a fantastic job that I can’t picture myself leaving. Wow, sounds like 2008 really was the year of my career, wasn’t it?
9. What was your biggest failure?
I don’t think I really had a big failure in 08
10. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
Luckily, no.
11. What was the best thing someone bought you?
A cappuccino machine from my wonderful husband
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
I have no idea what that means
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and/or depressed?
A couple of my in-law’s in-laws. (One sister-in-law’s mother-in-law, and another sister-in-law’s mother- and father-in-law)
14. Where did most of your money go?
Eating out and gifts for family. And I guess a couple of vacations, too.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Potentially going to India (but we didn’t end up going), and the decision to TTC
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I can’t think of one
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) fatter or skinnier? Hmm… I feel fatter, but probably the same
c) richer or poorer? Richer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Saw more friends… it was a year of endless family gatherings, so I seemed to never have time to see my friends.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Driving back and forth to London for family stuff.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
I spent it in London, divided between my mom’s, my dad’s, and my in-laws’.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
I fall in love with my husband all the time
22. How many one night stands?
negatory
23. What was your favourite TV program?
Probably Mythbusters or Chuck/Heroes Mondays.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. I don’t think I hate anyone. There are people who drive me a little mental, but not hate.
25. What was the best book you read?
Nothing really noteworthy
26. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year?
Nada
27. What did you want and get?
A cappuccino machine
28. What did you want and not get?
Pregnant
29. What was your favourite film of this year?
Not sure… I don’t think I saw a lot of movies in 08
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 28 4/4… or 29. Sigh. I took a vacation day and went to the spa for a pedicure, then went for dinner with my husband.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I think it was really satisfying already
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Shoes. And more shoes. And a lot of new v-neck sweaters – not exactly a fashion concept, but there it is.
33. What kept you sane?
My husband and my manager
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Chuck – or whoever the guy is who plays Chuck on “Chuck”.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I don’t get stirred by politics.
36. Who do you miss?
My girlfriends
37. What was the best thing you ate?
I have no idea, but judging by how tight my jeans are, I must have eaten a lot of great things.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008?
Wow, I can’t think of a life lesson I learned. That’s sad.

In honour of my 100th post - 100 things about me

(I stole this idea from Kaymee)

1. My real name isn't Daphne - it's a nickname I got at my first highschool job as a baker, because I stood in the kitchen like Daphne from Scooby Doo. I've blogged as Daphne ever since.
2. I love baking - I bake when I'm happy, sad, angry, bored... it always makes me calm.
3. I started my first blog before I went backpacking through Europe. It was my lazy way of writing home without having to write to people personally.
4. I hate talking on the phone, except to my best friend Bev. We can talk for hours.
5. I wish I talked to my brother more than I do.
6. I can't go to Shoppers Drug Mart without buying lipgloss.
7. I have a zillion purses that I never use.
8. I can't stop buying shoes.
9. I'm a natural blonde.
10. I really should shave my legs more often for my husband's sake, but since you can barely see my leg hair, I can't be bothered.
11. My mom's a red head, and I swear, I got my hard-headedness and temper from her.
12. I kept my maiden name, and I struggle with the fact that our child(ren) will have a different name than me. But I don't want to change my name. Most days.
13. I'm one of the lucky few who truly likes their in-laws.
14. I've gotten to know my dad more in the past 6 years than I had my whole life combined.
15. I feel equally at home at my grandparents' house in Saskatchewan as I do in Toronto.
16. I kept my last name because I am so fiercely proud of my dad's family.
17. I don't really speak to anyone on my mom's side. Neither does she.
18. I'm really bad at correspondance.
19. I hate folding laundry.
20. I have terrible finger nails that never grow.
21. I've worn contact lenses since grade 8. I only wear my glasses at home or on weekends.
22. I get migraines every so often.
23. I've faked a migraine on more than one occasion to get a day off work.
24. When I work from home, I mostly watch TV with my email open.
25. I worry that I'll put on weight and always fight with it, like my mom.
26. I wish I knew more of my family heritage.
27. I hate basements. I think my brother jumped out at me one too many times as a child.
28. I hate numbers. I can't remember them (even my phone number), and they bewilder me (just figuring out what to tip on a bill makes me sweat).
29. I am a grammar nut.
30. I love my job, and I love my boss. I think I'm the only person I know who can say that.
31. I've read A Handmaid's Tale and The Princess Bride at least 15 times each.
32. I prefer pesto over tomato sauce 9 times out of 10.
33. I should floss more than I do. But I hate it.
34. I have a short attention span. I'll be gung-ho on something for maybe 2 weeks, then just stop.
35. I can't believe I've been taking pre-natal vitamins for 2 months and haven't missed a day. See #34.
36. I always wanted to eat the Dino Flintstones vitamins when I was a kid.
37. I ran away once - to my best friend's house, 3 crescents over. I got in so much trouble.
38. I was a pain in the ass when I was a kid, and I knew it. My brother was an angel; I drove babysitters away.
39. I lost my virginity at 16 to someone 5 years older than me.
40. I'm the only one of my highschool friend circle who didn't regret their 'first'. We dated for 8 months. He was a good guy.
41. I hate whiney men.
42. Hamlet was my least favourite Shakespearean play, because I just wanted him to make a freaking decision. Either kill Claudius, or don't. Just stop complaining!
43. I love my condo, and am sad that we'll have to move to a house when we get pregnant.
44. At the same time, I'm excited about having a house.
45. I have never mowed a lawn, and don't intend to.
46. I'm very handy. I love building or fixing stuff, and I LOVE power tools.
47. I hate clutter, yet I rarely put things away.
48. I like to wear matching underwear and bras.
49. I love infomercials. I could watch Ron Popeil all day.
50. I love my kitchenaid mixer more than any normal person should love an appliance.
51. I quit my job at Tim Horton's after 7 years there by just walking out 5 minutes into my shift. It just wasn't worth the stress, so I waited for the manager to come in, told her I was leaving, and handed my apron off to the other baker. And then I went to a bridal show with my best friend who was getting married.
52. I don't regret moving to Toronto, but I miss a lot of my girlfriends who still live in London.
53. I could have coffee at any time of day. 3 a.m. espresso? Yes, please!
54. If I hadn't run out of money, I would have never come home from Europe.
55. I now wish my then-boyfriend hadn't come to see me in Rome. I hate that all my memories of Rome are filled with him.
56. I lived with someone (not the Rome boyfriend) for 6 months during University. Looking back, I don't really know why. We hate that guy.
57. I wear far too much black. But it's flattering, so whatever.
58. I've finally come to terms with my pale skin. When I was younger, I tanned. Now, I'm at peace with how bloody white I am.
59. The only time in my life that I had a good tan was the summer I dated the man-whore lifeguard and spent most of my time at the lifeguard cottage. That was a kick-ass summer.
60. I've always wanted to play piano. I have a piano, but that's about as far as it's gotten (see #34).
61. I think I was born in the wrong era. I should have lived in the 40s and 50s.
62. I hate politics. My brain shuts off when The Situation Room is on.
63. I am full of useless facts. I love knowing stupid stuff that will never really come in handy.
64. I think my brother is the coolest guy on the planet.
65. I really used to try to piss my brother off when we were younger, and normally succeeded.
66. I never wanted a sister.
67. I loved being the youngest growing up.
68. I hated babysitting, but did it for a few years.
69. I got my first real job at 15 so I wouldn't have to babysit anymore.
70. I dated a Morman once. It didn't go so well, being that I'm athiest.
71. The only thing I liked about church when I was a kid was that I could sit with Bev. When she stopped going, it sucked.
72. I sang in choir all through school, from kindergarten to University.
73. My stage debut was in kindergarten - We sang "little lamb" at a Christmas concert. I had the solo (the lamb on the hillside) and the rest of the class sang chorus.
74. I remember pretty much every song I ever learned. Even French songs from grade 4.
75. I always have a song in my head - even if it's just a commercial. It's often something I don't particularly like.
76. I can't keep plants alive. This worries me, being that I'm on a quest to become a mother.
77. Motherhood scares the hell out of me... and excites me.
78. I don't want to become my mother, and I think the fear of becoming her is why I never wanted kids until now.
79. There are so many places I still want to travel to. I want to see the world - not just from a lounge chair.
80. I wish I was more active than I am. I'm just not motivated.
81. I can make conversation with pretty well anyone.
82. I hate talking to strangers in the elevator or on a plane... but I can, if I must.
83. I can't eat or even smell oatmeal without gagging. I had a bad experience in grade 1 that I just never got over.
84. I remember throwing up on the floor of Canadian Tire while my mom talked to a sales person about a bike for me. I felt terrible, but I didn't want to bug her because if I pissed her off, I thought she wouldn't buy me the bike. Then I threw up on the floor. She bought me the bike still, but not that day.
85. I loved having the chickenpox when I was a kid. We have a picture of me and my brother covered in calamine lotion - he looked surly, I was in heaven.
86. I've always felt younger than than I am - like I was always a little behind my friends, somehow. I think it's because I was a December baby. Some of my friends were almost a year older than I was.
87. I still have my baby blanket on my pillow at my mom's house. I'm not ashamed of this.
88. I hate the sight of blood. I passed out *before* giving blood at a highschool donor clinic.
89. I'm curious about really obscure things. Like, were people really rested in the winter in the times before electricity? Did they go to bed when it got dark?
90. I can't turn my brain off during sex. I find myself thinking really about really bizarre things and have to bring myself back to the moment.
91. I miss having pets. I hope to convince my husband someday to get a cat.
92. I never really grew out of rainbows and Santa and jumping in puddles.
93. I don't really feel like an adult, and I wonder if my parents, at my age, felt like adults. Probably not.
94. I don't let my husband read my blog, and I normally blog when he's not around. He hates that, but if he read it, how could I blog about him?
95. I'm normally in bed by 10:30 or 11 these days. I used to stay up late, but now I find it's just not worth it. I'm getting old.
96. I was always a bit of a shit disturber in school, but at the same time, I was kind of a teachers' pet. I'm a dichotomy.
97. I'm a sagittarius, and really do embody most of the sagittarian traits.
98. I think I had a past life where I lived in South Carolina. We went there when I was a kid, and visited a plantation. I knew the layout of the house before we were shown things. It freaked my mom out. But I just knew, somehow.
99. I'm hypoglycemic, and have passed out at various times throughout my life. One of those times was at that plantation.
100. I can't believe I actually just made it to 100 without getting bored and giving up (see #34).

Days Off

Since we canceled our India trip (no regrets at all now, after all that's going on there) I had 13 vacation days I needed to use. I carried 5 over to 2009 to use before March, which left me with 8 random days to use in a month and a half. I took Monday & Tuesday off last week, and this week, I'm off Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday. The remaining 3 days will be used b/t Christmas and New Years.

Last week, I did absolutely nothing with my time off, and it was everything I wanted it to be. I sat at home, watched countless episodes of A Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby, cooked, ate, and sat on my couch some more. That's it. And it was wonderful. I was getting pretty burnt out at work, so the time off was really needed. Work was freaking crazy Wednesday, but whatever, it was worth it.

This week, I'm doing more with my time. Today, I'm heading downtown to meet my old office-mate at Insurance Hell, Sandy, for lunch. We're going to the Japanese place we used to go to often - I miss that. I don't miss Insurance Hell at all (hooray for The Publisher: The best workplace in the world!) but I miss Sandy, and I miss our lunches. So I'm looking forward to that.

Tomorrow, I'm heading downtown again to meet my sister-in-law and her cousin (-in-law, I guess, since it's her husband's cousin) for some shopping in the afternoon. We're heading to some place where my brother-in-law buys purses for cheap, or something.

Wednesday is my (ugh) 29th birthday, so I'm going to get a manicure/pedicure to try to forget that I'm turning 29. Now that I'm not out of the country, I guess my birthday still has to happen, which really blows.

Ooh, on a birthday positive, I think my wonderful husband may have bought me my long-coveted cappuccino/coffee maker! I can see the box in our foyer, but it's covered in bags so I don't know what it is. It's a big box though! I said I don't want presents (because I want to pretend my birthday didn't happen at all), but I wouldn't say no to the cappuccino maker!

Okay. Off to make some full-caffeine coffee (enjoying it while I have my period, because after that, I'm back to decaf while I TTC) and some breakfast.

*Note: Welcome to any Bump-ers that might be visiting! I finally put a link to my blog in my Bump signature.

Our Creepy VW Routan Baby

VW has this fun "make your baby" tool, so I tried it out.



And this scares the hell out of me:

Awesome. My phantom cyber-baby looks like neither of us, but has an eerie resemblance to a very surprised Yul Brynner.

One Word (mostly)

Where is your cell phone? counter
Where is your significant other? subway
Hair color? blonde
Your mother? independant
Your father? funny
Your favorite thing? marriage
Your dream last night? unsure
Your dream/goal? pregnancy
The room you’re in? office
Your hobby? baking
Your fear? basements
Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
Where were you last night? home
What you’re not? sleepy
One of your wish-list items? Rudolph DVD
Where you grew up? London
The last thing you did? theBump message boards
What are you wearing? jeans
Your TV? off
Your pet? none :(
Your computer? on
Your mood? impatient
Missing someone? Bev
Favorite store? Winners
Our summer? far away
Love someone? husband
Your favorite color? black
When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
Last time you cried? last month

On seasons and birthdays and refusing to get older

I haven't blogged in ages, for no one reason in particular. Nothing important, really - just a combination of being busy at work (which is where I normally blog from), getting a new router at home and not being able to RDP to my home computer from work until it's configured correctly (I'm not dumb enough to blog on my work computer - I always connect to home first), and just being busy. I can't believe it's September. This weekend has been cool - and all of a sudden it feels like fall. I'm not ready for fall.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the autumn as a season. In fact, I quite like it: the crisp air, pretty colours, relaxing weekends (that aren't pre-booked with summer barbeques), pulling cozy sweaters out of hiding and (yes, I'm a girl) shopping for new boots. But there's something ominous about autumn, despite its perks. I know that, no matter how much I wish on a star, winter (that bitch) follows right behind. Autumn is always too short - just when I'm getting into the 'wear a light jacket' swing of things, I wake up one morning to find that Nirvana had it right: Mother Nature is, in fact, a whore. I hate winter. Have I mentioned that before? Hate. I have a December birthday, which has really ALWAYS sucked.


When I was a kid, my friends had these great birthday parties - Becky had pool parties in July. We went apple picking and horseback riding with Bev in October. Even my brother's April birthdays were fun, because sometimes (just sometimes) he'd let me come with him and his friends down to the creek to play by the definitely polluted waters looking for slimy things. But not me. No, I got to go skating (I hate being cold). Or to the movies (to this day, not my favourite thing in the world - I'd rather be outside, actually *talking* to my friends, not sitting in the dark looking forward). Then I just started having indoor parties - sleepovers with the girls. Fun, yes - but not as fun as horseback riding, that's for damn sure. Through University, my birthdays generally sucked, because they were right in the middle of academic hell - my English major friends were frantically writing essays. My friends in other programs were stressing about December exams. Asstastic. We always managed to go out, but there was always an air of "I should be doing something else right now - or I'm going to fail Modern British Lit."


Now that I'm older, birthdays are even less exciting. I live in Toronto, and most of my family & friends are still in London. So that means that I either get to brave the snow-filled 401 to go see them, or, as I tried last year, have my family up here to our place. That was a fiasco. My mom made a big stink about 'I have to drive all by myself..." sob sob drama drama. My sister-in-law made a huge stink for months that we wouldn't be in London for her daughter's birthday party (the date for my party was 5 days after her birthday - and only 1 day before mine. Sorry. Whatever. We were in town the weekend before for the other daughter's party and would be again for every other effing weekend of our lives, so shove it) It was so much un-fun start to finish. My mom and I got in a fight so huge that I told her that fine, I don't want to celebrate, fuck it. Don't come. Whatever. Sorry to put you out because I want to have family up to our place to entertain in our new condo because we finally have room to do so, but if it puts you out that much to drive to Toronto (though we drive there every other weekend), fine. She apologized begrudgingly, but it was a sour party, nonetheless.


So this year, I'm thrilled that I won't be in the country for my birthday. If I'm not here, it doesn't happen. We'll be in India for over 2 weeks, missing not only my birthday, but the two nieces and one nephew on my husband's side as well. Done and done. One trip to India wipes out 6 family celebrations/obligations (3 kids' birthdays + my birthday with my mom, my dad, and my in-laws). Wicked. We'll buy the kids extra-super birthday gifts to make up for missing theirs, but I've decided to just skip mine this year altogether. It's my party and I can skip it if I want to.

Maybe if I just close my eyes and hope, winter won't happen either...?
I'd love to have spring, summer fall.... and then spring again. And hey, since I'm wishing for the unthinkable, can I just stop getting older if I stop having birthday parties? If only...

Two quick things to blog about today.

I woke up this morning from a dream about a sheep. We had found a sheep, and he was the sweetest thing in the world and I was going to keep him as a pet. I loved that sheep... but we didn't have enough yard to keep him, so I had to give him away. I was so sad. He was the cutest sheep ever.

I think I miss having a pet. It will take a LOT of convincing and a much bigger house, but eventually, I'm going to win and we're going to get a cat. Or maybe a sheep. My husband really has no use for animals. He wasn't brought up with them, and really just doesn't get it. And he's apparently allergic to cats... though it comes and goes so it's really not that bad, in my mind.

Second, welcome back to Mis(adventure) - my good friend who's back to blogging again. And welcome back to my blog (again)!

Your Keywords: Disappointed and Confused

It's a sad day for Daphne's iPod.



When I worked in Insurance Hell, I started downloading a variety of CBC podcasts to listen to on the subway. I quickly became hooked on SearchEngine. What an insightful, current and decidedly un-geeky program! I love that it's about current events but doesn't feel like the news.



Since I started working at the Publisher, I haven't been listening to podcasts so much. My drive is only about 20 minutes, so it's almost not worth hooking my iPod up in the car. I don't listen to them at work - just music while I write and edit.



Anyway, I'm starting to get tired of the radio (hearing the same damn songs from 7:45 - 8:05 and 4:50 - 5:20 every day gets a little wearing) so on Monday I decided to go back to the CBC site and download the Search Engine and other podcasts I've missed.



I listened to the "keywords" of the podcast for June 19: "Jim Prentice unlocked, small town cyberwars, and the last episode of Search Engine....vol.1 "



WHAT? Last episode of Search Engine?? But it's such a great show! It's received awards; it's listened to internationally; it makes me happy! It won't return in September in the form I know and love.... and I'm just not optimistic about the new format. I don't listen to other shows regularly, so the little snippets of SE stories that will apparently be included on other programs will not be very helpful to me. And while I'll no doubt continue to listen to Jesse's new 'raw and off the cuff' podcast, well, it just won't be the same.

Wow, I feel so 'white trash American'

So the other day after work, against every fibre of by being, I stopped at Wal-Mart to look for a tanktop. I bought a pretty white shirt on Gerrard on Saturday but I need a nude-coloured tank top to wear under it so I don't look like the office tramp when I wear it to work. So, I stopped at Wal-Mart.

I HATE Wal-Mart. It is the devil. Besides the fact that it and all the other 'big box' stores are what's wrong with North America today, I just hate the environment. I don't want to be grocery shopping in a store where people are pushing office furniture around in a cart. I don't want to be looking for a DVD in a store surrounded by families of 7 with a cart full of clothes. I hate it.

My husband and I shop there very VERY rarely and only if we have something very specific we need to pick up, and our rule is to never get a cart. If we are picking up one or two things, fine. But the second you take a cart, you're subjected to the throngs of other people with carts trying to get by because their screeming kids are getting rangy and they still have to buy diapers and want to look at patio furniture and need to pick up a birthday card..... So, no carts.

So anyway, I needed a nude-coloured tank top and stopped at the hub of hell and tried to go straight to the cheap lingerie section. But I got stopped.... by the bagels. My husband was out of bagels, and here they are, at Wal-Mart, not the grocery store. And then, as I continued across the store, I got stopped... in the linens section and bought two anti-allergen pillow protectors, at Wal-Mart, not the home decor place. I hate stores like this, but somehow, despite my best efforts I was sucked in by that horrible thing called "convenience." Finally... I got to the lingerie.

In the end, they didn't have a nude-coloured tank top.... but I ended up buying underwear. From WAL-MART. In a 3 pack.

I have NEVER bought underwear that wasn't carefully selected from La Senza or Victoria's Secret or even Calvin Klein. And I've never EVER bought underwear in a 3 pack before.


It's like in that brief encounter on the way home from work, Wal-Mart somehow transformed me into a white trash American. How the hell did that happen?

Damn you, Wal-Mart. Damn you all to hell.

I feel like I need to dress up and go somewhere fancy to shake off the stank of white trash and get back to my upper-middle class self.

This is fantastic. Yes, I work in an office, and yes, I am a geek. Whatever - this is great.

Compliments of dailydyson.

Not much new in Daphne-ville. The weather bums me out, I'm crampy and blah, and my husband's allergies are driving him mental so I'm constantly walking around the house throwing out kleenexes. Ew. That's about it for me.

I feel like ass and I'm going to bed.

This makes me happy:

This is what perked me up on Saturday morning

My hubby and I woke up grumpily, but then we remembered: we have leftovers from the Keg!

This was divine:

leftover steak, asparagus, roasted tomato and peppers.... mmmm.

It Almost made up for the crappity wakeup.

To make up for the boring food diary post

Just a little something ... enjoy.

No surprise there

Daphne on the political scale: LIBERALS usually embrace freedom of choice in personal matters, but tend to support significant government control of the economy. They generally support a government-funded "safety net"to help the disadvantaged, and advocate strict regulation of business. Liberals tend to favor environmental regulations, defend civil liberties and free expression, support government action to promote equality, and tolerate diverse lifestyles.

Blogging out of Boredom (and a conscious effort to avoid TV)

My husband is watching what feels like the ten millionth US Presidential debate. He just can't seem to get enough, and what's worse - he wants me to care on a level deeper than my current, "Huh, there's a debate on this channel. I wonder what's on other channels?" There are few things that make my brain just switch off more than US Politics (or Canadian, for that matter). So, as he watches Hillary and Barack talk about things I really couldn't care less about, I blog and listen to my iPod to block out the incessant speaking and clapping.

I'm listening to Madeleine Peyroux. What a beautiful, tender, soulful voice she has. She sounds like a throwback to Billie Holiday, with a French twist. Love it.

Speaking of things that make my brain shut off, this afternoon I had to go with the hubby to meet with our new invester lady. It was quite possibly the most painful thing I've had to sit through since highschool math class. Honestly. I'm lucky that my husband is really interested in our finances. It gives me licence to avoid it all entirely. He wants to think about things like our net worth, principle, and other scary financial things. Right now, he's working out the finances for his business and, by default, our personal cashola. In essence, we had to put an ungodly amount of money in an RSP, transfer our individual pensions from previous employment into locked-in RSPs, and transfer an RSP my mom set up about a billion years ago for me. Blech.

The woman we met with is very obviously competant and knowlegeable, and just doesn't seem to understand that it's not that I'm not capable of understanding this stuff, it's that I JUST DON'T WANT TO. Please, PLEASE quit trying to explain the ins and outs of mutual funds. Please, I beg of you. Stop asking me to calculate my assets, and no matter how many times you ask me, I am not going to give you an answer to "how much return do you expect from your investments." She just wouldn't accept "I truly don't care - as long as it's not negative" for an answer. She expected a percentage, and I'm just not prepared to think about percentages on my few, blessed days of unemployment.

I'M ON VACATION. PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE TO THINK ABOUT INCONSEQUENTIAL THINGS. Like how bad a job my hairstylist did on my highlights yesterday and how I have to get them fixed elsewhere on Saturday.

How 'Bout You?

...Email chain with my colleague.... My bullets are in green.

I’d rather be:

• Sleeping
• Napping
• Trying on shoes
• Playing tetris
• Cleaning out my desk
  
• Drinking alcohol
• Drinking coffee with caffeine in it
• Smokin’ doobies (even though I don't do that)
• Staring into outerspace
  
• Getting a pedicure
• Drinking a smoothie
• Eating a hotdog
• Sitting on a plane, bound for somewhere warm
• Wearing flannel jammies
  
• Watching TV
• Eating pizza
• Travelling anywhere but here
• Sitting in front of the fireplace with my favourite book
• Hanging out with my puppydog
• Cooking something wonderful while drinking a glass of red wine.
  
• Drinking the rest of your bottle of red wine
• Learning to play my piano
• Winning the lottery
• Daydreaming (oh, wait, I already am!)
• Watching cartoons
• Eating one of the Skinny Cow fudgesicles in my freezer
  
• Driving a mini cooper out in the country
• Sitting in a hot tub (wine mandatory here too)
• Laying on the beach
• Buying a new couch for my basement
• Winning the lottery. twice.
• Driving home. Enjoying the dinner that my guy makes for me tonight, but unfortunately he can’t cook so that will never happen but I can dream can’t I? aaaaaaah yes that’s what I’m doing too.
  
• Riding shotgun in your mini (I’m a great navigator)
• Dancing to some Prince
• Not working
• Writing about something other than insurance
• Learning new photoshop skills
• Going back in time to the 1940s so I can steal some awesome clothes and purses
  
• Daphne navigating while I drive my mini
• Dancing to Madonna
• Working even less than Daphne
• Not writing about anything at all ever.
• Learning some new photoshop skills
• Going back in time before Job2. Anytime is fine.
  
• Learning how to cook delicious Indian food
• Better still, eating my mother-in-law’s delicious Indian food
• Sitting on my front porch way in the future, reminiscing about that sweet corner office while avoiding mention of the job entirely
• Watching Audrey Hepburn movies
• Pursuing my longtime dream of being a broadway star
• Eating fruit loops
  
• Enjoying my house without my mother in it.
• Eating Daphne's delicious Indian food.
• Baking more, eating what I bake and not gaining weight
• Wishing for a snowstorm so bad, I can’t come to work until Spring
• Eating more rice krispie squares
• Enjoying wine. Have I said that enough? I don’t think so.
• Downloading every application on Facebook until my profile crashes.
  
• Redecorating my colleague's home with doilies and figurines while she’s sleeping – and blaming it on her man, just for fun
• Figuring out how many licks it takes to get to the centre of the toostie pop
• Watching re-runs of 80s sitcoms
• Eating brie on baguette (coupled with a glass of wine, of course)
• Buying more shoes
  
• Packing my mom’s junk
• Throwing out knicknacks from knickknack hell
• Eating lardballs and never having to say I’m sorry.
• Losing it like the co-pilot on the Air Canada flight over Ireland
• Travelling to Ireland, but not on Air Canada
• Daydreaming about witty things to add to this list
• Never having writer’s block while trying to write something witty for this list of things I’d rather be doing.
• To be able to dictate this list and not actually write it myself.

During a "Strategic Planning" Meeting

We had an apparently useless 'strategic planning' meeting this morning. Basically (as we found out later), we were held hostage in a room while one of the managers was being fired. Classy. Anyway, during the meeting, I wrote this...

Things I'd rather be doing:

• eating breakfast
• making pancakes
• brewing good coffee
• blogging
• watching a movie
• meeting a friend for lunch
• browsing in Shopper's Drug Mart
• Taking an online tutorial
• Reading Freakonomics
• drinking a cappuccino at Starbucks
• not talking about Insurance
• planning a dinner for friends
• getting a pedicure
• listening to Ella
• traveling to foreign places