Christmas Past

There goes another year. Yesterday was pretty good, I won't lie. It was nice to get up on my own (though the cats wanted food as early as 8 am so I didn't really sleep in) and make a tea. The family I'm living with right now bought me a gift of pjs with an adorable print of owls on them. They're so cute. :3

And I also got some chocolate. What's Christmas without chocolate? After tea and presents, my sister picked me up and we went to my mom's house for more presents and Christmas dinner. Which, in my family, is traditionally eaten about 1 in the afternoon. Weird, right? It's always been that way, ever since my Gran was a little girl. That's how my mom was raised, and that's how we've always had it. I think I'll continue it with my own children in the future. It's kind of a unique tradtion passed down from the women in my family.

Long story short, it was a lvoely day, and afterwards my family and I played a couple rounds of Crokenhole (I don't think that's how you spell it). It's a game with a specially shaped board with circles with different points, and a hole cut in the middle worth twenty. Essentially, you use these "pips", which look like checkers pieces, and you line them up on the base line, then flick with your finger and send them across the board, aiming for the hole in the middle. You can play with up to four people, as there's four sections on the board. Once someone from another team (or another player) is on the board, your goal is to use your "pip" to knock theirs off. At the end of the round (each player has 12 pieces, therefore 12 shots) you add up the points. There's a ton of different ways you can do this - the simplest way is to just add up all the points you got and write them down. We've been playing ever since we were kids at my grandparent's house, and we use the "cancelling" method - if two markers of different players are in the same point space, they cancel out, and you don't get any points. So you cancel all the matching, then if there's two fives on one team and one 10 on another, those cancel, and so forth. At the end, whoever has points still on the board, they write those down. The points denominations are 5, 10, 15, and the middle "pot" is 20. The points get higher the closer you get to the middle, and of course the circles are smaller. Essentially, this is what the board looks like:

Anyway, after that and our turkey comas subsided, I went home and relaxed for a bit more. My sister came over and we watched a chill movie - Julie and Julia, one of my favourites. My roommate was working on a new puzzle on the floor, so I had my two kitties on my lap while watching the movie. It was a nice way to spend Christmas evening. What a nice day.

And now, a lovely picture roll.

Pic before work one morning. I love the blue in my eyes here. It's almost opaque.

Ahh, the Christmas kitties. <3 I bought another collar so they could both be festive. They're so happy about it, can't you tell?

Meet Emmett the giraffe, a needle-felted creation my sister made for me for Christmas. I love him!

My family dog Timbit, Christmas morning at the house. She looks really unimpressed (she doesn't photograph well when she knows I have a camera in my hand), but in truth she was very excited and all grins. I wish she'd be better at smiling at the camera for me. She's got a great smile. <3

Me and my roommate wearing hats from the Christmas crackers at her house. :)

My new mug - a Christmas present from my roommate. Very touching, as I broke my favourite one that night I cut my toe open. Smartiepants. Thankfully I now have a new favourite mug. <3

And another pic with the mug.

Okay, I think that's it!

So Cold

Yeah, it's Christmas Eve. My sister and roommate and I were up till 2 am last night giggling and getting slowly and steadily more and more buzzed. I think if I'd had more than I did I might be hungover right now. I'm not, I'm just really tired, and I have a wee headache coming on. Alcohol just makes me really giddy. And makes me sleep. A lot. We didn't get out of bed for almost eleven hours. Whoa.

Anyway, now that it's past noon and I haven't done anything with my day yet, I'm feeling pretty sedetary (is that the right word?) and really, really bored. I have a tea that I'm drinking as it cools, and now am posting what will most likely be a longer post than usual. In other words, more than two paragraphs cut off after I get distracted by something else.

Come Boxing Day I will be alone in the house for about a week. My roommate and her family are going to the mainland to visit family after Christmas so I'll have the big house to myself, plus three cats. I've got my two babies in my basement and the cat that lives upstairs as well. Phoenix and Anubis have been real buggers lately, I think it's because they know everyone's stressed and ready for the initial break that comes with Christmas being over. It requires way too much planning to be considered a holiday, I think. The few days after are always calmer and more peaceful. It'll be that way for me this year - quiet, and lonely. At least they'll be here for Christmas itself. Though I'll be spending most of the day at my parent's house, it should be a good time. I'm hoping, anyway. You never know what will happen when me and my siblings get together over a turkey coma and presents. This will be the first year I don't live at home, so I will actually get to sleep in (thank goodness), but even so, I'll probably be over there before noon.

There's lots going on right now...I've put my headphones on and am listening to crappy pop music that I can't get out of my head. Ah well. There's so much pounding in the house already...someone's working on something and keeps banging. I don't much care for it. So I'm sitting on my futon, complaining to my non-readers, under two blankets cause I'm FROZEN, drinking tea and blocking it out with Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger.

I've been thinking lately that I have lots to get accomplished this coming year. Closer to the date I'll do an evaluation and resolution post, but right now I'm just thinking about lots of things. Mostly my weight. I have to get rid of this massive problem. I can't seem to get rid of any of the excess I clearly don't need. I'm using Just Dance to my advantage, and my new goal is to play it for an hour at least three times per week. Right now I'm doing more than an hour, but only on the weekends, with my roommate or sister, or both. It's a fun way to sweat it out. And the music is not too bad on the new game (Just Dance 3). I miss some of the songs I liked on the second one, but eventually I plan to buy it anyway. And I'm working on diet, but it's hard when during this season chocolate is everywhere and thousand calorie Christmas dinners are on the horizon. It'll be easier when all that crap is outta here!

Okay, I lied. I'm now listening to PomplamooseMusic on Youtube. I am in love with this artist. The vocalist's name is Nataly, and she's incredible. Her band uses unconventional methods (shaker eggs, chimes, electronic sounds, etc) to create covers and original music. They're awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xMCNmUaGko&feature=bf_next&list=PLF125407272F3C1A4&lf=plcp

Seriously. Click the link. They're doing a "super useful dongle" as well, which is an engraved USB drive with their music on it, that I desperately want, cause it would be so neat to have. Her voice is incredible. Seriously. It's so unique. Makes me think of a woman in the 30's or something.

"It's not easy to say, but I'd like to get over, I'd like to get over you." - Expiration Date, Pomplamoose

I guess that's it. Haha, I said I wouldn't get distracted, but now I'm hooked on watching Pomplamoose videos. :)

Slower Than Molasses In January

That would be me, getting into this "Christmas spirit" business. Yes, I had a short shift at work today which allowed me to spend the late afternoon finishing up my wrapping. Is it weird that I'm actually more excited for my family to open the things I've given them than for my own gifts? I'm also so excited for a three day weekend, and could care less what days it actually falls on. I'm also super excited for boxing day shopping.

Sorry, right now I'm watching "Dance Moms", and it's truly amazing what those kids can do. They're also distracting me.

Also my cat is chewing on my knee. Ugh...

Yup, Another Picture Roll

Okay, here's some of the pictures I was talking about yesterday. I'll do a real post tonight after the Christmas party, but this will do for now.

To start, here's my boys all harnessed (and leashed) up before their visit to my work. They decided they were going to stretch as far apart as they could, and both try to chew on the string. Smartasses. XD

Phoenix making a funny face on the couch at my work.

Nuubie looks scared in this picture, but he really did settle down after about ten minutes of crazed running around.

After the visit, we came home and Phoenix slept on my lap for about three hours - what a tiring excursion! NOTE: I did not take this picture, my roommate did. I don't intend to infringe any copyright.

Now, a pic of one of the ornaments on my mini tree, after we redid it (the cats practically knocked all of them off). It's a bit blurry since it was dark (I wanted to see the tree's lights on it) and I was using my crappy point-and-shoot (I couldn't find my good camera), but even so, I feel like I should post it.

Here's a bit nicer picture of another ornament. I turned the lights on a bit for this so you can't really see the tree lights, but it came out better. Again, crappy point-and-shoot. :P

Then I got this odd idea that it might look cool to take a picture of myself, with tree branches in front so it looked like I was looking out from inside the tree. With dim, indoor lighting and prickly branches, it wasn't so easy, and it doesn't look great since my hair is dirty and I only had remnants of makeup on, but this is the one that came out least blurred. And I think my eyes kind of captivate in this. I know -I- can't stop looking at them, beacuse they kind of look deranged. I don't know. All the others had more tree in them, but came out blurry cause I was trying to get different angles, which isn't so easy when you're the one taking the picture. Anyway, here it is.

There's my picture roll. I'll post a better entry tonight when I get home. And finish wrapping presents. Maybe I'll take a picture of all the gifts I'm giving to people. I'm sure it'll look like quite a lot, since for all my family I did a medley of small things, so everyone has a few things to open. Yes, I individually wrapped them all. Except for the stuff I was waiting for...which I will carefully wrap tonight. Anyway. That's enough for now...I'll go on a better ramble later.



Just A Kiss

The song is completely untrue (meaning the lyrics and message don't apply to me or my life right now), but it's so beautiful and I can't stop listening to it. Lady Antebellum, you've done it again. I normally don't like this kind of one dimension pop music, especially slow stuff, but their voices are so lovely. They remind me of a watered-down Hush Sound. When I say that, I mean their voice combinations remind me of the style the Hush Sound vocals used to be in. The Hush Sound is since broken up, but that's not the point. And when I say "watered down", I mean that their lyrics and message are so completely obvious that there's no mystery to it at all.

Now, however, I'm relaxing after dinner and a day of wandering around. I started with harnessing the kittens up and taking them to my work to visit with some of my coworkers. I learned, happily, that they are right on par with their weight. How lovely! And I got some cute pictures (which I'll upload tomorrow, since my camera is hiding and I can't seem to find it at the moment) of them on the couch.

Then we went downtown to pick up some grocery items for the Christmas party tomorrow. I settled on a veggie platter (celery, baby carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, and snap peas) comprised of fresh vegetables, as well as a meat/cheese/cracker platter, with ham, turkey breast, 6 different kinds of crackers, and marbled cheddar cheese. Oh yes. I think I'm quite prepared. Of course, while in the store, I wasn't too happy and I've actually been off all day. But my roommate (and chauffer, haha) spruced me up with coffee (that I bought, ironically) and positive reinforcement (the promise of sushi afterwards). Unfortunately, the car was having trouble starting so we never ended up getting sushi. But we did have couscous with tomato/spinach sauce and turkey meatballs. Yum.

I guess that's it for today. I'm distracted by The Big Bang Theory.

Recap

Here's a quick recap of my Friday before we go out to visit my work and weigh the kittens to see how much they've grown since their neuter three months ago.

Work was tiring, we had an emergency at the end of the day and a walk-in before that. Both cats were okay, went home quickly, and I was glad for that. My coworker and I got our close done on time and were out on time. It was fabulous. I love evenings like that. I confirmed with my other coworker when her Christmas party this weekend was, and she gave me her address, so that's where I'll be Sunday afternoon. Sounds good. I have to make some food for it, but I think I'll just do a cheese/cracker, veggies/dip platter or something. I'll make it myself, of course. I don't agree with prepackaged veggies/dip and whatnot. So we're going to go to the store today. And visit my work. :)

Anyway, Friday, after work I went home to shower and change, then my sister picked me up and we got a couple movies, then went home to gorge ourselves on junk food and watch movies till midnight or so. It's a tradition in my family that we've done for years before Christmas - a late movie night and junk food, usually the week before the holiday. Since we were usually out of school by then, it didn't matter that as young children we were up till midnight. Haha. My childhood is so drab, but we decided to continue the tradition even though I don't live at home anymore. We watched Sweeny Todd (from my collection), since my brother had never seen it, and then Rio from the movie store, since I said it was adorable. Pretty chill night.

Okay. Now that you know that, I gotta run, and get ready to go. I'm sure I'll do another post tonight. I'm prepared for boredom. And maybe vodka. Who knows?

Something So Simple

Long post. Prepare ye selves.

I'll start off easy. Here's a snapshot of our mini Christmas tree, which we decorated the night before this was taken. Okay, it doesn't look like this anymore - the damn cats decided it'd be a great idea to play with the ribbon (I bought sparkly gold ribbon in lieu of garland or tinsel as those two items make cats sick), bat the shiny balls off, and chew on a sparkly snowflake (causing one of them, I'm not sure who, to roll in panic and get glitter all over the carpet, which I then had to vacuum up). Geniuses. But the point is, we have a little Christmas tree, and it's beautiful. It makes the place smell like pine. Or fir. Whatever it is.

Okay. Down to business.

I'll start by explaining that all week, at work, we have had hardly anything to do. I've spent the time stuffing, stamping, and sealing envelopes for our year end newsletter. I've also hand written every address for our Christmas cards for our biggest contributors to the clinic. I don't know if I've finished them all yet, but I finished the list my office manager gave me, and it was easily 50 envelopes. There may be more for me to do tomorrow. I've also finished some more purge boxes from the storage room, and we'll be tossing more old files from 2005 and earlier tomorrow. Sounds good. There have been moments of busyness. The other day, we had many appointments and there was one woman in particular who spent a good part of the afternoon getting diagnostics done on her large husky dog. The dog hadn't eaten in four days, was drinking a bit, and had a high fever. Our dr's ran blood tests and urine tests, and while they didn't find anything unusual, they suggested she come back the next day to run the same tests and see if a trend explained what was happening with the dog. She flipped her lid. I'm serious. She had a 30+ minute conversation with the dr treating her dog (who also happens to be the boss, and owner of the business and building) in the exam room, displaying her frustration with the care we were trying to provide to her and her pet.

Afterwards, she came out to pay her bill, and expressed more anger, frustration, and kept on and on about how unfair and unjust our business was, as well as how we "didn't know" what we were doing, how because "he's a vet" he should "just know what to do", etc, etc. This was the first time I'd ever had to deal with a complaint this big. I let her run her mouth for a little bit. I explained that she was paying for DIAGNOSTICS, which MAY provide answers, and if she same back, we may be able to find the problem. All problems are not solved immediately, and while she was given options, she refused them all. At some point, the dr that was seeing her overheard her displeasure and came to rescue me, standing behind me and hashing it out with her for another 20+ minutes. Meanwhile, time is ticking and I'm supposed to be doing my close. The phone hadn't rung yet, so I sneakily turned it over so no one would call. I sat very carefully, wringing my hands nervously while the dr and the client argued with each other. Her arguement was, as a dr, he should automatically know that the dog is sick and know how to cure it. His arguement was that without diagnostics, he isn't able to cure the root of the problem, and while he could prescribe something to mask the symptoms, it wouldn't matter in the long run, as the problem would still exist and the dog really wouldn't be getting any better. She wouldn't hear any of it. In the end, the dr told her that clearly she wasn't happy with our service, she wouldn't have to pay, and she should seek another practice as she clearly was not getting what she wanted from our clinic. In a huff, she left with anger and tears. It was one of the most awkward situations I've had to sit through. As I finished locking the doors, the dr came to me and said, "Sorry, was she really hard on you?" and I replied, a little shakily, "No, it was just a little weird." He nodded and then went home.

It was so hard, so awkward, so nerveracking. By the time I'd finished my close my nerves were shot; when I got to the car I broke down. Of course, in my frame of mind, knowing that her dog was suffering and she wasn't willing to help it using our hospital's options for care, made me so upset. It's the highest form of cruelty to be handed options and toss them away because they were "unjust", "cruel", or "potentially harmful". The next day I checked her file, saw that her files had been transfered to the holistic/homeopathic hospital about thirty minutes down the highway. I kind of saw it coming. Where else would she go?

Now that that's over with, here's a cute picture of Phoenix wearing his new Christmas collar, and exploring my wrapping paper-littered living room. I was wrapping up all the presents, and he really wanted to check it all out. It's not so easy to wrap things when there's a curious kitten batting at everything that moves.

Last night my roommate and I went to see the latest Twilight movie. I know, I know. I completely disagree with the Twilight franchise, the fanbase, the actors, etc. Well, that's not entirely true. I adore Robert Pattinson, though in the Twilight movies he looks so miserable it just makes me laugh. But in other movies, such as Little Ashes (in which he plays Salvador Dali), Remember Me, Water For Elephants...he's magical. And GORGEOUS. The best part about Breaking Dawn was those sex scenes where they (thankfully) focused on his pouty lips and rippling back muscles. Yum.

Anyway, the rest of the movie was a little bit confused for me. I was trying to compare with the book, while I hadn't actually read the book since it came out, and didn't really remember all the nuances of it. There were parts that I definitely knew weren't in the book. I don't like it when movies do that. And the ending was so anti-climactic and overly dramatic, it really killed it.

Because my roommate has her licence now, we then wandered Wal Mart once the movie was over, and she handed me something I've been looking for forever - MirrorMask on DVD!! Overjoyed, I happily purchased it and we went home. It was a good night.

To finish this rather long entry, here's a better picture of my baby kitty Phoenix with his Christmas collar on again. There's actually a red bell on there that you can't really see (since it's been turned around to the back of his neck so he doesn't chew on it). So yeah. There's my entry. Sorry I've been slacking so much.

Ev'ry Day I'm Shuff'lin

Just finished playing Just Dance 3 and now "Party Rock Anthem" is stuck in my head. "Party rockin' in the house tonight, ev'rybody just have a good time. And we gon' make you lose your mind, ev'ry day I'm shuff'lin."

And my roommate decided it'd be a great idea to watch "Labyrinth", with David Bowie, as if I didn't have enough fucked up dreams already. This is bound to make them really special. :/ I actually have never seen this movie before so I can't form an opinion on it until I've watched it, but just judging by the "menu" reel of clips, this is going to be weird. -Sigh- Ah well. I guess if I'm going to be writing this I can ignore it for the most part. My roommate's little sister is here too so it's not like I'm the most comfortable I can be anyway. Whatever. I try my best.

Today I spent entirely too much money on groceries etc, mostly because I picked up some things for my coworkers for Christmas too. And I finished all my Christmas shopping yesterday - just waiting on my Avon order now, and then I can start wrapping! Oh yes. It shall be a fun filled afternoon tomorrow, between wrapping presents and building a gingerbread house. We already set up our tree - and the kittens enjoyed the bright, shiny ornaments that went onto it. And the lights! Anyway, I guess that's all for this entry. My life sure is boring!

Quote: "A labyrinth! Doesn't look that hard! Well, come on, feet!" - Sara, Labyrinth (yes, I literally took my quote of the day right off what I was watching)

Picture: Just playing with some light before work one morning. :P

Something Special

I don't think I make enough money to fuel my dreams.

I get paid tomorrow and I already have plans for more than will be written on the check. All I can hope for is longer hours, or a raise. :/

Yeah, I guess maybe I don't need to buy so many Christmas presents. Or such high quality groceries (not the "no name" brands), or premium cat food for my two boys. Maybe I don't need Facebook or Twitter on my Blackberry, therefore making my $60 phone bill unnecessary. I mean, I have to pay rent, I have to make sure I have enough for my bi-weekly loan payment (on a scooter I haven't used in months and eventually hope to sell), I have to eat, and my cats have to eat. I could cut corners but I figure when I'm making $11 an hour and could afford (somehow) to buy all the same things, pay all the same bills, while paying at least $300 more a month to live in the apartment, I don't know why I'm hemorraging money. Plus, when I was paying all that for the apartment, I was only making $9 an hour. And I was lucky if I got 60 hours per pay period. Maybe I'm going too wild on this Christmas stuff? All of  my family members are capped. They have to be, or I'd go nuts.

Blueberry Cat

Um num num. Nuubie enjoyed his nibble of blueberry. Now Phoenix is tossing around a grape like it's a ball. My boys are idiots :)

My favorite girl lost America's Next Top Model. ):

Allison Harvard, in my opinion, should have won the competition. She's beautiful, and unique. And her eyes? Forget about it. They make average people's eyes look like nothing in comparison. She's like a doe. So beautiful, so elegant, so quirky. I wish she had won.

Anyway, life has been okay lately. I get paid this Friday and I already have plans for the money. I have to get the rest of the Christmas presents, pay for the order that should be arriving this week, pay rent, pay my cell phone bill, and buy my kittens their Christmas presents. I have several ideas in the works for them - I found these beautiful green and red rounded beds with gold designs on them in Walmart today and I know they'll be perfect. Phoenix loves the bumper bed I got him from work forever ago, but it's small and he fills it. If I get them each a special fluffier, larger, nicer one, and one for his brother Nuubie, I think it'll be really nice! I'm also going to get them stockings and fill them with tons of toys. Some of them I'll withold for later in the year when they wear out the first ones, and of course I'm working on getting a second crinkly tunnel. Phoenix loves to sleep in the zebra one I got for them, and Walmart has a cheetah print one that I want to try them with as well. I will probably also buy my family dog, Timbit, something special.

This is the two family dogs, Munroe (in loving memory) on the left, and Timbit on the right. <3 This is one of my absolute favourite pictures of these two. I took it at my mom's request under the shade of the willow tree in our backyard.

Yesterday at work I became deeply infuriated. A man called in for his cat, stated it was an emergency, and was rushed in immediately. When the cat arrived (we'll call her "Goldie"), she was heaving, struggling to breathe, and wasn't eating. She was in pretty bad shape. We assessed her, determined that diagnostics were necessary to find out what was wrong with her. The owner was adamant that he didn't want blood drawn, he didn't want radiographs, he didn't even want IV fluids, but we did that much at least. It was infuriating to watch this poor animal suffering on the exam table in the treatment room and know that we could help her get better and we aren't able to without his permission.

So after all that ignorance, the bastard comes in today too. He says he tried to surrender "Goldie" to the SPCA and they wouldn't take her. Probably because she was near death and they really can't afford to treat her. So they suggested she be taken to a vet for some medication. And hallelujah, the man decided maybe she should get some treatment. Gee, what a revelation. The doctor sees "Goldie" again and after a few minutes the man comes back out. Following my usual routine, I asked how the appointment went. Snidely, the man replies "Oh, he's putting her down now." Shocked, all I could do was put on my receptionist face and say, "I'm so sorry." He scoffs and sits down on the couch, cracks open a newspaper and mutters, "It's just an animal." I was in utter disbelief of the words that had just come out of his mouth. I exchanged glances with my coworker, who gave me the same terrified expression. We then realized that there was another client in the reception area cradling their very old, very ill cat in their arms. Mortified, I do my best to remain composed and start chatting up the other client while working my way around the desk to care for the SPCA kittens we have available for adoption out front. Later, the dr brings the cat back to the owner in her burial box, as he's elected a home burial. Jeez. What a nightmare. I was just glad to get him out of my reception.

Enough for now, I suppose. :/

I'm Cold

"Seeing the sunrise over the sea of Japan? Priceless. Plus, in space, I had plenty of time to rub one out. Which is great, but after a while it feels a little like living in a snowglobe." - Family Guy

So last night my sister came over and we had some blended drinks with probably too much vodka in them, and my roommate ended up projectile vomitting all over the bathroom, which I then had to clean up, while tending to her shaking form. It was so delightful. Just kidding. I felt like a boring "mother hen", who spent the whole night taking care of other people who had too much vodka, while never getting to finish my own drink, since I was instead cleaning up puke, refreshing cold compresses, and filling cups with water. I realized that I would probably hate picking up after and caring for a kid like that, so it's a good thing I don't have one (and probably never will, since my attractiveness level is at absolute zero right now). And then, they just wanted to go to sleep, so I kept them up for an hour to monitor them and then went to bed. All in all, we were in bed by midnight. And then slept till 10 - well, the kittens pawed at the door at 7 am, so we let them in and Phoenix curled up on my chest to sleep for another three hours until we all got up at 10.

I then called the clinic where I work and made sure it was okay if I came in to get my stitches taken out. They said it was, so I quickly got dressed and made my way down there. My lovely coworkers took the stiches out and I bought some cat food for the boys, then my mom came to get me and we all went down to Courtenay to do a little shopping. After we got home I helped my mom put away her groceries and then she took me home. Now I'm just sitting here, watching Family Guy, and writing this slowly progressing blog entry. I hope the new Sensitivity food I bought for the boys will do well for them.

-sigh- I guess that's all for now. I don't know what else to say, really. :/

Potential

It's possible that this weekend, I will be taking part in a personal photoshoot involving my roommate, my two kittens, and myself. Should be exciting? The photographer will be the woman who owned the cat who is the mother of our kittens.

On another note, now that I'll have some shifts at work that start at 11, I've been drinking again. And of course that means bright, fruity (gay) drinks that are filled with shots of vodka and occaisionally, sour puss? Yeah, girl drinks. But I've come up with a couple of combinations that are pretty damn delicious. First, a can of sparkling PC mango juice and two shots of raspberry Sour Puss. Second, half a cup of frozen berries blended with half a cup of Five Alive, a shot of vodka and a shot of raspberry Sour Puss (like a berry smoothie, but with notes of sour and a chill to it). Third, classic screwdriver with a twist, half a can of minute maid orange juice with half a cup of Five Alive and two shots of vodka. Oh, when I say half a cup, I mean half of the cup I'm going to be drinking out of. Not the conventional cup used for baking.

Anyway, the fact that I'm having a mixed up drink every night (granted, it's not heavy) is accounting for the fact that I'm losing sleep, and when I do sleep, I'm having a harder time waking up. So this 11 am start couldn't have come at a better time. I need the extra couple hours sleep every night, no matter how early I go to bed.

Besides that, I've been itching for a life that will be bigger than this. I'm single, and therefore alone; while I have a fantastic job that's fueling my curiosity for a better life, I feel so inferior. So many people that I know have gone on to do better things. All I have going for me is the fact that I have a good job, and I love it.  But I'm aching for being older. I'm aching for serious relationship, marriage, babies. I'm aching for embracing teenage life, partying, drinking, hooking up with random guys. I feel like until I'm suitably attractive, I can't have any of this. So I'm trying to work on that...but as always, I'm procrastinating, and I don't think I've made any progress.

I'm sad - basically, that's what I'm trying to get across - and I don't understand why. I don't deserve to be, considering I don't have any real reason to be. It's just self pity. As always. But that's enough for tonight...this pity party is over for tonight.

Quote: "This is a trip through a children's clothing store." - Clinton, What Not To Wear

Lyric: "Are you there, Jah? It's me, Ras Trent." - Ras Trent, The Lonely Island

Picture: Phoenix just being Phoenix. <3

A Note To Make You Understand

Yeah, I'm still listening to Stereo Hearts.

My cats are morons. They so far have managed to destroy three rolls of paper towel (by clawing and playing with it), a cup of hot tea, and the end of my favourite piece of furniture, my passed-down futon. Morons. Anyway, I love them more than anything, despite their idiocy. The lucky buggers. Phoenix is currently trying to trap a fly on the other side of the window. What a smartie pants. Also, I think he's getting fat. Goddamn it.

I'm in pain, and feel ill, but my roommate is caretaking for me. What a delight she is. My foot is doing better, but I still can't walk properly, though I am limping less with each passing day. It's getting to be less of a complete inconvenience.

What else is new? Pfft. Nothing. I'm as boring as ever.

I hope to do some more shopping today. Probably just Willow Point, since I shouldn't be walking around too much. But shopping nonetheless! The dollar store, the book store, probably Serious Coffee so I can sit and use the power of a London Fog to rejuvinate myself, People's if I can manage their high prices, Willow's Market, maybe even visit my mom, if she's home. Should be a good afternoon. After all, I did sleep till 10:30. Of course, I was up till 3 am having..-ahem-...fun times. >.>

When You Feel Lost

My heart's a stereo, turn to me when you feel lost.

Can't get this song out of my head. My coworker listens to it all the time and now it's stuck on me. Not that it's a bad thing. I quite enjoy it.

Today work was rather unpleasant. We started it off with a euth, and the guy wasn't very nice about it, not that it's particularly easy to be pleasant when your cat is being put to sleep. But that aside, he was an uncomfortable person to be around, and I spent a lot of time wondering what to say to him. He was a very cold, confused individual. Then, an emergency dog that came in ended up dying, which was tragic. Her owner pulled out all the stops over the past six months to try and make her feel better, but nothing seemed to work for very long. Eventually, she started having to keep coming in every couple of weeks. This last time (before she came in yesterday), she'd only been at home for ten days in between. It's really very sad. Yesterday she came in for incontinence, bleeding from the vulva, and a swollen muzzle. We put her on fluids, did blood tests, a urinalysis, prescribed her medication, etc, etc. Covered all the bases. But, this morning, she was worse than yesterday, and we started noticing that she was straight up bleeding from her vulva, not just bleeding into her urine. Her muzzle was more swollen. We ok'd xrays with her owners and discovered she was hemorraging from her vulva up to her chest - which was causing the swelling in her nose (it was more hemoragging). Again, the owners were contacted and as a last resort, the attending dr suggested sending her off to Vancouver Emergency for 24 hour fluids and observation. The owners discussed her options and decided that rather than have her suffer without them being with her, to put her out of her misery. She was euthanized as well, and my coworker and I sat up front behind the desk while the mrs tries to catch her breath in her grief behind the scenes. It's incredibly painful to hear someone expressing so much anguish and knowing that we couldn't do anything to stop her from feeling this way. Of course she apologized for her outburst, and her hysteria. And of course, we told her it's perfectly understandable, and consoled her as best we could. It's difficult, in a professional setting, to reach out to someone while trying to maintain the fact that this is a business, and it happens virtually every day.

Anyway, after that I went home for a little bit and then we all went downtown so I could get some more christmas shopping done. I still have some left to do, but Christmas is four weeks and two more paychecks away, so I'm not too worried at this point. I still have lots of time. I just hope that my family will appreciate the gesture - this will be the first time I'll have money of my own (really) to spend on members of my family, my roommate, and my roommate's family.

That's it for today. Yeesh. I'm tired of writing.

Picture Roll

Yup, time for another picture reel of random pictures, mostly because I finally have some pics of my stitches, and I don't really have anything to talk about today.

First, Phoenix, because I'm a crazy cat lady:

Next, my dad's handiwork on my foot from last night. The picture was taken just out of the shower this evening, so the bandage is a little damp.

First look at my disgusting, barbed-wire looking stitches in my toe. Ew.

There's a Nuubie in the bathroom corner

A look at my roommate's handiwork - a hand decorated bandage and a hand drawn Phoenix! :)

Yay. <3



5 Stitches

Well, what started as a good day off yesterday ended in disaster. I was gathering up some things to go upstairs for some soup, when I decided I should turn back and get my tea mug too so I could make a cup of tea at the same time, when the can of soup slipped, causing the bowl to slip against the tea mug. I then of course, stumbled and lost my bowl, which fell against the mug, snapping off the handle. The bowl shattered against the table on the way down, and a piece of it sliced my foot, right across the big toe, starting on the inside (so there was a small cut on my other toe too). Now, it took me about an hour to realize how this actually happened. I was barefoot, and I remember looking at my foot thinking "ooh, that's bleeding". My roommate, of course, runs over to me and starts putting paper towel on my foot (which immediately soaked through with blood). I meanwhile am watching my kitten, Phoenix, who is shamelessly trying to chew on a piece of ceramic from the bowl. So now I'm holding my foot, which is bleeding on the carpet, and trying to stop my cat from eating something which could potentially send HIM to the emergency room instead! By the time my roommate's dad comes down and says I'll need stitches, I've gone into shock a little bit, and start shaking, and my biggest concern is my cat, and the slowly growing stain on the carpet.

They got me to the emergency room, my foot wrapped in an old pillowcase, and the attending nurse wrapped it up nicely in some guaze. Then we waited for almost three hours before the Dr would see me. I was doing my best to be cheerful - I mean, it was about 11:00 by that time and I'd hate to work at that hour, so I was trying to be a good patient. The guy was pretty funny, though. While he was freezing my foot (which hurt enough that apparently my pupils got very, very small for a split second) he was carrying on conversation with me, talking about where I worked, I was telling him about my comparisons between human medicine and pet medicine. He thought it was funny that one of my coworkers asked why I didn't come into the clinic where I work, and I joked back, "then I'd have to pay the after hours fee!". Anyway, after the whole sewing process, he cleaned off my foot and waited for another rn to come and bandage me up. The one the came was a very kind British man, who kept calling me "darlin". I got some homecare instructions (just like my work, haha) to keep it dry for four days, change the dressing after a day, and after a second day, take the dressing off but keep a bandaid on it. After the four days I don't have to wear a plastic bag over it in the shower anymore, but I should be keeping a bandaid on it and make sure to watch for infection.

I was impressed with the care that I got there. Besides the wait (which I could understand anyway, since there was a little boy who kept having nosebleeds who obviously took presedence over my clumsy mishap), the people were nice and the dr was cheerful. It was a pretty good experience, besides the fact that I now have 5 stitches in my foot, which I will need to get taken out in a week. I shudder at the thought of that.

Anyway, last night sure was interesting. I have spent the entire day so far sitting on the futon with my foot up on a pillow. It's all wrapped up and tucked into a loose-fitting sock too. The hardest thing is going to the bathroom; since I can barely put any weight on my foot - the cut is right across my toe, so when I step it really, really hurts - it's hard to walk, so right now I'm crawling, so I don't have to hop. Then I'm faced with the issue of standing up again. Yeesh. I'm such an unbelievable clutz.

I would post a picture, but I don't have to change the dressing till tonight so I'll snap a quick one then and post it tomorrow. Bet that's gonna be fun.

I will share this though. I edited this picture from the original I posted yesterday - I ended up going with this one for my profile on Facebook. By the way, I got a ton of attention by posting a status about waiting for stiches last night. Yay, it's nice to know so many people care about me. Even if it's facebook care. XD

Ego Fest

I took some new pictures today and wanted to post a bit of a stream of them here before deciding which one I'll eventually use for my new profile picture on Facebook. Yeah...I've been jumping between some lately, and for some reason I have acquired a liking to taking pictures of myself. Vanity = 1, Sam = 0

I think this one's a bit model-ish? Le gasp. Am I actually...starting to see myself...as something less ugly than the creature from the black lagoon? Score 2 for Vanity.

Now, if only I had the build of a model. I like this scoop-neck shirt, though.

This is really bright (I was standing by the window for the best light) but I kind of like it. :0

Staring right into the camera...gotta utilize them blues.

More vanity.

So there's my line of pictures of myself. Yeesh. I'm such a camerawhore...

Bittersweet

Happy Feet 2 was awesome. My theatre, however, screwed the night up for me. It was "cheap Tuesday", when tickets are half price, and since it's four days from payday and I've already spent way too much money, I thought why not go see the movie on this night, so I could save a little. I went with my roommate and her little sister - when we got to the box office I handed over my cash happily, knowing it was going to be cheap. However, the ticket booth guy very snidely requested an extra $3 as a "3D film surcharge"...to "pay for the cost of the glasses per patron" or some such bullshit. No. HELL NO. You advertise "cheap Tuesday" and then bring the price back up to the price of a regular ticket anyway, to "cover the cost of 3D glasses"?! Apparently, the price was "up on the website" and he also, rudely, pointed to a little piece of paper taped to the window of the box office, which displayed the change in price. Of course, when I look up showtimes, it doesn't take me to the theatre company's website. It just gives me the showtimes for the movies playing. I couldn't help but think it was a bit ridiculous. Anyway, that kind of put a damper on the movie for me. It was really quite stupid.

Work is getting better and better. I'm really enjoying getting to know our regular clients and creating relationships with the ones that come in so frequently that everyone knows them anyway. It's my favourite aspect of the job. I'm also learning so much, making a ton of notes, and bettering myself every day. The more I learn, the more I can help the people who ask me questions. And I'm doing okay with euthanasia clients too. I'm definitely getting better at talking to people about it, and expressing condolences to them. It's hardest when the people actually come in for the appointments. It's hard to know what to say to people, without tripping over myself or my words. Argh. It doesn't help that it's such a delicate situation for everyone involved.

Quote: "Wait! The lord is my shepherd but you're my ride home!" - American Dad

Lyric: "We're all we've got on this bouncing ball." - The Riddle

Picture: My :S face. So there. :S Yup.

A New Look

Yup, I changed it. Because I get bored. All the time. Like now, actually.

Snow kitteh

Okay so we never did any Geisha stuff. But we did let the kittens out to play in the snow...I wisely put Phoenix in his harness with a string attached for a leash. My roommate didn't think Anubis would "need" a harness so she let him run around by himself...problem was, he decided to get a little TOO adventurous.

It all started with bathtime this morning, and while Anubis was already dry by the time I thought I should take a picture, I did manage to snap this angry faced kitty cat.

And then my cold and wet kitty layed on my chest for a while when he was grooming himself back to dignity. It made reading pretty difficult, but the cat love was worth it, even though he got my t-shirt all wet with his damp fur.

Here's the first look at Phoenix in the snow in our front yard. He was very cautious at first, but then hopped along with the best of em! He also enjoyed watching the birds in the trees.

He danced about for a bit too, I think his feet were cold.

Anubis finally came out from under the house, and snuck under some bushes. I love this picture - I think it captures his curiosity.

Yep, there's my boys~! They really enjoyed their adventure out into the chilly world. Though I think Phoenix especially was glad to be back in the warmth of the basement, curled up next to the heater. He's stretched out on the floor right now. My little lap cat.

"Her Eyes Deep Like Water"

Memoirs of a Geisha is deeply inspiring. We're going to do a photoshoot in the snow tomorrow with geisha makeup and hopefully some good pictures willl come of it. That is, if I -CAN- look good in photos. I'm slowly becoming more comfortable with cameras. I've entertained the idea of being a photographer for a couple of days, since I never miss a chance to take a picture of my kittens, or a particularly beautiful moment in the natural world (if I have my little point-and-shoot at my disposal, that is). Of course, like everything else, that notion didn't last long in my ever-changing mind.

Anyway.

Quote: "She paints her face to hide her face, her eyes deep like water." - Memoirs of a Geisha

"I don't need to try to control you, look into my eyes and I own you." Moves Like Jagger, Maroon 5

Pheeny feet.

Special Hot Chocolate

Direct from the factory of chocolate, hot water, foamy milk love. Yum! :)

Okay..I've been staring at this blank document for almost ten minutes and haven't written anything but the thing about the hot chocolate. Mostly because I'm watching How I Met Your Mother, and it's rather distracting.

Um...alright. Life. Yeah.

There's three beautiful little kittens at work now! They came from the SPCA of course. Three little girls, about 2.5 months old. There's a classic tortiseshell, black fur with flecks of brown and gold, and striking green eyes. I've nicknaked her Kiwi, for her eyes. Her sister is a fluffy muted grey tortiseshell, shy but with a face that's already won over one client who may come back and adopt her. I'm calling her Divinity, because she really is divine, and has such a lovely little personality. And then there's my personal favourite, a siamese mix with the siamese eyes and ears; she's almost all white, but has dark brown ear markings and light brown forehead markings that match her brown long tail. She's so beautiful, and if I didn't already have my sweet boys at home, I'd totally take her home with me. I've nicknamed her Pandora, because for some reason it just came to me, and it fits. I love the loyalty in a siamese cat, but they're not friendly towards other people. Phoenix is the sweetest kitty in the world, no matter how annoying he is sometimes. And I love him more than anything.

I mean, look at that face. <3

I love you Phoenix. You's mah babeh.

Autopsy

What does anyone ever really know about the world?

These are the thoughts that go through my mind while sitting in a restaurant waiting for the cheesiest bruschetta I've ever tasted. Yeah. Random photo. In a restaurant. Waiting for bruschetta.

Burning through the sky

Yep, Queen. What could be better?

"I'm burning through the sky - 200 degrees, that's why they call me Mr Farenheit! I'm travelling at the speed of light; I wanna make a supersonic man outta you! Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball!"

Anyway, today work was a whirlwind of anxiety and relaxation. Yes. I'm serious! The morning wasn't so bad until an emergency came in; a dog that had been attacked by something wild the night before. They came from Cortez Island, which only has five ferries per day, and the dog had been attacked after the last one had already left. So they called the A/H line and spoke to a Dr who advised them to keep pressure on the wounds to try and stop the bleeding. They caught the first ferry over in the morning and brought the dog in - with the whole family. We got them into an exam room and though both dr's were in surgery at the time, the technicians did their best to assess the dog's condition. Finally a Dr left surgery to assess the dog, and when the parents left the room they had smiles on their faces. They said it was looking optimistic, that they were going to put down a deposit and then come back to pick her up later. Just as the woman was going to put down the deposit, the Dr called them back into the room. Their two young daughters (one was about 12, and the younger one was probably 9 or 10) sat on the couch and waited. The youngest one had been crying since they came in. It was hard to carry on in a business/professional setting when two girls are sitting on the couch crying, I'm trying to help someone over the phone, and my coworker is helping someone over the phone. And then...the worst thing happened. All of a sudden I could hear grief-stricken wails and cries from the children and choruses of "she's dead! she's dead! but mom, she's DEAD!"

Listening to two hysterical children wail about their dead dog was tragic enough. The hardest part was trying to speak to their father, who was stricken by his daughters' reaction and clearly was trying to be composed for the sake of his family, but the look in his eyes was terrifying and painful. I had to take his payment, then explain that we'd put his dog in a burial box for them to pick up later, as per his request. Of course it was awkward to carry out his dog as well.

Anyway, we had a very quick day, since we managed to stay busy the whole time. It's nice when it works out that way.

Lyric:....I kind of already did that. ^_^

Quote: "Together forever, one day at a time." - WHOF

Picture: Yup.

Oh yeah. So that's my day. My long speil about a dog that died. -_- I'm interesting.

Show me the way to go home

Show me the way to go home

I'm tired and I want to go to bed

I had a couple drinks about an hour ago

And it's gone right to my head

Yup. I'm exhausted from our long weekend in Nanaimo and almost wish we'd left yesterday so we could have spent Sunday at home and not in a whirlwind of other stuff.

I wrote this on my Blackberry in the van on the way home - not Brighty, but the other van - to CR with a quiet evening on the horizon. I'm glad we got to spend time in Nanaimo but I couldn't wait to be home with my kitty. I missed his persistent little meow in the morning, his expectancy of breakfast before anything else, his annoyed face when I kiss his nose or hug him for too long, his strong motor purr, the way he likes to sleep in his crinkle tunnel I bought for him for $14 at Walmart when we first got the boys. Yeah, I'm definitely turning into a crazy cat lady. And I'm okay with that! He's my baby-cat, and I'd do anything for him.

Anyway, in the mall today, I bought some outlandish sushi and ate some raw fish without thinking about how bad an idea it was and now I feel rather ill. I probably shouldn't have eaten raw fish before a nearly two hour drive home, but ntohing else was appealing to me. My stomach then reminded me with every jolt of the van on the highway that I was very stupid indeed. I did my best not to think about it too much - I figured if I ignored it, it'd eventually just go away.

We went to a club on Friday night called Level Two...it was nice but we got there way too early and wanted to go home before the real party ever started anyway. It was someone's birthday and everyone that came in was coming for that reason. They all knew each other and we felt rather awkward sitting there by ourselves. The bartender, however, was cute and did everything with a flourish. Though they didn't have a blender (no strawberry margarita, sigh) he made us a couple of interesting creations that tasted really good. The first was an orange, yellow and pink drink. I'm not sure what kind of alcohol was in it, but it tasted like candy. The second one was fizzy. He made it with raspberry and apple sourpuss and something blue, then cola and soda water. That one, we could taste the alcohol in. It was good too! He was very accomodating, since we had no idea what we wanted, were rather timid, very nervous, and it was our first time. He was kind of calm, not wild and crazy, and I loved that quality about him. He was friendly, though, and had a killer smile.

Despite having a good time shopping and doing other things around Nanaimo I realized that when pent up in a dorm room with my sister and my roommate/ex girlfriend, tensions tend to run kind of high. We got on each other's nerves a lot (though there were good times too) and as always, my sister teased me left right and center. I can't say I'm surprised. She's always calling me a pussy, a coward, a lesbian, lame, stupid, the list goes on. So I was a little nervous to go to a club I didn't know in a town I didn't know. Sue me. Granted, nothing bad happened, but that's not the point. It COULD have. It was reassuring that everything went okay, though. It makes me think that maybe we'll go back one day (later in the evening, of course).

It's good to be home, though, with my kitty and my comfort zone.

Lyric: "Don't you worry there, my honey, we might not have any money, but we've got our love to pay the bills." - You and I, Ingrid Michaelson

Picture: A snapshot my roommate took of me on our second day in Nanaimo. She told me to do something "singing in the rain" inspired, since it was raining all day, so I stuck the umbrella out and did a somewhat whimsical pose.

Goodnight, no one.

Dancing in the Dark

We're going clubbing tonight. Eek. We're in Nanaimo for the long weekend staying in my sister's dorm room. A bit odd..but okay.
Boyfriend and I are no more. I discovered on his Facebook page today that he's ALREADY in a relationship with someone else. A little quick on the rebound, are we?
Made me feel like shit, anyway. Clearly I wasn't all that important in the first place. It looks like it's been going on for a bit...and she was never mentioned to me (I only know this because he replied to my 'that was fast' with 'it wasn't all that quick'). Delightful.
So I'm spending a weekend of doing nothing but what I want to...no kittens to wake me up, no work to drag me down, just me and my lovely and my sister, chillin' in Nanaimo. We're headed to a club later called Level 2...it's supposed to be fun. Who knows.
Anyway at the university there's all these bunnies running around...I took a picture of this little white one who hopped right up to us under the cover of a bush that seperated us from him/her. It was so cute.

Well...I guess that's all for now. We're gonna go get ready for clubbing. Yikes. It's the first time we've ever done something like this! Goodnight, un-readers. 

Jitters

Today I did my first close alone. It was easier than I thought it'd be. It was a busier day, so I didn't have to spend so much time thinking. Which was good, because there are a million things I could have been thinking about.

But, tomorrow evening, I'll be heading to Nanaimo for the weekend (after I get off work, of course) to shop, go clubbing, and take in my sister's university production of Romeo and Juliet. It's going to be fantastic. And, the welcome relief of a break from everything will certainly help too.

Premonition

Yeah, there's no way I could actually have a good, relaxingly slow day at work. 

Boyfriend came back from his trip and now I have to deal with our "long talk" this evening. Ugh..

Wish me luck that it goes well, will ya?

Lyric: "Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling!" - Don't stop Believing, Journey

Quote: "I bleed for a week and don't die. What's your superpower?" - I don't remember where it came from, but come on. LOL

Picture: ...another lol :D

Hehe. Goodnight...tomorrow will probably be a long one.

Can I fix it?

Crazy day at work.

First order of business - I have good news and I have bad news.

The bad news is...a small kitten (about three months old) came in on an emergency due to being attacked in the night by some unknown creature...probably another cat, or even a raccoon. She was in pretty bad shape...lots of blood and mrs crying. It was not nice. Our lady dr did her best, and by lunch hour she was starting to turn around. She mewed and shifted, and even opened her eyes a little bit. We were all overjoyed! We managed to save a little baby cat's life. It was delightful...until later that afternoon, when my colleague mentioned to me that the mrs' daughter and son would be coming by later to pick up the remains. I gasped. Audibly, so it's a good thing no one was in the foyer waiting. Apparently, it just so happened that while being outside all night, kitten got a bad case of pneumonia or something like that, and being gradually warmed up raised her body temperature enough for her sickness to really take hold and kick her to the curb. So, we didn't really save a kitty. It really isn't fair.

More bad news. I booked a euthanasia appointment for a dog I know (not personally, but as far as the clinic's concerned, I know of this dog). It was kind of sad...since the dog's 16 and he isn't doing so well anyway, but since everyone thought he'd be the "old man" who stuck it out. He gave it his all, he really did. So that's happening tomorrow. It'll be hard...since it's the first euth I'll have done start to finish.

BUT...

Now for the good news!

As of today, my semi-temporary 6 month only job became permanent! I was so happy. We're still not sure if the original girl that I'm replacing is coming back, but regardless, I have a permanent job now! Another of my colleagues is moving away next June with her husband, so I get to stick around! It's awesome.

More good news...I met a little puppy who was just so sweet and wiggly and cute, and loves to snuggle! I helped trim her nails (okay, I held her, but it was still awesome). And I met a little kitten who was thought to be a girl, but really turned out to be a boy. So that was kind of a serendipity jolt to the afternoon.

And then, after all that, the phone kept ringing off the hook, and driving everyone crazy! It just wouldn't stop! And I sold so much Advantage today I now know where in the clinic it resides and how to "fill" the order myself...the Techs pretty much said (while dealing with the emergency) "it's over there on that shelf, grab what you need." So now I can do it on my own!

Anyway, time for today's lyric, quote, and picture. Despite the rather depressing end to the day, I'm still in a chipper mood and will probably sleep well tonight.

Lyric: "Look at us, baby, look at us now." - Look at us, Sarina Paris

Okay. No quote, since I can't think of one.

Picture: Yep. That's about it.

Goodnight