Whats so great about summer anyway....

WOW. it has been a BANANAS time for me since the last post - with lots of drama, lots of work, and the beginning of a much needed vacation.

I started my vacation last Thursday and am off until July. Sweet lazy bliss.  So far, ive not done a whole lot.  I bought a new book to read....went to Canada's wonderland - and let me say that the new ride kicks some serious thrill seeking ass. And YES - i actually found Canada's Wonderland and didnt get lost!!!

I also bought a book today called 3 fat chicks on a diet. Not that im overly fat or anything - but I figured that someone i know might find it interesting...as a few years back - her and another friend started a blog about weight loss....I tried to find that blog tonight, but havent been successful. The book was withdrawn from the library, and on sale for a dollar. So i snatched it up, and started to read. Its strikingly similar to the blog that was previously mentioned above, and i wondered if the authors had run across it before their book was written.....

Anyway - my advice - and let it be patent here first. Trade marked and all of that nonsense for my brilliant words to be broadcast to the rest of the globe. you want some diet advice? if you want to lose weight - lose the excuses first. Get to the gym and eat healthy. the weight will fall off. The only thing standing in your way...is you.

Anyway - i was going to travel to Alaska on my lovely holiday, but alaska was 4000 for 6 days. So guess who isnt going to Alaska? I might not end up going anywhere. I might end up laying at the pool for the next 19 days. Fine by me. its gorgeous outside right now.i have new books to read. LOL

the one thing i am doing while im off, is looking - seriously looking - for a new job. im just about done at my place, and cant bear any more drama. I also have decided that i want a pet, (preferrably of the barking species), which isnt easy when you have shift work.

My new job search is entitled "Project 9-5 Dog"

Im applying for everything - teaching, education and counselling. Im sparing no expense in the resume submission department. So if you hear of any good ones - let me know! Id appreciate it.

I hope that all of you are doing well and getting ready for the HOTNESS that is July. Thats why i took june off - all those pesky kids are still in school. LOL!!! And the july long weekend will be the grand finale of a month long break! Wicked. here i come Canada Day :)

The bucket list...in parts

over the last 6 weeks, ive been thinking a lot about my life, and things that im doing and things i want to be doing..and have decided that i need to compile a list of things that i'd like to do before i kick it. (as has been all the rage lately).

off the top of my head...i want to do the following things.

1. write a book (ive written several actually, but they're in boxes in my parents basement - so maybe start sending them out...just incase - AND a friend who works in mental health, asked me to coauthor something she's working on...so this one might be done before 2014).

2. be bold...almost daily. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.

3. get back to my original hair color (which i think is posted here like..7 years ago in a picture...im a half blond)

4. really lose those last few pounds that i always seem to put off becuase chocolate/thai food/sushi/pizza/etc tastes so delicious

5. read one book a month (i read all three hunger games in 3 days - no problem)

6. take a serious vacation by myself - location to be determined

7. travel outside of north america

8. stop taking myself, life and my job so seriously and relax more often - going on vacation with a book on incest/victims bill of rights/suicide/addiction/etc...isnt really a vacation.

9. take comfort in small things

10. learn to write with my left hand

11. become FLUENT (not just functional) in french and italian. - this one is currently in the works :)

.....i need to work on this - but its a good start so far.

Ive tried to write this post like 10 times now...and no matter how fun, or apologetic (for the business) I try to make it, the post always comes back to the same thing....

someone that ive been hanging out with since the end of last year, who was sort of important to me tried to commit suicide last week and I dont know how to process it, or what to feel about it - I mean sure, im heartbroken and devastated....

but other than that...i dont quite know what to do or think....Im just trying to be there I guess....

Ill fated adventures at the asian market: Part 2

So last night, I decided to go to my favorite place for Assorted Guts - T&T, the Asian grocery store, that I have certainly blogged about before.

It was just Chinese New Year on the 23rd, and so i figured i'd go hit up some of the after sales - i like red, and its the year of the dragon - which my Chinese client ASSURED me that it would also be a prosperous year for the snake (me).

Instead of buying fun and festive, I bought food. My favorite spicy noodles, sushi, and thai shrimp crackers for my neices who love them. But - when you have those, you need the delish peanut sauce to go with them. Having a hard time finding it, I stopped the nearest person who worked there and the conversation is as follows:

Me: Do you have peanut sauce
He:(in the thickest accent possible) Peanisauce...
Me: yea, peaNUT (with the emphasis on NUT because you never know what other cultures might find delicious - no pun intended)
He: Ohhhh Penis - here.

he walks, I follow. He stops, I stop.

He: Penisauce....Frozen?
Me: yes, PeaNUT - its frozen?

He turns towards the soy sauce scans the shelves and looks at me

He: PENIS?
Me: PeaNUT - like peanut butter?
He: Yes. Penis. I never hear before.

And he proceeds to walk me to the aisle with all of the sauces, and says "Penis. I never hear before. bye bye now"

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!

Sigh. Im dumber than i thought.....

...my LSAT marks came in on Thursday.

So much for law school.

The test is ranked and scored between 120 -180 points. You have to get 160 to be competative in applying to law schools.

I got 140. Not a great score, but not the worst score either. And as you all know, I didnt want to really be a lawyer, I just wanted an option. I kind of felt like this was it. Turns out i was wrong. But Im happier not applying to law school. I'd rather save 100K then spend it on something i wasnt sure I wanted anyway.

But what REALLY upset me was not only did I not do well on the test. I got in the LOWEST 10th percentile of all test takers. 90% of the people who wrote that test did better than I did....Stupid bell curve.

its a universal test - and 50 million people could have written it on Dec. 3. 100 million could have written it. I dont know. Every test center in Ontario was full except Windsor, and Thunder Bay, which is why i went to buffalo.

Oh well - my personal policy is to be miserable, and feel sorry for myself about things like this for 48 hours tops. And that 48 hours is over.

Moving on to bigger and better (and less expensive) things.

Phone apps and the friendships they destroy...

As you all know I upgraded my dinosaur phone in August and got an iPhone. Just last week I got an email from a friend suggesting I download "Words with Friends" onto my phone so me and him could play back and forth. It was the first app I ever got.

I don't like to pat myself on the back - but I'm smart. I know a lot of words and have a broad vocabulary and therefore proceed to DESTROY my friend each game by over 100 points.

This current game I hit a triple word score in the middle of a word with a letter that I added to ANOTHER word - and got TWS for both words (and used a Q). 122 points - thank you very much. He accused me of cheating. How insulting. if I was making words that you'd need to pull out the dictionary for - then accuse me of cheating. but words like "togas, scab (a word that got me like 40 points alone on a TWS), chums, reearned....how can i cheat? arent those everyday sort of words?

My first word of the game was ozone - and it got me like 55 points. or something like that...

Heres some advise - if youre a competative SORE loser who cant handle being beaten by a girl with a much larger vocabulary than your own. Dont accuse her of cheating just cause you SUCK.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE :)

Now what?

WOW. What a month.

I spent so much time studying - that I barely had any time for anything else...but its over....and let me tell you, after spending so much time doing one thing - I dont know what to do with all my spare time.

For all of you LSAT enthusiasts out there - let me be the first to assure you that this test is HARD. Not that the content was overly difficult...but the amount of the content was overwhelming. At the bottom of one of the pages in the booklet, I actually wrote "i ran out of time completely for this question. This test is too long." (and yes, the actual question was the entire page) - lets hope the fine people at LSAC have a sense of humor.

OMG...one guy actually almost got kicked out of the test for opening a bottle of water before break! the lady yelled at him and said that she read the rules to us at the beginning of the test and let us all consider ourselves warned that ignoring the rules will not be tolerated.

I had a good giggle over this.

But of course at the end - with 15 minutes left to go, and 4 questions, I pressed my fingers into my eyes and thought to myself that I couldnt read another word and guessed at the last 4 answers.

On the whole, I feel like I did not bad actually. I feel quite confident about my test in general. Lets just see how the score comes out - January 6.

I wasnt sure I wanted to be a lawyer...i wanted some doors open and quite honestly, took this test for the hell of it - but now that ive done it...I WANT to do well. If I dont, then i wont be that disappointed. But if I do well - then i'll apply to law school.

And now - moving forward onto everyone's happiest and most favorite time of year - Christmas (insert eyeroll/sarcasm here)

LSAT must be the initials for the Devil himself....

Oh dear God....

Has anyone ever studied for the LSAT before??? I dont know how they do it. All these people who are lawyers. How did they manage to pass?

Im a fairly smart individual - 2 undergrads and a Masters of Education (im a certified teacher for fucks sake...so not exactly stupid).... but this? This studying...makes me feel like a moron.

Logical reasoning, would make you think that its logical common sense. Not so much. The first practice 13 questions I got 7 right...the second practice 13, I got 2 right. The time constraints for this test are almost unmanageable....

Logic games? The (sadistic) "game" starts out with a scenario where they give you clues, and then the questions follow. Lets have an example shall we?

Scenario: 7 men standing in a row. 3 with blue hats, 2 with red hats, 2 with white hats.

Clues: A red hat stands first, a blue hat cannot stand beside 2 red hats, the white hats cannot be second or third

Questions: What is a logical order of how these men are standing from first to last? Who's the tallest? WHICH MAN IS NAMED PAUL??? (ok, well the last 2 arent really questions, but they may as well be)

You know - I always wanted to be a lawyer, and the story i'm about to relay has certainly been written here before somwhere in the archives....In my third year of University, when i was still gearing up to write the LSAT, I got a riddle on email - similar to the above noted scenario. 6 hours later...i was still struggling with it. I had drawn diagrams, and charts...to no avail. I looked at my friend, who'd watched me work on it (which i did through an entire 3 hour class sociology class), and I looked at her and said "i'll NEVER pass the LSAT"....and that was it.

I havent even TOUCHED the other 2 sections yet....

Its all word problems. There's SO much organization needed, and i'm a VERY organized person. Thing is, im very overwhelmed with all of the stuff I need to learn in 4.5 weeks when people study for this for a year or more.

I need a strategy to study....I have already tabbed off the sections in the books, and organizing myself as best as possible. Im definitely feeling the pressure, but I need a proper strategy to organize myself to maximize study time.

I'm open to all help and suggestions :)

Its the end of October already

Well....again, its been a nightmare of a month, and the lady who threatened my life is now gone from the agency and continuing to threaten my life.

I know its time to leave - and i've decided to write the LSAT and have applied for a number of jobs, so we'll see. Its time to get the fuck out of dodge because at this point - if this lady who's BANANAS has her skin head gang out here, blames me for going back to jail, and they're on the hunt for me - no thanks. I'll be happy to go thank you very much.

So that brings us pretty much up to speed. Im being threatened by a crazy lady, who has a number of equally crazy associates out here.

Its time to get out while i can.

And its my birthday next weekend. I'll be 34...... Aren't I too old for this shit???

Happy Spooky Season

Wow. This month. I cant believe how fast its gone.

I had my life threatened at work - so i went on stress leave, and all i did was relax. It was quite nice to just lay around and do nothing for 3 weeks.

I met a new dude, who Im actually enjoying spending a large amount of time with. We're incredibly similar, and have turned into fantastic friends - which was unexpected and surprising. We met on the beach....and one comment turned into a 5 hour conversation. Its nice when things like that happen. So weve been spending a lot of time together, and hanging out. His birthday is even the day before mine...so lots in common.

Some ASSHOLE hacked my credit card and charged 4200 dollars at some conference in Texas. That was a pain in the ass to sort out...but its all sorted, I suppose, until I hear something else from the credit card company.

Its my 34th birthday in a month. I dont know where the time has gone, considering I started this blog when i think i was 27 or so. (ive not been the best blogger, but im working on it).

I moved into my new place, and I still dont have internet at my house - and since I was off for a month - it made internet time difficult. But I'm back to work now, and things are going well - although, I feel like its time to move on from my agency and find something new.

I've kept myself so occupied that I havent even gotten an answering machine, or call display on my phone yet - that I set up August 5!!!

Its time for apple picking, hoodies, pumpkins, scary movies, fireplaces, and warm cozy drinks. Happy fall everyone :)

PP meets celebrities and makes a complete asshole of herself....

For those of you who have read this blog for any length of time, know that Clockwork Orange is my favorite movie....and at Nerd Expo this year, the star, Malcolm Mcdowell, along with other horror/movie people were going to be there signing autographs....

We're waiting in line too meet up with him, and he ends up being an hour and a half late. His manager must have been talking to him on the phone, and you could hear him say "NOO There's really a lot of people here to meet you".

And so he looks at the line and says "scream something to prove that youre here"....so i did - i dont know what I said, but i guess not enough people screamed, so he brought the cell phone to LD and she said "Hello??" and Malcolm never said anything, but then she said "we're here."

And then the phone came to me, and I said "We're here, are you coming??" and then he passed the phone to someone else. and I said "LD!!!, we just talked to Malcolm Mcdowell on the phone!!!" (one sided, but we did. :) )

Malcolm finally shows up, and comes up through the line, and im shakey nervous all of a sudden. I mean...this is a HUGE deal. so he's walking up the asile, and he gets to me, and he says "look at this beautiful girl just to meet me" and he grabs my arms, and squeezes them....so im imediately swoony and have a total "Dear Diary" moment.

there's only one girl ahead of me, and i get up there with my friend LD, and I shake his hand, and tell him how exciting it is to meet him , and he says "good then let me give you a hug!!" so he hugs me, and im so swoony again, hes so dreamy. So he asks me what I want signed, and I want the orange picture with the cartoonish face that has the cog for the eye, and LD asks me why I dont want one of Malcolm...and I tell her that the orange poster that I got signed, was the poster that came out when the movie was banned in England and MM looks at me and says "THATS RIGHT!!! I cant believe you know that!"

He takes the poster and says "and who am i addressing this to?" (And thats when things went bad...). I looked at him and said "Holy shit, youre malcolm Mcdowell"...and I couldnt remember what my name was and LD had to tell him...and then i launched into this HUGE speech about how the movie, and his protrayal of the character changed me and determined my career path blah blah blah...and you know how he has thos HUGE blue buggy eyes....he was like so enthralled with what I was saying, and he said "So you know all the bullshit then eh? about how they have to pee, and have the fake wangs"...and i looked at LD and laughed and said "Malcolm mcdowell just said WANG to us"...

So it was awesome, he shook my hand again and I told him that it was a real honor to meet him, and he said that it was an honor to meet me, and etc etc.

But I wish that was the end of it.......

So i get in line to see Douglas Bradley who was sitting beside Malcolm McDowell - im still swoony over MM, so i get up there, and pick my picture for him to sign, and i shake his hand and am like "Doug bradley...its very cool to meet you, but guess what? I just met Malcolm McDowell" and i was SUPER excited...and he looks at me very uninterested and says "Uh huh..." and i said "No, you dont understand. Clockwork orange is my FAVORITE movie ever!!!", and my friend jumps in and says "ummm...besides hellraiser of course", to which i say it is, but its my favorite Gorror movie, but how ACO is my most favorite movie ever. his assistant says "i dont even think ive ever seen it"...and im like "SHAME ON YOU!!!!" and doug bradley the entire time was like "uh huh...." and super unimpressed.

LD laughs and says that she'll never pass up the opportunity to see me make an ass of myself.

Im leaving, and im on the escalater, and Danielle Harris (of halloween 4, 5, rob zombie's halloween, and Roseanne) was 1 step above me on the escalater. She looks over her shoulder at me and shoots me the cut eye, so i say to her "wow, danielle harris. hows it going"...and she looks over her shoulder at me, gives me this massive bitchy smirk and in a really rude tone, says "YEA. Hi there". My response - WOW...youre fucking rude eh?....and let her jaw open on the escalator.

Talked to Malcolm McDowell on the phone, got to meet him, made a complete asshole of myself infront of doug bradley, and told off Danielle Harris. All in all...a good day. :)

you know what?

...I miss the ocean.....

A moments reflection

I think I had something to say...honestly - it wasnt about guys, or how busy it was. I think it was a response to another post that ive read recently...but it doesnt matter - inconsequential ramblings.

I realize that ive been a terrible blogging buddy - and while my life was crazy and hectic, I missed out on the moments in your lives. i dont have internet at home yet - so it makes blogging more difficult, but im here and dedicated to reading and catching up.

Things have been lovely on this end. No complaints (shocking..i know). Work's even going well.

the place is great - the neighbors are great - I honestly live in Sesame Street...all of the neighbors know each other, they all hang out in their front/side yards, and trade gardening/bbq/weeding/household tips. They all wave and say hello by name. Its something else. the kind of community that you have where you grew up and no one ever moved and everyone knows each other well. Its honestly divine.

I'm still thinking of applying for my PhD, and have to get all of my references to write me letters, and approach them prior to their semesters start in September....Im hopeful. I need a change.

I hope that you are all doing well, and that this has been a fantastic summer so far.

Moving = Suckage

its been a long 5 weeks friends.

moving sucked the life out of me - and trying to maintain my phone number to port to my new iphone, which has been in the box for the last 7 days unused.....has caused me stress BEYOND stress.

I hate bell canada. I hate moving. I sat on the phone for 30 minutes with customer service to complain about their customer service.

My new place is amazing though. I got my bed finally (after sleeping on an airmattres for 10 days - which hasnt helped my mood).

I dont have internet or a phone yet, and havent since July 31, i feel so out of touch with Everyone. Miss A went on vacation and I didnt even know she was going.

Im hoping that everything will settle VERY soon....im loving my new apartment, its really huge, and gorgeous. And my parents brought my furniture, which I love, and is so cozy and reminds me of home. You know, I dont watch tv....and ive never had cable or anything like that - I mean, ive always had like 8 or 10 channels....but when you dont even have the option of those 10 channels...it really makes a difference.

Im in need of some severe retail therapy this weekend. I need some quiet "Me" time, and have no problems doing that - shutting the world out and going shopping.

Moving on up to the east side....

But not to a high rise apartment in the sky. I DID find a new place and im moving on August 1. Im SO stoaked. Its a HUGE apartment, and I have my own private yard. sigh.....my own private yard with a stone walkway - thats perfect for a bistro set and a BBQ...eek!!!!

Theres a massive fireplace - and a built in wine rack in the kitchen. its so nice, and pretty...and gigantic, and CHEAP. I really lucked out. Im leaving what my dad called "A rat hole" (even though hes never been here), and found myself a gorgeous place. I'm really in love with it....and i have a yard. :)

I've also been thinking about doing my PhD in sociology, or a second masters in Social work......im getting to the point in life where I need another change. This apartment will help, but I need something bigger. Ive been at the same job for almost 3 years, and its time to do something different. but I dont want any lateral moves. I want a huge leap. Its time to start researching what im going to be doing with my life - my mom thinks I should go see a psychic. Ugh....

Anyway, I had the BEST Canada day weekend, with amazing friends, and so much booze, (I cant believe how much we drank - 11am until 11:30pm people....straight - and that was me - Miss A and LD were troopers and stayed another hour after that). Met some amazing new people, and had a wonderful wonderful weekend.

This weekend also marked the 1 year passing of my grandfather - I can't believe that its been a year already...CRAZY how fast this year went by. We had something for him at the cemetary and then a yummy dinner of all kinds of food he would have approved of.

Its that many days closer to Harry Potter, and Big brother starts on Thursday.

I know I said last year that it was going to be the summer of CJ - but I wasnt motivated. I wasnt into doing all of the things i said I wanted to - so I totally honestly think I may have jumped the gun that one. If the last week has taught me anything - this summer is going to be divine.

Did I mention I get my own yard???

EXPELLIARMUS!!!!

Im trying to figure out what to say here....I dont know if you all know this - but im sort of a nerd. Especially when it comes to Harry Potter.

I have been reading these books since 1997. I was 20...and now im 33, and I still LOVE Harry. Sigh. I know.

I even spent 10 minutes looking for a picture that I really felt encapsulated the Epicness of this movie coming out in 2 weeks...i FEEL like this does it. but it doesnt really pack the punch necessary in this teeny window.

I cant believe its over - there wont be any more Harry....these books got an entire generation of people reading....they got kids reinterested in books....how many books have done that? Transformed an entire generation of kids into readers?

Im a nerd. I dont care. I already got my tickets...and i CANNOT wait. Who else is going?

Early Morning Conversations

So i have someone who calls me everyday sort of early...like 5:50am early...just to say good morning. He's great and I really adore him, so its acceptable, although for the most part, this type of behavior is highly frowned upon.

He's half Chinese, and this morning mentioned something about the Mongols (becuase after "good morning", we apparently discuss ancient history).

Me: Wouldnt it be cool if you were related to Genghis Khan?

Him: I could be - he apparently liked having sex, and probably had a lot of kids.

Me: Well, you always talk about all the sex you have - so you might be.

Him: haha...totally.

Me: Well...do you also like Twinkies?

** Silence**

Me: Oh...nevermind...that was the Genghis Khan in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

hilarity ensues.

Even a helmet wouldnt help...

This past weekend was SUPPOSED to be wonderful - a night of living it up and dancing with Jenni and Miss A...a night of fun and frolic...a night of greasy 3am post bar food....I had great intentions for a FABULOUS saturday....and then i got out of bed.

Went to kickboxing - everythings good. Time is being properly managed....I have 1.5 hours to work out, not the 2 that I need to do core and kickboxing, so i decide to go home, and do my core exercises there.

Its not that im a particularly CLUMSY person...im just really accident prone.Long story short, I was on the stability ball, face down. Lost my balance, went face first into the wall, sliced my eyebrow open, blood everywhere, shattered a glass and had an immediate bump that looked like a golf ball under my eyebrow.

Spent the next few hours in the hospital. They glued my eyebrow shut, and I have a concussion - and therefore, had to spend the next 3 days on the couch (minus lunch with Miss A on Sunday).

I still feel like shit. my eye is JUST starting to turn black (perfectly in time for the lion king this saturday I might add!!!), and it hurt to laugh or smile for 2 days cause of the swelling.

SIlver lining? Doc said that if i had hit one inch lower - I would have lost my eyeball. So i might have gotten into a fight with a wall, and lost - but at least I still have my eye. :)

This was taken yesterday morning - I can assure you its much more purpley today LOL

BLOGGER CAN SUCK IT

I tried for 3 days to upload my pictures, of just Santa Monica, to here to show them off - cause I was going to do my california posts in parts. But I couldnt upload - the pictures were all wonky, the posts wouldnt publish - i restarted the first picture post TEN times...and uploaded the pictures TEN times. And nothing. For 3 days.

And today - i looked online. for 2 hours to figure out what the fuck was going on, becuase my posts werent even being published. I have like 5 different drafts of posts that I couldnt figure out what was going on.

The answer? After 3 days of wanting to punch my computer, 10 times of restarting the post, and a million and a half frustrating moments? The new IE disabled my java something or other. I cant publish posts anymore from there.

So now im on Mozilla - and hoping for a better day - i'll see if this publishes, and go from there.

And moving on....

i didnt get the job.

They emailed me today - apparently they said i failed a part of the interview, but I know enough from the lady I know who was involved in hiring, that if someone failed a part of the process, they got an email within 4-7 days so they werent hanging and hopeful.

Since it was 2.5 months, I dont think that I failed - i think that I just missed it. (and I had that nagging feeling after the interview anyway...so im not technically surprised.)

Oh well - theres something better for me out there, and quite frankly, after 2.5 months, I wasnt sure I wanted them anymore anyway....

I'm going to start blogging about my trip (avec pictures) this week..so much to tell.

Hang in there - ive been busy.