Off to Toronto

Ah, Toronto. Home of one of my favourite streets...

Tomorrow I leave for my big T.O. hearing aid conference adventure. My wardrobe crisis continues, as I was unable to find anything suitable here in the grand shops of Freddy Town. I now leave my fashion fate in the hands of the great Eaton Centre. However, I have packed a less dressy backup outfit just in case. And who knows, I may bag the reception all together and take in some theater. LOTR or Hair, anyone?

Holy frickety frack.

I thought last week was a bad work week. This week is ten times worse. I am so freaking busy. And tired. And cranky. Today was insane, and tomorrow promises to be even more so. I have to remember that I love my job. Really, I do.

Tonight at choir practice we had to listen to a cd of our performance on Sunday. I hate listening to the sound of my own voice. Not to mention the fact that we were severely and painfully off-key in a couple of songs. Pure torture. Why don't you stick some bamboo shoots under my fingernails while you're at it. Thankfully, our listening session was brief and we spent the rest of the time singing and enjoying each other's company.

I also highly benefited from a phone call home to my sister this evening. Venting is good.

Man, I need some sleep. And about two extra hours a day to work.

*Sob*! (not to be confused with G.O.B.)

http://aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=22866

Is this the untimely end of the Bluths? For real? Seriously?

Meep!

So I'm going to Toronto on Friday to a hearing aid conference. I arrive in the afternoon. There's a reception that evening. The conference itself is Saturday day. Saturday night there is a big "evening event". They are shuttling us to some undisclosed location. I have to dress up.

I don't dress up.

I figured I could fake it. You know, like not wear jeans. I could do my hair. Maybe put on make-up. Then I read the description of the "conference attire" in the itinerary:

"The evening event on Saturday is your night to shine! Make sure you are red carpet ready with your best outfits from designers like Gucci, Prada, and Value Village. No jeans or casual dress. Accessories are encouraged."

What does that mean???

I don't even have a skirt that fits. I have pants. And v-neck sweaters. I can't even wear skirts/dresses well, because I have lower legs that look like upside down bowling pins. I don't even have accessories!

It's bad enough I will be thrust into an intimidating social situation (i.e. all alone in a large gathering of people I don't know), but now I have to look good? Plus, I will be trapped in the undisclosed location for at least four hours.

Four hours!! It will only take about an hour to eat dinner. Then what? Mingling and small talk with strangers for three hours? I can sustain small talk for ten minutes, tops. It involves lots of weather talk.

If you need me, I will be feverishly flipping through my In Style magazines for outfit ideas while mentally compiling lists of possible conversation starters.

FYI: Grey's is a repeat tonight.

Seriously. Well, at least it's the train wreck one, featuring the two people impaled on a pole. It also features an inebriated Meredith, who was waiting at the bar for McDreamy, but he never came. So sad. But, it also features Cristina and the leg!

And has anyone else noticed that Addison has stopped wearing those dreadful salmon scrubs? Much better. I almost even like her. Almost.

So I had two naps today. One before my choir concert, and one after. I've been on a sleep deficit for the last week or so, so I thought I would catch up before the whirlwind month of April. However, surprisingly, it is now past my bedtime, and I am wired. Not sleepy. Nope. Not happening.

To pass the time until I get tired, I'm working on a new running playlist. I've had my current one for several months, and I think it's time for an update. So far I'm starting with the Jimmy Fallon/Parker Posey Pepsi commercial music (thanks to google and this site for the name of the song). As you all know, it makes me smile.

Happy Birthday Rosey!

Very best wishes to my dear friend Rosey on her birthday. She always makes me smile. She is always there to listen. She is super fun to hang out with. She is a truly fantabulously wonderful person. And her mom makes great birthday cake.

She's still here!

Katherine and I spent a lovely day together. She's here till Saturday afternoon, then she has to go back to PEI for work Saturday night. Tomorrow we hit the infamous Market, home to samosas (my favourite triangular treat) and waffles.

My sister is here!

She is *here*.

Feel the joy, people.

My sister is coming for a visit?

Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. She's hard to track down sometimes. I haven't spoken to her since Monday. At that time, she hinted she would come over on Thursday (that's tomorrow!), pending the UPEI strike situation. And we all know how that's going. I understand from speaking with my mom that she needs to change a shift at work. If any of her coworkers are reading this (I'm grasping at straws here), *please* change shifts with her. If any of you over there see my sister tonight, tell her to call me. Or email. Or something. It would be nice to know, either way.

Also, please send good thoughts my brother Jamie's way, as he is going over the Saint F.X. for his audition for their music program tomorrow. I know he's going blow them away with his amazing talent. I'm his sister, so I can say things like that without bias.

Open book

Generally, I don't talk a lot about my feelings. This arrangement works just fine with me - if I don't have to think about things, then they don't bother me. I am, after all, quite shy about things like that, and I have (and who doesn't, really) a certain fear of rejection lurking within me. However, ask the right questions at the right time, and I will spill my soul quite readily.

Recent events have left certain feelings bubbling towards the surface, and today at lunch, I had a deep conversation about my life with one of my coworkers. I vocalized certain things that I haven't thought about in a long time.

And I'm not sure that was the greatest idea. The problem with sharing your "secrets" with someone is you don't know what they are going to do with that information. You don't know how it will affect their perception of you. If that person is someone you trust, it shouldn't be much of an issue. But if you don't have 100% confidence in that person... well, this could have been a huge mistake.

See, the thing is, I hate to lie. If you ask me a question, I will answer honestly. Plus, sometimes, you just want to say things out loud, so that *someone* will listen to you. An endless inner monologue just doesn't cut it sometimes.

Anyway, I'm going to spend some time tucking my feelings back deep inside me, where they belong. I might not let them back out for a while.

Monday.

The world figure skating championships started today. Three guesses what I'll be watching on tv this week.

I'm kinda hoping that UPEI profs go on strike tomorrow, because it may mean a visit from my sister this weekend. And that would be unbelievably and extraordinarily wonderful.

I leave you today with a short list of my favourite recent tv commercials:

1. The Petro Canada (I think) "thank you" commercials that aired during the Olympics, featuring Olympic athletes saying thank you to random Canadians. I love the speedskater guy ("don't be a stranger.")
2. Jimmy Fallon and Parker Posey bust a move and drink Pepsi.
3. The Tim Horton's Hockey commercial ("you right wing."). I love the "extended" version that's currently airing.

Chicken and stuffing

The closet cleaning frenzy continued today. I purged copious quantities of old, ill-fitting clothing. I have four full garbage bags for donation, and two full garbage bags for throwing away. I feel like I'm on one of those tv self-improvement shows where they show you the way to enlightenment through decluttering.

I became rather ruthless in my cleaning halfway through the afternoon, mostly because I wanted to get it done. I still have a ton of stuff to go through, but I'm done in for tonight, so I packed the rest of my stuff neatly back into the closet for another time. However, I will note that it is now possible to actually walk into my walk-in closet, instead of "peak your head in and climb on top of clutter to get what you want".

My greatest accomplishment of the day was roasting a whole chicken. This was only my second attempt at such a feat. The first occurred during my second year at Dal, and it resulted in an undercooked and inedible bird. Happily, tonight's venture was much more successful. It only took me six phone calls home to my mom to get it right. Leftover chicken and stuffing sandwiches tomorrow night!

Spring fever

Well, I have been seized by an overwhelming desire to clean/organize my apartment. This doesn't happen frequently, so it's best to go with it when it does happen. Otherwise, my apartment would be a disaster area 95% of the time.

Today, I am tackling my closet. A rather daunting task, since it's crammed full of stuff. Right now, I'm in the sorting phase. I'm trying really really hard not to be attached to little things, and I'm purging as much stuff as I can. Clothes, papers, knick knacks, etc. At the moment, the half the contents of my closest are spread throughout my apartment in various meaningful piles. Tomorrow, I mean to get some baskets for storage. Hopefully, this will be wrapped up before the work week starts, if I don't run out of steam.

I also went on another mini shopping spree today. I bought my Palm T/X. A totally justifiable purchase (see explanation here). Seriously. I also bought light bulbs and a multi-headed screwdriver.

And, there were *three* curling games on today.

Okay, back to the closet.

Shopping karma

What's the prescription for a crappy work week? Retail therapy!

After watching Alberta's Kevin Martin lose the 3-4 Brier playoff to Nova Scotia's Mark Dacey, I headed out for some shopping to soothe my soul.

My goal: a new spring coat and possibly curtains.

My purchases: New sheets for my bed, a spaghetti measurer, and very cool fabric to cover the seat of my phone bench.

What can I say? Sometimes, the best shopping happens when you're not looking for something. Do you think I could find a spring coat? Well, to be truthful, I haven't decided what colour of coat I want (black? beige? green? blue?), so shopping is kinda tricky at this point.

I'm relatively pleased with my new sheets. They are meant to go with my new blue duvet cover that I have had for months. It was waiting for new sheets. Plus, I'm very attached to my old duvet cover. I tend to develop strong attachments to objects in my bed, like pillows, teddy bears, mattresses, etc. I have great difficulty letting go of these things. Anyway, the new sheets are on my bed, as is the new duvet cover. Now my bed feels foreign to me.

Maybe I'll go back to my old duvet cover.

Thursday night curling

*Sigh*.

Working five days a week is so hard.

Well, just this week has been hard. You know how sometimes work is a piece of cake, and sometimes it's insanely crazy? This has been an insanely crazy couple of weeks. I feel like my mind is stretched in a million different directions. So much to do, so little time, yada yada yada.

Okay, no more work talk.

I'm having a low-key night tonight. It's the last draw of the Brier, so I'm parked in front of the tv. At the moment, I'm pulling for any result that will give lots and lots of tiebreakers, because that means more curling to watch. Of course, the curling will be on during the day, and I have to work tomorrow, but still, I want everyone to still have a chance to win.

Cerulean blue

My adventures in cooking continued last night with another attempt at spaghetti squash lasagna (with spinach). This time I used fresh baby spinach and sautéed it with some garlic, onion, and mushrooms. I also used chicken instead of ground beef.

The result? Not bad. Edible, I guess.

Maybe I should give up on spinach.

In other happenings, I'm still on the hunt for decorating ideas. I stumbled across the Apartment Therapy website, where they are currently holding a contest for the best smallest coolest apartments. I really like a lot of the entries, but today I am mesmerized by the blue wall in the bedroom area of this bachelor apartment (scroll down the page to see it).

Oh holy crap.

Tonight marked the untimely end of Soul-Patch Tony Almeida.

He was predeceased by his wife, the lovely Michelle Dessler, in an horrific and untimely car explosion. Michelle and Soul-Patch Tony were formerly employed at L.A.'s easily-penetrable-by-terrorist-moles Counter Terrorism Unit, aka CTU.

Last year, following the "death" of Jack Bauer, aka "The Man", the couple left the organization to open a private security technology company.

Reports of the death of Jack Bauer were greatly exaggerated.

Michelle and Soul-Patch Tony were in on the cover-up, as was the surly but competent computer guru Chloe, as was the best American President Ever, President David Palmer.

President Palmer, regretfully, was assassinated by a bullet to the neck. Chloe was saved by not-so-dead Jack Bauer. Michelle was killed instantly by the aforementioned car explosion. Soul-Patch Tony was critically injured in the blast.

After Soul-Patch Tony learned of his wife's death, he was, understandably, distraught. He vowed soul-patch vengeance on his wife's murderer. Conveniently, his wife's murderer, Henderson, was brought to the same CTU facility where he (Soul-Patch Tony) was receiving medical treatment. Henderson was the subject of ongoing torture to reveal crucial information relating to some sort of nerve gas crisis.

Soul-Patch Tony's plan of vengeance was thwarted momentarily when nerve gas was released into CTU's ventilation system.

Once the nerve gas was cleared, he began to exact his plan. Henderson lay in a torture-drug-induced coma on a gurney. Soul-Patch Tony, although he had just had surgery, deftly knocked out the agent attending to the torture. He picked up a syringe and filled it with some sort of life-ending drug. He was poised to inject the drug directly into Henderson's chest.

He stopped short of his goal - he couldn't go through with it!

At that very moment, Henderson sprung to life, tore the syringe from Soul-Patch Tony's hands, and injected the drug into Soul-Patch Tony's chest!

Not even Soul-Patch Tony can survive an injection of life-ending drugs.

Jack Bauer, maybe he could, but not Soul-Patch Tony.

R.I.P. Soul-Patch Tony.

P.S. Also, R.I.P. Lynn "Fat Hobbit" McGill. They're dropping like flies.

In good company

Let's try for another weekend recap. This time I'm not so tired, so I should be able to elaborate more on my previous ramblings.

Saturday afternoon saw me visiting Rosey at the Robertson (no relation) Library. She even let me join her behind the desk for an inside peek at the library. What a super fun place to work - personal desks, lockers, and a staff room full of super cool retro chairs and a puzzle. It totally trumps my workplace in terms of coolness. We were also joined by Michelle for a short while, and it was most excellent to see her as well. The "hair-petting" was much appreciated.

That evening, there was a gathering at the Gahan House for a celebratory eating fest. The company included myself, Rosey, Michelle, Catherine, Jackie, Rachel, and Miriam. Everyone was in good spirits and there was plenty of laughter spread throughout the evening. We were a highly entertaining group. The food was also enjoyable (I rediscovered my love of sweet potato fries) and the Pepsi was plentiful.

Next, it was back to Rosey's for a viewing of P&P3. By this point, our group had shrunk to four (me, Rosey, Michelle, and Miriam). It was my third viewing of P&P3, and I'm afraid I spent the entire time sharing every single P&P thought that popped into my head. I have been dying to let them all out, and the ladies present provided the perfect audience for me. I hope I didn't embarrass myself. I do tend to prattle on sometimes. The movie was still watchable the third time, and I believe a good time was had by all. I know I had a good time. Lots of laughing. That's what happens when I have three Pepsi.

This afternoon I went to see Failure to Launch at Empire with Rosey, Catherine, and Jackie. It was a movie with so much potential (I'm trying to positive here), but it missed the mark with me. Very predictable plot and very predictable performances. Even the "secondary" romance could be spotted from a mile away. Throw in a few cringe-worthy moments (Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates cuddling and singing on a lay-z-boy, anyone?), and you have a movie worthy of a DVD rental, rather than a theater viewing. Not a total waste of time, but not a movie I'd see again.

After the movie, Catherine, Rosey, and I went downtown to Beanz. I had hot chocolate and chocolate treats. Me likey chocolate. I got the chance to show off some trip pictures (yes, I just happened to be carrying them in my bad). It was a lovely lovely way to cap off a lovely lovely weekend.

And now, I'm back home in my apartment. My batteries are recharged. Bring on Monday.

Copious quantities of hilarity

Today was a fantastically fun day, filled with laughter and happiness.

In brief (as it's very late right now, and I need to sleep), I visited Rosey and Michelle at the library, had coffee/hot chocolate with my dad, watched curling, had a highly entertaining dinner at the Gahan House with six highly entertaining ladies (Rosey, Michelle, Catherine, Rachel, Jackie, and Miriam), and then finished off the evening with a nit-picking viewing of P&P3.

More details to follow...

Home again

Let me just say that flex days are one of the greatest inventions ever. Having two Fridays off a month is totally worth working 8.75 hours a day every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Who doesn't like a three-day weekend?

A large portion of this morning was spent sleeping in (the best part about weekends). Then I got up, puttered around, and went back to sleep. Then I got up for real, packed my suitcase, and hopped into my car to drive home.

As I was driving to Moncton, I heard on the radio that there was some sort of armed standoff going on downtown. Briefly, I contemplated taking a detour into the city just to see what a real-live armed standoff looks like. Happily, my sensible side prevailed and I limited my time in Moncton to a pitstop at the Petro-Can to buy gas and Pepsi.

Then, when I was about 20 minutes past Moncton, I heard on the radio that Russ Howard and "his" Olympic gold medal curling team were parading down Main Street in Moncton and accepting well-wishers at City Hall. I almost turned around. Seriously. Gold medals! Curling! Moncton!

Anyways, now I'm at my mom's house for the weekend and looking forward to seeing people this weekend for some actual face-to-face human contact. What a concept.

Somebody stop me.

Every one in a while, I get an uncontrollable urge to purchase some sort of gadget. Last year, it was an iPod mini. Totally worth it. Lately, I am convinced that I need a PDA.

Here's my thing- I do a fair bit of traveling. For example, at the end of the month, I'm going to Toronto to a hearing aid conference. Then in April, I'll be doing extra clinics in Woodstock for work, and I've decided to spend a few nights in a hotel, so I don't get burned out with all the driving. I also may squeeze in a trip to Halifax in April. In June, I hope to go back to Halifax for another conference. And there is also a possible trip to Toronto/Minneapolis in the works (also work-related).

When I am away, I miss my internet. Desperately. I need to check my email. I need to keep up with the daily adventures of my friends. I need to see what's going on in the world.

Therefore, I have decided that I need some sort of portable gizmo that gives me internet access on the road. My ultimate goal is a laptop, but I'm only getting one when my home computer goes kaput. I thought about a smart phone, but I rarely use my cell phone, so paying extra money for a PDA/cell phone is not an option. Microsoft will be launching a tablet PC thingy soon, but it looks pricey and bulky, so I might wait until they refine it a bit.

This brings me to a PDA. From what I can gather, it will give me internet access via Wi-Fi. I've been looking around, and there are some reasonably priced PDA's with Wi-Fi capabilities. I'm currently considering the Palm T/X. It's very pretty.

So currently, I am grappling with the overwhelming impulse to buy a PDA Right Now. I must conquer this. My logical, level-headed side tells me that going without the internet is not the end of the world, cause everything will still be there whenever I return from my trips. My impulsive, gadget-loving side tells me that the Palm T/X will make my life complete. I don't which side will emerge the victor. Stay tuned.

I like ears.

I had a change of pace at work today, as I spent an hour at the end of the day taking an online course. It was super cool! Basically, I was connected to several audiologists all over the world via computer, sort of like a mega MSN. Our presenter had a Powerpoint presentation, and we could hear her speak as she went through her slides. We could text her any questions we had. There were audiologists online from the U.S., New Zealand, Israel, and Canada. We could see a list of people who were online, and I even recognized a few people (it's a small community).

The course was about fitting babies with hearing aids, which are two of my favourite things about audiology. Our presenter was one of the leading researchers on the topic. She was excellent, and the material was concise and clinically related.

Whenever I get the chance to get continuing education, I have such a good time. I think part of it is the joy of learning about a topic I really enjoy. My mind starts to twirl, and I start thinking of other areas of audiology where my knowledge could be expanded. I also start imagining great ideas about how I can do my job and help people. Sometimes I even follow through on my ideas.

The other part I like is being around people who actually understand audiology. We are in limited supply, and it's a very specialized field, so it's hard to strike up a conversation with the average person about your job. Most people I meet don't even know what audiology is. I get a lot of smiling and nodding. And I don't mind explaining it to them, because I can talk forever about it, especially if someone is interested. However, once in a while, it's nice to be with people who just know, no explanation necessary.

I don't post a lot about my work here, mostly because to do so would be a breach in confidentiality, and I really don't want to get fired. However, it is a big part of my life, and I think about it a lot.

Just thought you all would like to know.

Let them eat cake

Today they were giving away free cake in the cafeteria. Here were two of my favourite things: free and cake.

Naturally, I had to indulge in a small slice.

There are few foods that I enjoy more than cake and cake-related products. This was a large rectangular store-bought pound cake, probably from Sobey's or the Superstore, or the like. It was light and spongy, with sugary and gooey frosting on top. Mouthwateringly good. I took a center piece, because sometimes with an end piece, I find there can be too much icing, and this overshadows the yummy cake taste.

Store-bought pound cake is one of my favourite kinds of cake. I also like ice cream cake, any kind of cupcake, chocolate cake, the birthday cake that Rosey's mom makes (it's in a class all by itself), and brownies.

Insert Homer Simpson drooling sound here. ("Mmm, cake... *drool*")

Oscar hangover

I didn't get enough sleep last night. I blame it on the Oscars. I barely made it out of bed this morning, and I was next to useless at work today. Thank goodness it was a short day.

Speaking of things that are useless, President Logan on 24 is driving me batty! He's indecisive, easily swayed, and overly concerned with the American public's perception of his presidency. This is not who we want running the country in times of crisis!

This is why I love 24. He's a train wreck waiting to happen. And we get to watch it unfold, minute by minute. I knew he was incompetent last season when he first became President. See, he started out as vice-president to President Keeler. But then President Keeler was in a plane crash, and he had to take over. The moment Logan realized that he that he would become president, I knew we were doomed. You could see it in his eyes. The fear, the self-doubt. Doomed.

See, if Super-President Palmer didn't die within the first few minutes of the season, he could swoop in and save the day, like he always does. But no, he's dead.

Thank goodness for Jack Bauer. He is the Man. The Man.

Multitasking

Tonight, I'm watching the Oscars. I'm also having a play-by-play conversation on MSN with Mel. I'm also following Harry Knowles' Oscar commentary on Aint It Cool News. I'm also rearranging furniture.

And, for what it's worth, I'm also drinking Pepsi out of a mug I bought in Paris. It has the Eiffel Tower on it. It's made in England.

My thoughts on my activities are the following:

Oscars: I once again renew my admiration for Clooney (thanks to Catherine for the nickname and for her fabulous Clooney post). And I like big bowties. And Steve Carrell's eyelashes. And penguins!

MSN with Mel: enjoyable as always. I don't spend nearly as much time on MSN as I used to, but there's nothing like a good long chat with a very good friend. Plus, we have an Oscar-night tradition to uphold.

Harry Knowles: I have been following his website for years, and I really respect his opinion on movies. Plus, I adore his unbridled enthusiasm for Hollywood films.

Arranging furniture: somewhat frustrating due to the large diagonal wall in my apartment. I thought I had it conquered to best of my abilities until I set up my table and chairs. Now I have to move the bookcase, and everything is off-kilter again.

Pepsi: what can I say. Pure happiness for my taste buds.

Ta-da!

My table and chair set arrived today, delivered by a most pleasant gentleman who even brought the very very heavy box into my apartment for me.

I spent the next few hours assembling the various pieces into a perfectly adequate table and four perfectly adequate chairs.

Away from the bright lights of the Wal-Mart showroom, the wood is a little more orangey than I would like. However, after a year-long search, it's nice to eat dinner in a civilized manner. Plus, think of the table accessories I can now shop for - candlesticks, centerpieces, napkins, placemats, seat cushions, tablecloths, table runners, etc.

Tonight I watched P&P3. I have been eagerly anticipating the release of this film on DVD. When I was in London, P&P3 was playing on one of the pay-per-view channels in our hotel room. When you tuned into that channel, you could watch a free preview of the movie in progress for about 2 minutes before being cut off. These snippets were more like a tease, really. Plus the Mr. Darcy buses made me also want to see the whole movie again.

P&P3 really cannot compare, in my humble opinion, to the masterful P&P2, but it certainly gets the job done. It would be a great introduction to the world of P&P for those who don't have the time to sit through the lengthy P&P2. After seeing it the second time, Keira Knightley's performance has grown on me, although I still don't like her hair. Is it an Oscar-worthy performance? Meh.

Speaking of, I find myself woefully unprepared for the Oscars this year. I haven't seen any of the Best Picture nominees. Usually by this time I have seen at least one. I had great plans to rent them all this weekend (cause nobody else would think of that), but some of them aren't even on DVD yet. That's how out of touch I am, I didn't even know that until I looked them up on amazon. I suppose I could rent the ones that are available on DVD, but then my viewing would be incomplete and my opinion would probably be biased towards the movies I have actually seen.

Of course, I probably will fall asleep before they give out Best Picture, since I have to work the next day. Perhaps I can content myself with enjoying Jon Stewart as host and gawking at all the pretty dresses instead.

Today, I love Wal-Mart.

For those of you who have visited me, you know I don't have a proper table and chairs. I eat my meals on my couch, or in front of the computer. I'm quite picky about the kind of table and chairs I want, so that's why it has taken so long to find the right set.

Last September, I thought I had found the right set. It was at Wal-Mart, of all places. Just the right colour of "wood", simple lines, and straight-backed chairs. Reasonably priced. However, when I went to buy it, it was not in stock. I kept checking back, week after week, to no avail. Meanwhile, I kept making the rounds of the local furniture stores, rejecting all possible candidates. I looked online, and I even comtemplated a road trip to the IKEA in Montreal.

Tonight, I found my table and chairs again at Wal-Mart. I bought them. They are even going to deliver them for me. Who knew Wal-Mart delivered?

So, tonight or tomorrow, I will have my table and chairs. I will be able to invite people over and cook them supper and serve it properly. This can only make my apartment more attractive for visitors.

My next home project: curtains.

Let it Be

Paul McCartney is in Charlottetown.

Paul McCartney is in Charlottetown.

Paul.

McCartney.

Paul McCartney is in Charlottetown, and I am not.

Tell me again why I moved away.

First I miss Megan Follows, then I miss Sharon and Bram, and now I miss Paul McCartney.

Perhaps someone should tell them the center of the universe has shifted to a new location.

La di da la di da

Tonight I went to choir practice for the first time in two weeks. I had to miss it last week because I was sick, and the week before that I was on my trip to you know where. It was great to be back. We are finally singing some new songs, having been working on the same four songs since January. Not that I didn't like the songs, but it's nice to have variety.

Our choir director is from Sweden, so we sing a lot of Swedish songs. My Swedish is getting quite good now, actually. We are also singing a song in Finnish, which I find tremendously exciting. As I was driving to choir tonight, I was thinking that I want to go to Finland to visit. This was mainly brought by watching Canada vs. Finland in the Olympic gold medal curling game, and, to a lesser extent, by watching Sweden and Finland in the gold medal hockey game (I'll stop talking about the Olympics soon, I promise). It was a really interesting language to listen to. To my uneducated ear, it sounds like "gobolydobolydubuly". Sort of like Swedish, in a way, but less melodic. I also like Finland's flag. Plus, it's fun to say "Finland".

Some of our other choir songs are full of "la di da di da" sounds. One is Swedish, and another is Swedish, but written in an African style. They are very fun to sing, but "la di da's" can get confusing after a while. It messes with my mind, sort of like saying the same word over and over again.

I also must add that this seems like the longest work week ever. Two whole days before the weekend. I don't know if I can take it.