It's all good.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

And now for some good news!!

My physiotherapist and I agree - I'm definitely getting better!! My neck muscles are definitely looser than they've been before, and, even though I spent a large part of last weekend sitting, I'm not as sore as I used to be. Insert "woot" here!!

Monday, May 28, 2007

Reap what you sow.

Man, in case you haven't noticed, I love elections.

Before I discuss this evening's happenstances, let us first recall the last PEI election. Picture this: 2003. A Monday. There was a hurricane the night before. Huge power outages everywhere. The streets of Charlottetown were littered with debris from the hurricane. RCMP were advising people to stay off the roads. Yet still I trudged up to Queen Charlotte Junior High and voted. In the dark. It was awesome. That night, I went to my parents' place, and, because we had no power, we huddled around a battery-powered radio and listened to the results come in on CBC. I used checker pieces as a tote board. Black checkers (aka PC's): 23, red checkers (aka liberals): 4. Good times.

Tonight was the first time since I turned 18 that I didn't get to vote in the PEI election because, despite my efforts to the contrary, I really don't technically live there anymore (*sniff*). But still, I feel I had a strong interest in the outcome, and so was delighted to turn into CBC's election coverage. Ah, Bruce Rainnie. I love CBC's election coverage. I love elections!

Anyway, I spent the first hour of the "results show" watching the coverage on Newsworld and calling home every time something exciting happened ("Did you see that? One Liberal!" Did you see that? Two Liberals!!" "How come the pictures of the NDP and Green party candidates look like mug shots?"). Then my family told me I could only call every half hour, and not every two minutes. Then at 8:00 I watched the rest of the results on CBC's internet feed, while listening on the phone to the tv coverage at home and inserting witty commentary when someone would talk to me. The two were off by about a minute, so it was rather confusing.

That's how dedicated I am to my elections.

Anyways, I was quite surprised by the outcome, as I didn't expect things to sway this far, and I'm not quite sure what this is going to mean in the long term. But I do know that the next PEI election date has already been chosen, so perhaps I can plan to actually be home for it.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Big city.

I'm back from my whirlwind Toronto trip.

Most of Friday was spent in transit, since I didn't have a direct flight to Toronto. The plane from Montreal to Toronto was pretty snazzy: There were tv screens on the seat backs, and I got to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother and Arrested Development. After I checked in to the hotel, I did a bit of shopping before the welcome reception (the phrase "welcome reception" means big party).

Saturday was spent in various hotel conference rooms, learning all sorts of hearing aid stuff. Then they shuttled us off to another event for another reception (aka big big party), where were were entertained by 54-40. And I danced. Not only did I dance, but during the last song, I danced on the stage. With about 40 other people. And 54-40.

As great as the weekend was, it's always nice to be back in my little apartment. I really like visiting big cities, but I'm glad I don't live in one.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

You know you have a new car when...

... you are surprised to learn when you accidentally push one of the buttons on the keychain the car starts itself. And then you can't figure out how to turn the car off. So you have to drive it around the parking lot and then try turning it off. And that works. And you are relieved.

As if that wasn't spazzy enough, I gave myself the mother of all paper cuts this evening while unwrapping my new pillow from its box. It's on my index finger, and it's deep. Ow.

Off to Toronto (uh huh, the city that works. etc...) tomorrow afternoon for the weekend. Please direct all shopping thoughts towards me.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Another May wardrobe crisis

So I'm going to Toronto this weekend for a hearing aid conference, put on by the same people who made me wear something fancy last year. This year, they want us to dress up for a rock concert. And, once again, I am stuck for something to wear.

I'm also wondering if it's worth ditching a reception to see some theater or go shopping. Hmm... food for my belly or food for my soul. Tough choice.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Canada's Chocolate Town!

I was trying to follow Michelle's suggestion to go shopping today. However, the stores were not open. I did attempt to shop at Shopper's, but I couldn't find anything I really wanted.

So my backup plan was to go for a little drive, to see how Car liked the roads. I wanted to go somewhere different. I started by heading towards New Maryland, which is 5 minutes away from Fredericton, and I ended up in St. Stephen.

On the way, I took a detour down a gravel road. I was in the middle of nowhere, without a map. The road followed along a rail line, but that's all there was. No houses. Just trees. And gravel road. However, I persevered, since I figured that the road would have to come out somewhere. And it did. So it wasn't so bad.

Turns out most of the stores in St. Stephen were closed today, too. Go figure. But I did visit the chocolate store, where I bought a box of chocolates. And I got some snacks to fortify me for the return trip. I didn't want to backtrack, so I went towards Saint John, stopping for a bit in St. Andrew's, and then headed back to Freddy.

And now it's time for three fabulous hours of tv season finales!! Woot!

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Bah.

I haven't spoken to a real person in over 24 hours. My mind is starting to think horribly depressing thoughts. And I don't even have to work tomorrow. And it's raining. And my vacuum broke.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Regular as clockwork

Once again, my musical fever is intensifying, right on schedule.

I can't stop myself from perusing clips from old Tony Awards broadcasts on YouTube. Did you know that Kelly Bishop (aka Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls) won a Tony for A Chorus Line in 1976? Neither did I!

Ooh, The Secret Garden, with Julie Andrews thrown in! Loverly.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

I wear my sunglasses in the early evening...

First of all, it's good to be still alive. With all the nasty precipitation overnight (that's right, it snowed. In May.), the roads were a little dicey this morning. I bravely set out for Up the River, got about a kilometer out of town, and turned back. Yay for common sense prevailing!

Secondly, I had my eyes tested after work this evening. The good news is that even though I was seeing flashes of light and floaters and my vision sometimes seem hazy, I don't have anything seriously wrong with my eyes. Because really, I dwell on that sometimes, and sometimes I convince myself that I have macular degeneration or my retinas are detaching. But, according to my optometrist, the only thing I have (besides my ever-present nearsightedness) is slightly worsening astigmatism.

During my exam, not only did I get to see photographs of part of my retinas, but the optometrist also did a thorough retinal exam. For this, I had to get my pupils dilated. I don't remember ever having this done before.

It was completely bizarre. He used drops for the dilation, and since it took a while to take effect, he put contacts on me and told me to go shopping for new frames. But the tricky part was that the dilation makes your close vision go all wonky. So there I was, trying on frames, able to see myself in the mirror plain as day, but unable to read the price written on the frames, no matter how hard I tried.

This is what I have to look forward to when I get old (um... older).

The best part was when he sent me home with disposable sunglasses to protect me from the sunlight. I'll never buy another pair of sunglasses again. They are so snazzy.




And here's what I looked like when I got home. Thank goodness I didn't get pulled over on the way.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Still here.

Yes, I'm still alive.

Yes, I have a new car.

Yes, I'm still sore.

Yes, they are predicting 10 cm of snow for tomorrow.

The weekend was lovely, and I am still preparing my very late 12 of 12 post. Actually, I haven't even begun to prepare it, but I will, I promise. And work has been, well, work, and when you're only functioning at about 80% capacity, sometimes you have to let go of blogging in favour of sitting on the couch and resting.

I shall conquer this.

Friday, May 11, 2007

The last bus ride

Taking the bus to PEI wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible.

Unfortunately, my portable DVD player didn't end up being all that. It turns out that watching DVD's on the bus makes me a little car sick. Instead, I spent a good chunk of time chatting with my seat mate, a very pleasant young fellow from Freddy who goes to school at MUN and likes math and neuroscience. And he didn't get a glazed look on his face when I talked about ears.

The thing that always gets me about bus rides is the multiple stopping. It took us two hours to get from Fredericton to Moncton, and we had to stop in Young's Cove, Sussex, and Salisbury along the way. Then after Moncton we had to stop in Sackville.

My dad picked me up in Borden in my new car! I must say, it's pretty snazzy, especially in the dark when you can't see the hideous woodgrain paneling. Maybe I'll only drive it in the dark.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Warning: Grey's discussion below.

In the absence of Michelle for TV Thursday, I am now subjecting you all to my Grey's commentary.

George and Izzie? I'm still not getting this. At all. When did this happen? And don't you think she's still rebounding from you know who? So is this really fair to George?

Forget looking for a new Chief - what Seattle Grace really needs is ER doctors.

Meredith's dad is so mean. I know he's grief-stricken and unhinged, but still... no wonder Mer is dark and twisty inside.

Who schedules a wedding the day after a big intern exam?

Ooh, the climbers were tied together, just like the interns, who have their own Very Special Bond. Subtle.

Where did all those other interns come from? Why have we never met them? Maybe because they don't spend all their time sleeping with each other and their bosses.

News flash: George thinks marrying Callie was a wrong decision. What was your first clue, George?

Oh, they do have ER residents (according to the Chief's ex). Guess they're invisible. And too busy to attend to mass casualties, but not too busy to see the Chief's ex.

Aww, everyone's preggers except for Addison. This is the part where we feel really sorry for her. Maybe Izzie's pregnant. And Callie. And Meredith.

Fifty-two and pregnant?

I guess sitting in a chair is Mer's equivalent to lying on the bathroom floor.

Fossilized eggs. That's gonna be me. Me and Addison. (Sorry, I've just learned that about half my grad school classmates have babies. Good grief. Damn you, facebook, telling me things I don't need to know.)

Really though, I think I have amnesia, because I really don't remember when this whole George/Izzie thing started. Someone remind me, please.

Of course Callie's in the running for chief resident. She's the only other resident on the show besides the Happy Doctor.

Damn, Meredith does cry well.

Dammit, Callie, buy a freaking clue already!

You're pregnant, you were just in the hospital, and you have heartburn. Where do you go? A bar?

Am I supposed to care about the Chief's ex? Meh.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Notice me Horton

News bulletin: I wore a skirt to work today. And, even though I was a little wobbly in my heels, I think I looked pretty darn good. I finally got a reaction from my coworkers. After all, I've been going around all week with new hair, and they haven't said a thing. And that sort of makes me nervous, because sometimes when people can't say anything nice, they don't say anything at all. What if my hair is horrible?

To escape the horrible heat in my apartment this evening, I went to the mall. I wanted to buy a portable DVD player to use on the bus ride home this weekend. The one I got is very snazzy, and it almost makes me look forward to the bus ride. I'm hoping to convince a family member to pick me up in Borden, so I don't have to go all the way to Summerside before arriving in Charlottetown.

And cross your fingers, because if everything goes right, I'll be a car owner again on Friday. Pictures to follow.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Feelin' hot.

Since it was super hot out (29 freaking degrees!), I decided to shed my layers of clothing and wear short sleeves to work today. It was a risky venture, since the hospital is air conditioned, and it can actually be quite chilly. I managed to make it through the day in a comfortable state of being, and I was very thankful for the bare arms during my walk home this afternoon under the blistering hot sun.

As I walked home, I felt a little dampness in the armpit area, which was not unexpected due to the walking and the aforementioned heat. When I took a surreptitious peek at my underarms, I was slightly startled by how short the sleeves of my top actually were.

As in, there was full armpit viewage available.

And really, this wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that there was significant hair growth there. I hadn't bothered to shave in a while, since I've been in long sleeves since October.

So basically I spent the entire day bending my arms around people with hairy armpits in full view.

Nice.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Freak.

I have been completely and utterly corrupted. I watched the same episode of that Pussycat Dolls show on Much Music at least four times this week. I cannot look away. I can't get the songs out of my head. I even find myself randomly tossing my hair from side to side.

Sad, sad, sad.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Alone.

Remember how much I was looking forward to my weekend of solitude?

I had forgotten that after about a day or so, solitude loses its appeal for me.

At least my apartment is clean.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Just like the pompadour on the mannequin...

I've been in desperate need of a haircut for some time now. I actually had an appointment with my stylist in March, but I had to cancel it due to my accident. But today, as part of Day One of the audiology-free weekend, I finally got to treat myself to a cut and foils.

I've been giving my hair colour some considerable thought, and decided to do away with the caramel/straw streaks in favour of chocolate brown lowlights. I was very pleased with the colour, since it's quite different from what I had before. My stylist also chopped off three inches of hair, made some more layers, and gave me a very slight fringe around the face (it's very slight. Almost imperceptible).

It's amazing what a difference good hair can do for your state of well-being. I practically floated home.

Re: last night's Grey's - anyone else think that my dear George has gone a little astray? I even think that he's heading into man-whore territory. Think about it: Olivia, Meredith, Callie, Izzy... That's quite a few notches on the bedpost. And I would never let any of my family members near Seattle Grace, because they would probably all die.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Let's start at the very beginning...

While I was listening to my Sound of Music cd today, I had a flashback to music class in elementary school. Does anyone else remember learning the "Do-Re-Mi" song with hand signs? I've spent most of the day trying to remember them.

Last week's conference was surprisingly enjoyable. It was an old home week of sorts, since I kept running into people I know. I saw classmates I haven't seen since I graduated, which was awesome. And I squeezed in a very productive 45 minutes of shopping.

I managed to slip home for the weekend. On Saturday, my dad and I went car shopping in Summerside. Cross your fingers for me, but I may soon have a car. As in, I will be able to drive myself places at will. What a concept.

Saturday night, I got to spend some long overdue quality time with dearest Rosey. We even managed to get to the Dairy Queen.

I'm planning to have an audiology-free weekend, which means three (I have the day off tomorrow) whole days where I do not have to think about work. At all. I feel this is necessary for my sanity and well-being. It's gonna be all about me and doing what I want. Like getting my hair cut. Cut, cut, cut.

Cut.