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Friday, February 27, 2009

Q &A Time

I love getting asked questions, because I know at least one person will be interested in my response, so when I saw that Angela, over at Lost In Splendor had a Q&A session with Bethany, from Bethany Actually, and was inviting her readers to join in, I jumped. Here are her five questions for me, and my answers.

1. You are still very new to the wild world of blogging. What made you want to start? Are you enjoying it so far?
I sure am a blogging newbie. It took me forever to change my layout last night, dangit. I started reading blogs a few years ago, when I stumbled on one thanks to a Google search. I've always thought about starting one, but never got around to it until now. I started as a form of personal therapy, throwing things out to the internet that I can't say, for whatever reason, in real life, and has progressed into just sharing my thoughts, feelings and rants, and so far, its pretty cathartic. I want to work on getting more readers or traffic, cause comments make me happy. :)

2. You just moved. I really hate the moving process. Are you settled in and enjoying your new place or are you still surrounded by boxes?
Oh ye old moving process. I'm a professional mover by now, so yes, everything's unpacked. There are no boxes anymore. Why is this, you ask? Because I have moved *counts on fingers* 9 times in the past 4 years. Yes, 9.

Now its not as bad as you think, because it was into residence in first year of university and home for the summer (running total: 2), into an apartment and back home for summer in second year (4), into a house, into another house (which is material for a future bloggy rant) and then home for summer in third year (up to 7 now), and into another house this past September and home now (9!).

So technically, its not a new place...I'm at Casa Des Parentes, so its the oldest place I know. But its cheap rent ($0 per month), good cooking and near my closest and oldest friends, so I'm happy about it. It'll only be until the fall, but I'll be in a city that 45 minutes away instead of 6 hours. Can you see my grin?

3. I heard you're working on transferring schools. How's that going? Also, what's your major?
I am indeed working on transferring. I had some major homesickness issues when I was as far away as I used to be so being closer is the major motivation. Its at a halt right now, because I have to finish 2 correspondence courses that I'm working on, and I have little to no willpower to work on things at home. Self scheduling may work fantastically for some people, but I am not one of them. But until I have those marks, nothing progresses so I definitely spent 3 hours working on those courses yesterday. So work in progress.

I'm doing a joint honours degree, which confuses the heck out of most people. Basically, I'm doing two honours bachelor's degrees at one time. (Why? You tell me and we'll both know). So my majors are history and criminology. They're hellish nightmarish subjects with a lot of reading, and I like it.

4. *POOF!* You have a new magical power! What is it?
Its a tie, and I can't pick. I'm torn between flight and invisibility. They'd both be a pretty cool experience, and get you out of some pretty tight spots. Plus, I'd never have to deal with the airline losing my luggage!

5. You don't have an about-me section. Why is that? Inquiring minds want to know more about you!
There's a couple reasons for that. First, because whenever I try to write an "About me," I either feel ridiculously vain (if I start bragging about things I do, or my life), or like I'm writing a profile for a dating site (single, height, likes, dislikes). I know it probably doesn't come across that way, and I read lots of "About me" sections to find out more about the person, but when I'm the one writing, it always seems different. I actually did attempt to write one for this blog and trashed it because of that.

Second, as I'm sure you've noticed, I write under a pseudonym. This is to protect both myself and people I care about from backlash. I'm pretty candid on here when I'm ticked off, hurt, etc, and sometimes, its a vent that I haven't and won't say to the person who I'm talking about, because once I've vented a bit, its over. But if I release too much info about me, and said person somehow finds my site (the internet may be large, but its also very, very small) and knows its me, they may also realize I'm talking about them, and that can just get ugly.

That said, anyone can ask me as many questions as they want to. I'm pretty open to answering things about me, save for "What's your real name? What's your street address?" cause that is just creepage.

Your turn. If you want to be involved, leave a comment with your e-mail and I'll send you 5 questions for your blog!

Monday, February 23, 2009

How far back did I lose you?

Isn't it weird when someone who you would expect to know you quite well does something stupid and mundane that proves they really have no idea?

My mom came home with a painting for me. The woman who waxes my eyebrows did it...she's on some Zen trip, and painting is her way to make others happy, which is supposed to make her happy. I don't know, but whatever floats her boat, right? She asked my mom which I would like: yellow or blue. My mom picked yellow.

My favourite colour is blue.

My favourite colour has been blue since I was in elementary school. I wear blue, I decorate with blue, I like blue. Do I really need to say more on how out of touch with who I am my mother has suddenly become? It freaks me out, possibly more than it should, that she couldn't pick something I'd pick in colours. Not taste, clothes, style, anything else. Just a colour. Am I freaking out too much over something stupid?

(Disclaimer: I'm an equally opportunity colour person. I don't hate yellow, although sometimes its a little too in your face happy. But anyone who knows me knows that, if given a choice between blue and green, its blue every time)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

30 Day Shred

Oh yes I did. I jumped on the bandwagon. I jumped on, and am waving my bandwagon flag.

Actually, no, not yet. I just bought the damn DVD, so don't bring out the torches. I've got a pair of 3 lb weights and a pair of 5 lb weights. I really want to push myself with this, because as a former athlete, being out of shape is even more bothersome for me. Hopefully, I'll need the 8 lbers I've already got pretty soon.

Either way, the Shred starts on Monday. Why wait, you ask? Psh. Cause Monday is when I have the house to myself and can sweat and curse at Jillian Michaels in privacy. And lord knows there will be some sweating and swearing going on, from the looks of this DVD.

Have any of you done the Shred? Comments and suggestions, or reviews, are totally welcome.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Relay for Life

Cancer has touched almost every life. I don't know many people that haven't lost a friend, family member or loved one to one form or another of this disease. I have a few people that were very dear to my heart that were lost (some old, and some very young) to this disease. That's what, this year, I'm participating in the Relay for Life with the Canadian Cancer Society.

Anyone who would like to pledge me, please contact me at grownupteenager@gmail.com I'd link my pledge sheet, but it puts my real (first and last) name out there for the entire interwebs to see, so I'll wait until someone is interested. Also, if you're interested in participating, PLEASE DO. Its a phenomenal event that raised over 50 million dollars for research last year.

Please help make cancer HISTORY.

Visit the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life Website. Its worth a click.

There's no place like home

God, I've been a flighty blogger again.

Um, so the move is over. No big drama. I had everything sitting organized in boxes when my dad got to my place. We were loaded and on the road within 45 minutes, which is pretty fantastic. It was a long drive home (almost 7 hours in a not-so-comfortable truck), but worth it. Lordy am I ever glad to be here.

My niece (who is currently 21 months old) did a happy dance in the window when she saw me for the first time and came at me like a bullet when I came through the door, and that innocent reaction sealed the deal for me. Home is where I belong.

I'm unpacking much more slowly that I usually do, because it doesn't feel like I get to stay. Its school Reading Week right now (Spring Break for you Yankees) so it still feels like I should be going back in a week. Whenever I remind myself that I'm not, I grin. Big and cheesy.

Anyway, there's not a lot of exciting news, but I wanted to at least get a new post up and not feel like I was abandoning my blog. I've got a new fitness routine that I want to try, so that's a future post, so stay tuned. ;)

Monday, February 9, 2009

Leaving

The move date is officially this Thursday. This produces gigantic YAY from the deepest part of me. I'm so excited to go home, closer to my friends, with my family and start to really focus on getting myself back on the track that I want to be one. So seriously. Huge yay. Not diminishing the yay factor.

But. (Isn't there always a but?)

I'm having a hard time with realizing how many friends here (or should I more accurately call them "friends" now?) can't be bothered to take time to see me in person and say goodbye before I leave. I told countless people back in early January, when the decision was made, that I was leaving, and while the date got pushed up from March to February, they still had a month's notice, and a lot of people that I really thought would want to say goodbye (do dinner, do coffee, go to a movie, hell just hang out) haven't.

They haven't called, e-mailed, texted, Facebook'd or anything else, and I'm expecting a lot of "Oh its a shame I didn't see you before you left" lip service once I'm home, because, hello, have I mentioned I'm moving in THREE DAYS? There's packing to be done, and lots of it, and other things to settle before I take off, so there won't be time for getting together the day before I leave.

Its just kinda hitting me hard in the gut tonight that people can't be bothered. Maybe I've been spoiled with friendships in my lifetime, but when I was leaving at the end of summer, I saw one friend for a day, and the next day, she was in town and wanted to go for coffee before she went home. I laughed and reminded her she had seen me the day before, and she laughed back at me and said she wanted to see me as much as possible before I was gone. And this is someone who knew she'd see me at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Reading Week, Easter, etc.

The people here know, because I've told them, that I'm leaving for good. Not coming back. Gone. Done. Finished. And they still can't be bothered, and it stings a little. Or maybe a lot. I need comfort food and a movie night with my real friends.

Friday, February 6, 2009

The lost ones

Maybe I'm having a particularly nostalgic day today, but I can't stop thinking about the fish--I mean friends that got away. You know the friends that you got into a blowout fight with and flat out said "I never want to see you again"? No, not them. I'm talking about the ones that slowly got away...grew apart, changed, went different directions in life, whatever other reasons. THOSE ones.

I'm not a big fan of change, and I'd love to believe that my best friends now will be my best friends for the rest of my life (BFF, y'all). But when I graduated from high school, I got a pretty big kick in the gut about that one. I started to realize, as a few years went by, that the main thing I had in common with some of my friends was simply that we went to the same school. Remove that common denominator and suddenly, there was an ocean of differences between us.

We all went in such different directions. Some went to college, some to university, one's married with a planned (after marriage) child, a couple have oops-but-loved children, one's living in welfare housing with an idiot abusive boyfriend...but I digress. That's another subject for another day. My point is that we're all different now. We're not sharing the fact that we're seniors in high school and about to be unleashed on the world. We've been unleashed from the nest. Some of us flew, some tumbled and then caught the hang of it, and some crash landed on the ground. That's life for ya.

I'm just thinking about some of the ones that slipped away, and missing the closeness we used to have when I realize we'll probably never get it back. We're in different places, and unless both lives change drastically, we'll never be in the same place again. I still see enough about them on Facebook that I know what's going on, and we do lip service to the "Lets get together for coffee when we're all home for *insert next major holiday here*!" but it just never seems to be a priority for either party.

Maybe we've grown up. But more likely, we've grown apart. And that's the part of the growing process that stings sometimes.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Volun-told

*Update below*

So today's the first day of volunteering, or as I more appropriately refer to it, volun-told-ing. I don't think it counts as volunteering if you're not doing it voluntarily, and I'm sure not. I've got 15 hours of volunteer work (or community service, if you so desire) to complete to make this whole taking-something-that-wasn't-mine thang go away.

The fact that I can make it go away: mad awesome. But I'd prefer paying someone off to doing this. I had to go community service in high school too (a graduation requirement, don't worry, I'm not a habitual criminal) but for them, I could pick and choose when, where and with who I did it, as long as I had the hours done by diploma day. With this program, they pick.

So I'm volun-told-ing at a thrift store, run by a church. For 15 hours. I can barely stand to be in a thrift store for 15 minutes to look for something that can be repurposed into a costume for Halloween. Other than that, I don't set foot in them but to drop off used clothing. They're depressing to me! And man, I don't need help with depressed right now.

And on top of it all, I'm running on 5 hours sleep, max, because hi, I'm stressed and I don't sleep when I'm stressed. Boy oh boy, this should be fun.

*Update: It wasn't too terribly bad. I was picking clothes off racks and tossing them in bags, which sure doesn't take rocket science. It was a long day, being on my feet on tile floor all day, but I'd rather do two long days and get this over with quickly than drag it out. 8 hours down, 7 to go.*

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Crafty Crow/Bake It Pretty giveaway

The Crafty Crow is having a cool giveaway. Its a 50 dollar gift certificate to a store called Bake It Pretty.

Check out their site to see what kind of cool stuff they have and leave a comment with your fave (on CC's website, not mine) to enter. Good luck!

The bad days

The hardest part of the movin on up phase are the days when you feel like you're falling again. I'm having one, and I can't stop crying.

I want to go home. Now.