knew it!

money in the bank... and out.

Since Christmas I've been putting a little bit of money aside here and there... waiting to make a fun purchase.
I hemmed and hawwed over it for the past few months, but last night, as I was buying toilet paper... I saw one.

I now own a wii

I may never leave the house again.

ps. welcome guest number 21212 .. I must have just missed you!

good thing I'm taking that this year...

This afternoon my co-worker turned to me and said, "I'm not trained to use the Snoozlen room". To which I just looked at him... wondering where in the world he was going with that.
He didn't answer right away, so I turned back to the computer where I was trying to find our now missing attendance records... (how did they erase that???).
"For tomorrow... I'm not trained for the snoozlen room to take Harvey."

I'm still confused... and just watching him isn't getting me anywhere... "did you want me to sign you up for training?"

"no.. for tomorrow.. I'm not trained to take him"

I'm still lost, so I bite... "what are you talking about?"

"Well, I'm covering your shift for you tomorrow, and Harvey's signed up to go to the snoozlen room.. what should I do?"

I'm still confused. I didn't ask to take tomorrow off.. did I? Why would I take a random Thursday off? Why is he now insisting that I asked him to work for me? I mutter a bit... I've taken to muttering since no one listens to me anyway. I ask him when I asked to take it off... why I asked him.. and still coming up with a blank... BUT all the shifts are covered.. I could have a day off....

Then I look a second time at the calendar- there's a workshop... I'd wanted to take it, if my shift was covered, but I hadn't done more than mention it in passing to another staff, in fact, I was the one who signed people up for it, I hadn't signed myself up because I'd never bothered to find a replacement. Second staff comes in, I tell her what's happened, remind her that she's signed up for the course... she tells me "Oh, I decided not to go" (side note:: was she going to tell me this before tomorrow's course?) I make a quick call, tell the organizers that I'm going in her place... and Bing, bang, boom... I'm in.

Did I mention it's a seminar on Alzheimer's?

with a nervous glance over the shoulder...

Quote of the week:: (sometimes it's hard to pick)

"Oh, now I get it, it's not drugs that make you paranoid.... it's DRUGS that make you paranoid"


bravo

pirates

and me.
sigh.


best conversation ever (in the style of gilmore girls) ::

me:: "hey, want to finish my sandwich?"
pirate:: "do I?" (hands grab sandwich off the plate before I've even asked)
me:: "chuckle"
pirate:: "this is chicken"
me:: "mmm, only the best"
pirate:: "I'm a vegetarian"
me:: "oh.... I'm sorry"
pirate:: "meh...." (eats the sandwich)

clocking in

Funnily enough.... this weekend, The Sheffs, the Sicilian and myself were able to clock enough of our hours.
Sorry yellow shirts, we're done all our work... you'll have to find someone else...




in other news, I got to play in the dirt this morning. I'm filthy, I'm content.

more for Alanis.

Just after christmas, a new kid started in the bean (on a co-op placement/free labour!) ... I don't like change, but the bean is my downtown home, so I decided to treat him like family and friendly-like, right from the start.... That's the only way to do it really.
Owner-Dave said he'd been impressed by the guy, that he seemed outgoing and right for the job... but after a week, meh, I think it was obvious to all that the guy wasn't so much a people person as he'd put himself out to be.
(note:: dream job after my own ranch... my own coffee shop)
I've spent the past few months prodding him just to get a hello... and had given him up last week as a lost cause.
Tuesday I went into the bean and was pouring my coffee... there wasn't anyone else in the shop.
I hear "Hey Lindsay!"
I look up, realise he's actually SPEAKING... to me, and forgive the fact that it's the wrong name... he then starts to jabber about the weather. I ask him what the count down is until he's done his Co-Op.... "Today's my last day"

lol. I guess it's safe to talk to people on your last day.


RE: the gift/ prize I won the other night....
yes, I did receive my gift, even though I chased the guy out of the house before he was done his presentation... I got a photocopied paper that tells me I'm entitled to a free round trip ticket to Hawaii, I have to go for 2 weeks though, and I have to pay for everything once I get there.
pretty nice of them eh? It's worth $1500... so that's cool.
Anyone want it?
oh, but it's also good for a 2 night stay in some high end hotel, I'm going to look into that... I don't mind sitting through an info session if that pans out... I'm ALL over hotels!!!!!

sad for my map.

sigh.
out loud.

I forgot to save the html for my map, so now I've got a new one.
That means it's nearly blank!!! That means you need to come visit me more (on my blog) so I'll have more dots....
ug.
I need help.

because sometimes it's too much

sometimes you need a break at work.
I've taken to giving myself two 5 minute breaks each day.... I call them my "smoke breaks" but no, I'm on facebook. or better.... Homestarrunner.
Because both make me smile.


http://www.homestarrunner.com/onetwo.html

this little ditty will be stuck in your head for a bit... then try out the mixer at the end!

fat cat.

Did I mention the pot luck I went to awhile back? It was with a fantastic group of people, many of them just down on their luck, struggling, self medicating... but.. people. I loved it. It took place in this ramshackle old place, falling apart, smelly... probably should be torn down or condemned... if the health unit knew food was happening here... I can't even imagine!
At once point a scrawny cat wandered into the room... and my first instinct was "this poor little cat! so malnourished! so dirty... so needy!!!" I wanted to scoop it up and take it home with me. Then I started looking around the room and it hit me that I had more compassion for the cat than I did for some of the people who were in the room with me... It really made me check my heart. Right then and there.

Last night we had a strawberry social. It was great! fresh local berries, a great chance to meet some new people... The evening was drawing to a close, I'd seen my little cat try to sneak into the room again, and I'd seen a few others pacing outside the door... too smart to come in. Out of the corner of my eye I watched this nice fat cat slowly walk into the room.. unhurried, just wander over to behind some tables... since we were getting ready to head out I didn't draw any attention to it or try to kick it out. I started to watch it a little closer as it passed under a table nearby... this was my train of thought..... it's the most beautiful shadeofsilveranditsjustfloatingandlookatit'stail-hey-wait-a-second!
"guys... there's a raccoon in here"

Mama Coon and her three little babies are living behind the bar in the storage area in the dining hall.

the email that doesn't end....

I love my church...

this is an email that's been "replied to all" to the pastor, worship and sound team at church over the past few days... enjoy!
oh... start at the bottom...


from Pastor::
RE: July 8th

You do not want to know why they call me the Great white hunter...

My neighbours are still in therapy...

:)

from Pony::
RE: July 8th

Woah, that’s deep

From: Les
Re: July 8th

lol... no... it was "and"
Parsley Seasonings

From: pastor
Re:July 8th


And "A" was for attitude?


From:Les
Subject: RE: July 8th

prayer AND "L" "m" was "missional"
Parsley Seasonings



From: Pony
Subject: RE: July 8th

So if you were stuck on the L, what’s the P & the A?

From: Les
Subject: Re: July 8th

wait wait wait wait....let me get this right... "great white hunter"?????
that's you scott??? fttflshtmsohn... (lesley falls to the floor laughing so hard that milk spits out her nose..) (and she hasn't even drank milk in a week)(much more effective than lol)

oh goodness, I love acronyms. haha... did I tell you about the time I tried to tell some friends about our church using the "oasis" acronym??? except I was certain it was "palm" (as in the tree... because you find those in an oasis....) I got stuck on "L".
Les
ps. there was a trade, I'm on sound the 8th (it's written on the back of my hand) Rob and I switched.
Parsley Seasonings


From: Pastor
Subject: Re: July 8th

Maybe the message that week can be on how to live without a tony for a week?

Great White Hunter...

From: Les
Subject: RE: July 8th

lol...baby cheeks?Les
Parsley Seasonings

From: Jon

Oh Ok then .. I say we through a party that sunday!!! ;) HeHe ..

BABY CHEEKS

From: Pony

Hey All:I just wanted to let you all know that I will be away on July 8th.

Thanks,

Pony

... alanis, a new verse for your song

about a month ago I participated in an over-the-phone survey. I do these often, most of them are students in university trying to finish up their thesis, or companies looking for info. Over the phone, under 5 mins, I'm happy to help.
Last night I got a call from a company saying I'd won a prize and that they'd be there to drop it off in half an hour.
I like prizes.
I sat out on the front porch awaiting the gifting! Another call arrives, it's the dispatcher checking the directions, my gift is on it's way, and "oh by the way, we'll have you answer a quick question about our product".

me: but I don't have your product, how can I answer a question about it?
them: right, we know you don't have one, it's an industrial grade product, we're giving you one.

I scratch my head and wonder how I can answer a question about an industrial grade air purification system... and the car pulls up. Smiling guy gets out of the car, dragging a giant box behind him.... and starts to launch into a sales pitch. fantastic (insert eye roll here).
he asks to plug it in so I can give my opinion of the product... so we do... and he continues to talk about air polution ect ect ect ect.... he talks for about 7 minutes before I stop him and say: "I'm sorry, I don't have time for this, see that girl who just came into the house? She just took a train in from Toronto so we could got to dinner together, the person on the phone told me I was getting a prize, not that I had to entertain you in my home." (nodding toward rebecca.. I didn't bother to tell him that she lives in town and takes the train from work everyday.. or that we were just going to go grab some food from tim hortons....)

he kept going.

I stop him again... "no, seriously, I need to leave now, thank you for coming though."

he gathers his stuff and goes....

now, the funny part is, this guy is selling an air purification system... we had to put out one of those "air sponges" after he left because he smelt so badly of smoke... our house stunk....

:P

consider it started.

links will return later this week, hopefully I'll be able to set up what I really really want.
Thanks for your patience.

in other news....

the landlord is away. I really hope she never comes back.
there's a funny story that goes with this, but in interest of protecting her a little... I'll only say that perhaps revenue Canada is involved, and perhaps they were asking me how long I've lived here, and when is she expected back?

I really like having a backyard!

BUT

having had my rant yesterday. I realize that I did forget one little thing.

I am thankful.

that thusfar, no one's noticed that I've gone back on my promise to revamp the blog at the 20000 mark ;)

perhaps this week it will happen.

how rude.

so I was browsing thru my tracker details... (yes, still obsessed with the info it gathers for me) and I discovered something horrible!
Facebook is eating my statistics!!
True enough, I took a few months there where I wasn't blogging as regularly as I have in the past, BUT... it appears that my visitors have dropped steadily for the past three months!!! I blame facebook.
You're reading this as a note now aren't you?
*sigh*
I miss your numbered visits....
come back to the blog... I am anal.

Woot. it's summer.

So, Friday night marked the first... yes, the FIRST of the SVFF meetings... errrrr at least the first of which I was involved... they've been happening since last year's festival ended.

I promised myself to not get too far in over my head this year, and I was only guilted once for dropping my previous role of "find everything and get it over here for us" (Chattel extraordinaire woman) (by the way, the position is still up for grabs, soooooo, if you're one with many a connection... I think you should apply for the position)(and give me a call, I don't mind sharing my knowledge)(this is a run-on sentence)( camouflaged by many a bracket)(I like brackets) this evening, so I still feel pretty good about the decision.
I'm looking forward to working with this team. I'm pretty much the go-fer for the Hospitality area, I heard of some name for the position, but I don't remember it, and I don't really care. In fact, I'm taking on dilligaf mentality this year. About a lot of things. ;)
Likeminded people, a few drinks, and a couple of belly laughs. I'm quite content.


"This is the year to look at the sunflowers" ... thank you Arnie, I think you're right.

where do you get shoes to fit those?

I got into the van at work today only to hear the last strains of this being sung

"and the feet goes on"....

yeah.. that rhythm is gonna get you.

BBQ'ed

oh pride.

This evening marked the second ever "house ladies" dinner party. (House ladies being those lovely young women who attend the CAC House groups, grades 8-9) (though... if you go to house, you're in 9-12) (but I really want the 8s to meet the 9s before next September...)

get on with it les

righ right right

Anyhoot.
As repayment for my watering the plants of the evil landlord, we have access to their backyard and BBQ. Now, being as landlord is manipulative and evil (trust me on this) I wanted to avoid using anything that was hers. BUT a bbq IS a bbq! SO. Tonight, I hosted the gr 8s and 9s in a little BBQ shindig.

I pride myself in my bbq skills. heck! I pride myself in my cooking skills.. I love to entertain (though evil landlord has really put a damper on dinner parties). SO! When GI Netty asked me jokingly "do you know HOW to bbq?" I laughed and said "of course!"

And then a giant billow of flame jumped out of the bbq and burnt my eyelashes and eyebrows.

great.

I hate simon...

on any given day, were you to ask me what I think about Simon from Idol, I'd give you a look.
He cuts people up sooooo badly.
Sometimes though... he surprises me.

this clip is from Britain's got talent. Simon's doing some judging there... and the result is fantasic.
please note... I couldn't even use my tissues I was crying so hard... my sleeve was closest. From the first note this little man sings.... PLEASE click on the picture above.

the looks of speculation on everyone's face... "sooooo.... you sing opera?" to the look where simon almost drops his pen... ok.. crying again.

and the green grass grew all around all around...

in honour of the sun a-shining, and the green stuff a growing, and the landlord being away for two weeks, and my day off being today. I plan on (after cleaning the house a bit) spending every second outside.
how lovely.

winter spring summer fall

a season for everything.

I hate change. Even when it's good for me.

Bus from the double hockey sticks...

you know those dreams where you're crashing.. or falling, or someone's chasing you? and you can't breathe? And your heart is pounding.. and you have to look away, but you can't look away, because if you do... well, you know you'll die instantly...
I had one of those days the other day.
You think it's going to be all fun and games when you get on the bus and the driver is introducing herself and singing along at the top of her lungs to some Dixie Chicks.. When your driver laughs a lot and talks about how she's been working a lot of hours, she only does charters... and jokes about whatever....
The people at the beginning of most horror films think they're starting a fun day too... at the beginning of the movie.

Then you notice your bus lurching from side to side....
Then you notice the cars you're flying past... the cars you're passing by inches... not inches from the side of you.. but inches from your bumper. You're tailgating... and passing at an incredible speed.... And then you notice the driver using her left foot on the gas and brake... the right taking a little break over in the aisle. Then the phone calls start... and the text messaging on the 401... and you start to think to yourself... "hmmm, I sure wish I'd written a will before I left the house today"