I have this habit of naming inanimate objects. My car's name is Bruce Eugene, the husband's car is named Biff, I have had plants (which are animate, I know) named Betty, Helen and Josie, and one at work named Jelly, we have a wooden crab from Cuba named Crabby, and the list goes on and on. The husband and I have always given silly names to all of our fish and random objects around the house as well. We had a fish named Amy, one named Rupinder, one named Troy, and a Pocostamus (the algae eaters that clean the tank and rocks) named Sucks because that's all he did all day; suck. Now I am not known as someone who has what you would call a "Green Thumb" - I run more along the lines of "Black Thumb" or "Kiss of Death" for all things vegetation wise. Try as I might, the only thing that I can keep alive is bamboo. So about 5 months ago I bought a little ivy and thought I'd try my hand at it. It always seems like one of those plants that is just kind of "there" and that you don't really have to work at to keep alive. The barren terra cotta pot above is what is left of that ivy. There is a little brown stub sticking out of the dirt that is all that remains of my beloved little plant. The thing is that I can't remember what I named it, so that was probably one of the reasons it gave up - I just wasn't giving it enough attention. Today the husband and I had to run in to Walmart to pick up some essentials (coffee, t.p., sugar, etc) and I decided that we should buy a new ivy. (By the way, I don't recommend going to Walmart this weekend because it is their anniversary sale, thus brimming with crazy cart-wielding people and old cat-ladies with 300 tins of 17 cent cat food, thus causing the husband to almost stroke-out trying to get around people - patience is not one of his strong points.) So as we were looking at all the little plants, the one in the picture below caught my eye and I knew that was the one we needed to get. While we were driving home I was holding it in my lap so it didn't get all smashed and die before I had the chance to murder it myself, and I called him Francois. Immediately the husband said that Francois was the perfect name, so now our new ivy is named. Right now he's basking in the sun before I transfer him to his new pot and try my best to keep him alive. Wish me luck!
I had a wonderful day today. Got tons of stuff done at work, everyone was in a great mood, scored some brownie points with the president of one of the associations I deal with, the weather was nicer than it has been, went to the chiropractor after work and had a fabulous adjustment, the husband went to a football game and left me to relax...the list goes on and on. One of the best things that happened today was that my boss bought me the bouquet of flowers in the picture. That's right - my boss bought me flowers. As I've griped many-a-time before, the other editor where I work quit just over a month ago, and I have been the solo editor there since that time. There is supposed to be another one starting in January but until that time it's just 'lil ole me. I've been feeling a little overwhelmed because the work load is unbelievable and I've been working 8 or 9 hours each day and then bringing work home almost every night - even on the weekends. One of the things I worry about though is that although I'm working really hard - I still don't seem to be able to get enough done. Until the other editor starts I've been told to forgo some of the things I would normally do to make the designers lives (Zig in particular) easier. This sucks for the designers because they have to pick up the slack, and one of the other ladies in the office has to proof all the ads that come through so I feel like I'm kind of letting them down. Everyone keeps assuring me that I'm doing a great job (I've only been there for 5 months) but I can't help but feel that way anyways. Okay, back to the flowers. When I started at this place I thought my boss was very scary. She just gives you the vibe that makes you tremble a little when she yells your name or your phone rings and you see that it's her extension. But over the last few months I've come to like her very much (she's crazy like the rest of us that work there) and it seems that she likes me a lot as well. So today after lunch I was sitting at my desk (my office is at the very end of the production office space) and I hear her come in and start yelling my name saying "Where's Ali? I need my Ali." So I yelled back that I was in my office and that I had missed her so much - I had seen her about a half hour before. She comes in carrying this huge floral arrangement of roses, daisies, lillies and carnations and a card. At first I though it was from my husband but then she read me the card, it said "Ali, Thank you for all your hard work, it does not go unnoticed!" And it was signed with her name! I almost freaked - who has ever heard of your boss giving you flowers for busting your hump!? Not me, that's for sure. Anyways, it absolutely made my day and they are the most fragrant flowers I think I've ever smelled. So that was a wonderful start to my weekend, I hope you all have a great one!
P.S. I'll be around this weekend so I should be posting. Oh, and I've put my email link up at the side, so if you wanna you can email me!
1. Spelling mistakes. I occasionally make them myself, but being an editor I can't help but notice and it makes my skin crawl. I actually proofread a menu one time and wrote the corrections right in the menu. What a freak, I know.
2. Men in either sandals or white runners in the summer with black socks pulled up. I wish I could tackle each and every man that does this, rip his socks off and give him a lecture on the rules of black and white socks.
3. Teenage girls with Crayola marker thick eyeliner.
4. Women that don't buy something or do something because their significant other "wouldn't like it." Obviously I don't expect you to dye your hair platinum blonde and pierce your belly button if your husband really can't stand those things. However, when you can't buy the v-neck sweater at the store because "Bob says I look slutty in v-necks and he made me get rid of everything that wasn't a boat neck," that's where I draw the line.
5. When people hand in their stuff late and say "Oh, I need this tomorrow, it's critical." Four words: Good luck with that. You hand it in late, you're going to get it late.
6.People commenting on my boobs. You have no idea how many people (even strangers I have never spoken to before) feel the need to tell me I have big boobs. It's absolutely ridiculous - like I didn't know before they told me.
7. People parking in my parking spot "just to run in for a sec." This is not your damn spot and when I come home from work I am going to swing my car in there whether you are there or not so get out of my way.
8. My husband not telling me when something is bothering him until we have a knock-down, drag-out fight about it.
9. Border guards on a power trip. Now I know these people have a job to do (my father-in-law is a border guard), but there is no need to be rude and I definitely don't look like a terrorist.
10. Posting sixteen notes around my apartment to remember to do something the next day, and then forgetting to do it anyway.
And one Bonus Peeve because I just thought of it: 11. Making a grocery list, going back to my apartment to grab it when I forgot it, then buying all my groceries, coming home and realizing I forgot 5 things we needed because I never took the list out of my pocket at the grocery store.
This morning when I was getting dressed for work I opened my sock drawer and realized that all I had left in there were all my big, thick, wooly, cozy socks. You know those ones that are so thick they are more like slippers than socks, and that you can't actually fit into your shoes? I have only worn socks about 3 times since the weather has turned colder because it's so easy just to slip into my flip-flops every morning. However, I think the time has come when it is just too cold for sandals - so socks and shoes it is. For the most part all my socks match; a couple years ago I got fed up with missing one of every different kind of sock; some with Hanes in pink, some with Hanes in red, some with stripes, some with pom poms, some with coloured toes, some with Adidas written on the side, the list goes on and on. So I threw all of our socks in the garbage (except the cozy ones of mine) and bought all grey socks with black heels. I bought them all the same size (they are a tiny bit big on me) and the husband and I share them. This way the socks always have a mate. I think it was one of the best moves I have ever made in the sock department. So back to this morning...all I had in my drawer was my fuzzy socks and the pair of toe socks pictured above. The husband bought them for me a couple years ago when Monsters Inc. came out and they're so cute. They have little swirly grips on the bottom just like kids' socks. I got lots of compliments on them today - my husband says the idea of having his toes seperated like that makes him want to throw up. I had a good day, got lots done, and took the picture below when I was driving down the Number 1 highway on my way home. This is what it has looked like in Winnipeg for the last week or two. The temperature is supposed to get down to -2 tonight so I'm happy I have on my cozy toe socks!
Hello out there my peeps! (Oh man, I am waaaaaaay to uncool and white to pull that off!) I am feeling like a gazillion times better than yesterday - my head is still pounding but otherwise I feel great! For some reason I am in a great mood - I dunno why really, I'm just feeling excited about something. Halfway through the morning and wading through the 37 emails that had arrived since I checked them less than 24 hours before I realized that being at work was actually making me feel better. You know how when you lie around for days on end you eventually feel even worse because that's all you've done for days? That's the point I was at this morning - I told the husband I was developing bedsores (not quite, but my back was sore). I actually got lots of work done today, and one book that has been a major pain in my ass. Of course I didn't get done what I needed to, but I managed to take care of everything that came up today, woo hoo! Everyone was in a pretty good mood at work today too, which was great. Except for Zig who was quite mean (Zig, you know what I mean he,he). I'm sure I'll get an earful on that even though I'm joking - but I moved into an office down the hall and now we can't just yell random insults and sound effects at each other. Sigh, it's just not the same. On the drive home I was going by a MacDonalds and a teenage punk was outside on a ladder trying to change the lettering for the special and he must have run out of letters. He was on his way down the ladder and all the sign said was "Sausage McMuff" so I had a pretty good laugh about that. Then I came home and the husband had supper pretty much ready, so we ate and talked for a few minutes and then I kissed him goodbye and he left for the nightshift. So I'm not really sure why I'm so happy, but I'll take it, that's for sure!
Oh yes, and thank you for all the happy thoughts on yesterday's post. I appreciate everyone making my sick butt feel even better with all the cheering on. I haven't posted where you can find the article because I am a suck about people knowing my last name. You just don't know who's out there reading about you and I have received some creepy comments in the past - so you know. Anyways, I am attempting to come up with another email address right now which I plan on putting on the sidebar to the right. Then if anyone still wants to know the address I can give it out to who I want. Thanks again for all the wonderful thoughts!
So here I sit, still sick and feeling sorry for myself. At least the vomiting has stopped. Now I just feel like I've been hit by a truck. I went in to work this morning for about a half hour just to drop some stuff off and check my messages and brought a bunch of work back with me. Everyone told me just to come home and go back to bed but I brought the work home with me anyways. However, half the stuff I need to finish this work is still at the office and I do have copy-editing I could be doing but my brain is not working at full capacity (I'd same I'm at about 57% right now) so I know I would just miss any mistakes. There's no point in even trying because I'll have to re-do it anyways. I've spent the day going back and forth between napping in my big comfy bed and laying curled up on the couch watching really bad tv. I don't really even want to go back to work tomorrow but the guilt will drive me crazy so I think I'm going to go anyways. As I was downloading some Prince and checking out my daily blog reads I decided to check out the website of this magazine I've recently begun writing for. I was just trying to find out if the Fall issue has been published yet because that's the first one I've written for and I want to buy a couple copies. Lo and behold, the piece I wrote for them is up on the website! The husband is working nights so I'm here all by my gross self, so I read the whole thing and then (of course) started to cry - but just for a moment...and it was because I was happy. Then I called my mom and told her to check it out. I remember when I lived in Alberta and was a reporter for a weekly newspaper - the first time I saw my byline I freaked right out, and the woman I had written the story on sent me flowers at the office because she was so happy with the article. Then the first time I was published in a small magazine I freaked out again. But this...this is a bigger magazine (not Time or People or anything, but big nonetheless) and I got to have my picture and a little bio in the mag and now it's on the internet! That is just huge for the little world of Ali! These are the days when I'm glad I listened to my husband and my best friend (the Bahama Mama) when they told me to just keep sending out resumes and busting my ass and that one day it would happen. And it did! Yay! This actually makes me feel a little better, I hope tomorrow will be a wonderful day.
I had a gross, snotty, puking, stomach ache, headache, no sleep kind of weekend. Not exactly what I had in mind. My family was at each other's throats the whole time and I got sick Saturday night and was miserable the rest of the time. I'm going to crawl into bed in about 10 minutes and don't think I'll even be going in to work tomorrow. And the stupid part is that I'll lay here and feel guilty about it the whole day. Grrrr, I'll probably go in for a half hour or so just to drop off some work I did this weekend and check my messages and email and then come back home and go back to bed - still feeling guilty. Oh well. And the only picture I took this weekend was this pretty one (you know what a sucker I am for sunlight streaming through clouds) while we were driving at Mach 10 speed back to the city tonight. So much for my happy, fall, family time, relaxation, puke free weekend!
Is That a Camera Cord In Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy To See Me?
Oh yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have found my beloved digital camera cord! And so I am going to carry it with me from now on in the back pocket of my jeans. By the way, do you know how difficult it is to take a picture of your own ass? Very difficult, I can assure you. Anyways, I just totally lied about keeping my cord in my back pocket because it's already out. But it is safely stowed away in my camera bag, ready for a weekend trip with the hubby down to where both of our sets of parents live. Yes...the dreaded land of dial-up. I think I may get brave and attempt to do a post though. Either that or I'll do one when we come back on Sunday night. It is very difficult to get used to the idea that when you turn on the computer there that it will take minutes to get to where you need to on the internet. I am so spoiled with high speed that it seems like hours to watch a page load down there. Oh well, what it lacks in up-to-date technology, it more than makes up for in comfort, beauty and relaxation. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, I will miss you and will read about you all on Sunday night. Ta ta!
I'm still cranky because I can't post pictures and I'm really wiped out so I actually wasn't going to post today...BUT...as I was pulling into the parking lot of my place an hour ago I noticed something very interesting. As I made the final turn into my area of the lot I drove by Mean Girl's car and her boytoy's little Sidekick. I chuckled to myself thinking about yesterday when I wrote that she still had the donut on her car from about a month and a half ago. Well as I drove past I cranked my steering wheel to turn into my stall and happened to look into my sideview mirror. What do I see? Well it appears that Mean Girl has gotten rid of her donut! Now I don't know about you, but I see this as a very eerie turn of events. You might ask, "So what's the big deal?" Well, isn't it strange that she has been driving around for 53 days (I counted from that tire changing post I wrote) with the donut with the huge dorky yellow stripe, and the day after I do a post talking about what a tool she is for still having it on, the tire is mysteriously changed!? Coincidence? I think not! I think Mean Girl is next door right now, waiting for me to do my next post so she can mess with my mind. Well I've got news for you Mean Girl! I am not a pushover! I am not scared of you! Your boyfriend is really nice to me and I'm sure he won't let you do anything mean to me! And my husband sees you all the time and he's keeping his eye on you! Plus, like I said before, I was a ninja in my past life so I'm sure you don't want to find out what one of my Hiiiiiiieeeeeeee Yaaaaaahhhhhhh's will do to your chubby butt!
Hmmm.....aahhhhhh.......well......uh........yeah, so........it turns out that I don't have all that much to write about tonight. I can't post any pictures because the cord for my digital camera has mysteriously gone missing. Hmmm, maybe it's with all the socks that go missing in the dryer...or with my sanity after a long day of dealing with stupid associate editors. I have been looking for that damn cord for 3 days now. I have absolutely no idea where it could be but it's looking more and more like it might have been thrown out with the mountain of garbage I got rid of on Sunday. Sigh...it looks like I'm off to Future Shop to see if I can find a cord that will fit. Boo!
Oh, and Tee was asking me for a Mean Girl update. I haven't seen her in about a month, she is never outside anymore,...maybe she's a vampire. Remember when I posted this? Well I saw her car in the parking lot today and the tool still has the donut on! Uh, do you think that that is a full size tire idiot? It has a big yellow stripe around the whole thing and it looks about half the size of your other 3 tires! Whatever, she's probably just terrified to go outside in the daylight (what with her being a vampire and all) because she thinks I'm gonna kick her ass! Which I would never actually do - unless she comes at me first. She doesn't stand a chance though...I know for a fact I was a ninja in my past life, the husband tells me so.
Whew, for having nothing to write I sure wrote a lot!
Today the husband picked me up from work and we decided to pick some food up for supper at a little market that we love. We picked up freshly made lasagna, this pork stir-fry thingie and came home for a delicious meal. I made this new salad that I had a coulple weeks ago which is absolutely mouth watering (spinach, baby romaine, peaches, slivered almonds and a raspberry poppy seed dressing) and we dined and chatted in the living room. Anyhoo, when we were leaving the market for the drive home the husband asked me if I would drive because he just didn't feel like it and I love to drive. So we were driving home and I was chattering non-stop (I had actually been doing it since he picked me up), and when I say non-stop I mean non-stop. I had barely taken a breath in the 20 minutes since we'd left my work. I wasn't even speaking coherently; I was talking, making sound effects, singing, yelling at other drivers, and my husband was just staring at me wide-eyed. So as I pulled up at a red light I was pretending that I was going to peel out when it turned green. When the light turned green I hit the gas and sure enough, a little "squeak" came from our tires. I started to laugh because I had never made the tires squeal before and the husband was cheering me on because he couldn't believe I'd actually done it. It was really a big deal about nothing because the sound was so tiny - whatever, I was so psyched that I was beaming from ear to ear. So further on down the road we pulled up to another red light with me still blabbering away and I said to the husband "watch this, I'm gonna peel out again" and I had my hands all race car driver like on the wheel. Well the light turned green and I hit the gas and my tires squealed. Like an actual big noisy squeal and I drove through the intersection all shocked and then my husband and I started to laugh. I was laughing so hard that I could hardly breathe - like it was the funniest thing that had ever happened to me. As I was laughing it was such a deep belly laugh that I actually started to cry, which turned into this huge bawling, chest heaving, body wracked with sobs kind of cry. I was still driving and I could not stop crying, my husband was kind of laughing to himself, telling me that it was okay. He knows very well the drastic mood swings my hormones can cause me to take. So about 2 minutes down the road I finally started to calm down and then started thinking about how funny me squealing my tires was and I started laughing all over again. Now my stomach is hurting from laughing so hard but mentally I feel great - I think only my husband could deal with that kind of mood swing so well. No matter how much I complain about him sometimes, he's still a wonderful, fantastic man and I love him very much.
Here in Winnipeg it has been raining for the past 3 days. It's also quite cold here - nothing like what we'll have in the coming months but chilly nonetheless. Right now the temperature is 8 degrees celcius which converts to 46.4 degrees farenheit for all you Americans (all 3 or so of you). So like I said, pretty chilly for September. For the most part I tend to love when the weather gets like this, I love the rain and as I've said before I love being dressed in cozy clothes. The only part I don't like it straightening my hair, getting all my work stuff together, grabbing my bag, my coffee and my keys and realizing that both my jacket and my umbrella are in the trunk of my car. And oh no, I do not have a garage. So there I was this morning sprinting (well as much of a sprint as I could manage in 3.5 inch heels) with all my stuff, getting blown around by a howling gale and getting drenched with rain. By the time I got all my crap safely into the passenger seat, opened the trunk, dug out my jacket and umbrella and threw myself out of breath into the drivers seat - my hair was soaking wet and starting to curl. Needless to say I looked like a drowned rat all day except for the 15 minutes I was checking my email before I left for work. Anyhoo, back to me liking the weather...so when I came home tonight (an hour after originally planned because I was swamped) I tore off my boots, pants and shirt - pulled on a ripped sweatshirt, my $3 pink Winnie the Pooh pj bottoms and pulled on these absolutely hideous slippers that I got from the husbands Gramma for Christmas last year. The entire family got a pair of these slippers, red for the girls, blue for the boys. And as ugly as they are, they are so cozy and comfy that I love them. So now I'm sitting at my computer, snug as a bug and listening to the wind howling outside. I have about 2 more hours of work to do and CSI Miami starts tonight, so I'll bid you adieu for now and will write at you all tomorrow.
Hrrmmmphhh...I am grumpy. Very grumpy. I went to bed grumpy last night and thus tainted myself for the morning. Yesterday the husband and I went to an out of town wedding for our friends L and J. They were the ones we went camping with back in August. Anyway, it was a beautiful wedding (I used my SLR and didn't take the digital, thus no pictures to post) but I wasn't so thrilled about the reception. You see, the husband went to school with L and the four of us became friends about 3 years ago. So the husband knew about 4 people that work at the hospital with him and L, and I knew...the bride and groom. Once I got talking to the people at our table they were a pretty fun group so that wasn't too bad. There was an open bar which I told the husband to take full advantage of because I was thinking that me drinking myself silly wouldn't be the best idea given all the new medications I'm on. Plus I wanted to sleep in my own bed and didn't want to have to pay for a hotel room, so needless to say, the husband visited the bar several times. Problem was this, the people we were sitting with were the ones he knew from work and their spouses, but everytime he would go to get another beer or go to the bathroom he would stop to talk to other people. He and I are alot alike in the way that we really aren't very shy at all - so we talk to people we don't know. Anyways, so everytime he would get up from the table it would be like a 15-20 minute journey. The other thing is that I love to dance. When I'm with my girlfriends I don't have to be plastered to dance, however, when I'm with people I don't know I like to be "alcoholicly encouraged" to step onto the dance floor. No problem, when the husband is drunk he becomes very lovey and very into my personal space, so I figured that even though we woudn't be fast dancing, I could squeeze a couple of drooly slow songs out of him. So when they play the slow songs does the f*@$er ask me to dance? Hell no, he sits talking to the dude beside him and then we watch everyone else get onto the dance floor. Then the next slow song comes on and he says "I friggin' hate Nickleback" and we sit there. Everyone else at our table gets up to dance and then he goes (1/3 of the way into the song) "oh, so do you want to dance?" Absolutely not...I want to grab you by the hair and drag your drunk ass down the stairs and out through the parking lot and yell at you for being such an ass! Gee, does it ever make me feel wonderful that you ask me as an afterthought if I want to dance. Piss off! So anyway, we drove back to the city with me all pissed off, going over in my mind all the things I would like to say to him but I don't, partly because my jaw is locked because I am gritting my teeth together so hard, and partly because I don't even want to look at him to see if he's passed out or awake.
I have been on quite the emotional roller coaster ride recently because of my whacked out hormones, popping all my friggin' pills and just generally feeling like a useless piece of crap because of this whole baby-making inability I have. I have talked this over with my husband, let him know that I am sorry for being cranky and don't mean to take my frustrations out on him and he always assures me that he will be more loving and attentive. I have yet to see that side of him for longer that the 2 hours after we have the conversation.
So, I'm sure when he gets up this morning and eventually reads this post that I will either get the cold shoulder or an earful for posting this up for all the world to see.
Soooo - this morning I decided that if tonight was going to be "date night" then I had better shave my legs in preparation for all the "amourousness." I'm pretty good at keeping them shaved anyways, but date night calls for very smooth. Anyway, I needed a new razor so I rifled around under the bathroom sink until I found the 4-pack of Bic razors I bought a little while ago. I grabbed one and just as I was about to throw the other back into the abyss, something on the package caught my eye. At the bottom of the package it says "Lavender Scented Handles." Huh? Lavender handles? On a razor? Why? These thoughts all ran through my mind in a 3 second period and then I thought "As if!" When I bought this package of razors, the only reason I picked them up is because they were all shades of pink. Pretty, so I picked them out of the aisle of other razors. At no point did I ever notice those words on the package OR notice a lavender scent whilst I was shaving my legs. Curious, I held one of the razors up to my nose and sniffed. And wouldn't you know it - it smelled nice! Not exactly like lavender, but nicer than most "ordinary" plastic razor handles. But then I began to question why that is even a selling feature. I mean, you can't smell it while you're shaving your legs and I for one don't sit around smelling my razors on a regular basis. The entire thing baffles me to no end, but the silly thing is that I will probably check all the packages at the drugstore from now on, just to see what else is out there. And if I find a package that's scented in peach - you can bet that those are the ones I'll be buying. Isn't it amazing what is considered a selling feature these days?
Just one more sign that the summer is coming to an end. A dead flower, but I almost think that it looks just as pretty this way. And the fall air is definitely working it's magic on the hubby and I, because we're both feeling much more "amourous" than in recent months. That's what the act of baby-making (or attempt at baby-making) will do to you after a while. Totally burn you out. Anyhoo, we must be on some kind of roll, because we spent this evening together (even though we were at his grandma's house for a visit), and tomorrow night we're going out on a date. Friday night we'll either be getting together with one of our friend couples or I think I may be able to convince him to come out for some much needed shopping. Saturday we have to travel out of town to the wedding of another one of our friend couples. And Sunday we're going to sleep in, probably go out for breakfast (one of our favourite things to do - but it's been about 6 months since we last went), go do a major grocery shop (which we are actually both excited about), possibly have a nap, make dinner, and just hang together the rest of that night. He starts back to work on Monday, this past week he was on holidays - thus all of the time spent together. I hope you can all learn to love the romanticism of fall as much as I do. Like I've said before; nothing beats the crunchy leaves, romantic walks, cozy clothes, and the urge to cuddle. I wish you all the "amourousness" you can handle.
This is me and my husband - just being silly at home. I have tons of work to do but it's been ages since we've really spent any time together so I decided that we needed some evidence that we actually do spend time together when our ridiculous schedules allow.This is more proof for myself than anyone else.
The second picture is probably the most realistic one - me baring my teeth a little with a sneer on my face. Although, we have our moments and the rest of the smiles come into play as well. I was telling one of the ladies I work with about our melt-down last week and she just stared at me in awe. When I asked her what was the matter she told me that she and her husband never fought like that, it fact she says they never fight at all, and I believe her. She said that she's never heard of a relationship with so much "passion" before...I think I'm going to take that as a compliment. Everything my husband and I do is very extreme - we fight really hard, love really deeply, laugh from our bellies and feel things right from the tips of our toes. Yep, I'm going to take that as a compliment - because without passion, what fun is a relationship?
Ta-dah! Here it is, my third tattoo. More butterflies, I know, but I'm a girl and I like them. Very pretty, very girly. I got this tattoo in the summer of 2002, just a few months after the hubby and I moved to Winnipeg from Calgary. This one was the least scary to get - I had gotten over the initial fear of getting one with my first tattoo, I was getting it somewhere a little fleshier than the top of my foot, and a girl was going to be the tattoo artist. Not that guys aren't great (a guy did my first one) but it's easier to relax with a girl - plus I had to take my shirt basically off to get it done. This tattoo is located on my right shoulder blade, just inside of where my bra strap sits. I love it, I just wish I could see it more often. Now I only see it when I'm getting in or out of the shower. And half the time I forget I even have it unless I'm wearing clothes where other people can see it and comment on it. I think my first tattoo on my foot is my favourite, probably because it was the first one but I don't really know. The second one signifies more to me as it ties in elements of my life and personality. But I like this one a lot too, because it's feminine and I like the fact that it just peeks out from behind my clothes sometimes. Whatever, I like tattoos, they like me, and it's so true what people say; once you get one, you're itching to get more!
Here is tattoo number 2. It's actually the last one I got, in October of 2005. My other two tattoo's are both of butterflies so some people were surprised because this one is bigger and darker than the others. It's not very girly either. Anyways, the blue A obviously stands for my name, Alison (Ali). There is also a small clover inside the A which represents my primarily Irish heritage. At the top left corner of the A is a Gemini sign, it's not really clear but I wanted it to be something that just I knew was there. The rest of the design doesn't represent anything, though it was a lot more detailed when I did the drawing for it. It didn't get quite as much detail as I wanted originally because I didn't want it to be huge. I am disappointed by the fact that now that I watch shows like "Inked" and "Miami Ink" is realize that had my tattoo artist been a little less lazy and willing to take a little more time it could have been done properly. This tattoo is on the inside of my right wrist, so when I hold my hand up in front of me (palm side in) it looks like the picture. I would have to say that this was the most painful tattoo to get, but only because she had to hit the tendon that runs down the right side of your arm. As soon as she hit that my arm swelled up and it bled a lot. Even though it hurt more than the other two, it really wasn't too bad - it's annoying more than anything, but I tend to have a pretty high threshold for pain. So that's all for tattoo number 2. Tune in tomorrow for tattoo number 3. It's one that people don't see much and is impossible to take a picture of myself, woohoo - what fun!
In my post a couple days ago I had a picture posted of my husband drawing on my toes. Reggie observed that in that picture you can see a tattoo on my left foot. Correct; that is one of my three tattoos. I got it when I was 18 years old, at the end of my first year of college. Since this topic has been explored on a couple of the blogs I regularly read, I figured I may as well do the same on mine. I'll post a picture of each of mine on separate days. Many people don't approve of tattoos - they think they're tacky or ugly, too many worry about what other people might think or what the tattoo will look like when they're older. All I have to say is this: though a tattoo may appear tacky or ridiculous to you, chances are that for the person sporting it - it may have a deep meaning; a memorial to a loved one, a marker of a significant life event, or they may just love something enough to have it permanently put on their skin. Just because you think it's ugly doesn't mean it is to that person. As far as what other people might think...sigh...who gives a rat's ass what anyone else thinks? I have never been known for caring what other people think of me and that is something I'm very proud of. If someone has enough time on their hands to talk about how ridiculous you look with a tattoo, maybe they just don't have enough to do, or they may even be jealous that they can't go through with getting one of their own. Hmmm, and as for how it might look when I'm older - well, when I'm old enough to have loose skin and boobs down to my knees, the last thing I'll be thinking about is how bad my tattoos look. In fact, my grand-children might think I'm just a little cooler for having tattoos at all. And by that time, the only person who will really see them at all is my husband. And I know that he'll love me no matter what, no matter where my tattoos might have shifted to. Now, I'm not trying to promote that tattoos are for everybody, that's definitely not the case. I'm just saying please don't turn up your nose at the people that do, we don't make fun of the fact that you don't have any.
Whew, and there's this weekend's sermon from "Preacher Ali."
Sooooo, I went to my doctor today. One of my many doctors. And he decided that the medication I've been on for the past 3.5 months hasn't been doing all it can do for me. So I'm already taking three of those pills a day - which make me sick everytime I take them. And now I have 2 other types of pills that I have to take as well. The side effects for both of these new pills are considerably worse than the ones I've been feeling from my current medication. Yuck - I am going to be miserable - and as I tend to be a quite happy person (not including the last few weeks where I've been a little burned out) I'm sure I will notice a big difference in myself. I guess I'll have to work extra hard to be as bubbly as usual, you always notice a change in everyone (especially at work) when someone just isn't themself. I realize that I should be thankful that I even have medication to try and make me better - I just wish there were no ill side-effects, you know? I am especially feeling bad for my husband, I am already known by him for my dramatic mood swings and one of the side effects of both of the new medications is dramatic mood swings. Let's just hope I'm still married in a few months. But if all of the little pills work together and do what they should, hopefully I'll get all my body stuff under control and there will be a new reason to be happy. Very complicated stuff, I won't get into the details.
Well...I'm off to take the first fistful of healthiness in a bottle. Wish me luck!
The husband and I have hardly seen each other in the last month. I bet the total number of hours we actually spent together over the month of August was about 20. We occasionally have times where we work opposite of each other for a week or even two, but for an entire month!? That's crazy. I've been getting home from work at about 5:45pm and he leaves at around 6:30pm when he's working nights. Then in the mornings he gets home at about 8:15am and I leave at 8:30am. On those days when he works the day shift he leaves by 6:30am and returns at about 8:15pm. By then he's usually so exhausted that we have a quick supper, watch a little tv and then he goes to bed and I stay up working. It doesn't help that I've been bringing home hours of work every night too. This whole not seeing each other thing is definitely taking its toll on both of us. We fought last night, this morning, during work (he called me twice) and then when he picked me up from work tonight. The good thing about him picking me up and us fighting though, is that we really had it out when we got home and we both got some stuff off our chests. What is it with men and not telling what's really bothering them until the wife is threatening their life unless they confess what is really going on? The men always feel better after - why not just spit it out in the first place for god's sake? You'd save a whole lot of screaming and, possibly tears (on the wife's part that is). Anyways, the melt down did us both good, and of course - the aftermath is always great. Once we were all exhausted from screaming, the husband decided to draw a family of toe people on my toes. Sometimes it just takes a whole lot of screaming (and a little body modification) to make everyone feel better I guess.
So…um…I have this bad habit…heh, heh…and it’s annoying and gross…and it seems weird that it’s my bad habit and not my husbands. The bad habit has to do with me and my morning coffee. And the wet spoons. And the leaving of the wet, coffee spoons on the counter. And the not wiping up of the messy little moon shaped coffee marks from above mentioned wet coffee spoons. It is the most ridiculous habit; but everyday I set my spoon down on the counter after stirring my coffee instead of putting it in the sink. All I have to do is turn 180 degrees in my tiny little kitchen and put it a foot lower than on the counter. But does it ever happen? Rarely. The thing is (and I’m a good enough wife to admit this) that if it was my husband that was doing this disgusting thing every day, I would scream and yell and make him feel terrible about it. I chastise myself about it daily, and yet the next morning I am peeling a stuck spoon off the counter. Ewwww. And even if I clean up the entire kitchen – half the time I leave that little piece of the counter in a mess – only god and some little retarded corner of my brain know why I do it every day. And even though you’d think me writing this for all the world to see would make me change my dirty habit – I bet tomorrow morning that I do the exact same thing.
As I mentioned last week, this past weekend was Labour Day weekend so I headed off to the parents house for some much needed R&R. It was great, spent lots of time lounging, went to a birthday party, went to a movie, went out for dinner, visited with some friends and...relaxed. Aahhhhhhhh. When I left Winnipeg on Saturday morning it looked like I was heading from Heaven into Hell. I thought the clouds looked cool so of course I took a picture (while I was going 130 down the Trans Canada Highway, but who could slow down and let everyone get ahead of them!?). It looks like I'm going into this very ominous world under these clouds, but it cleared up about 2 hours down the road.
A lot of people don't understand when I tell them that I'm from a border town. They don't realize exactly how close to the U.S. I am. So here is a picture of exactly how close the U.S. is from my parent's house. In this picture I'm standing on Canadian soil and as you can see from the American flag - we're very close. It's actually closer than it looks in the picture. At some points I can throw a rock and hit American soil.
My area is known for its wildlife, fishing and beauty. People come from near and far across Canada and the U.S. to hunt and fish on Lake of the Woods. Who could turn down a sunset like this?
I also mentioned that I would be spending a lot of time in my parents gorgeous sunroom. Most of my weekend was spend curled up in that blue chair in the corner or hunched over the table doing work I brought home.
It was a wonderful weekend of relaxation and it was just what I needed. I won't be going back now for about 3 weeks so it's a good thing I had my fill. Of course, as much as I love being in that relaxed setting - I do love the hustle and bustle of the city. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to experience both.
The leaves have begun to change colour and fall in my little corner of the world...and I have to say that I'm not unhappy about it. Fall is actually my favourite season. I do enjoy spring quite a bit as well, but fall is wonderful. First of all, who doesn't love the colours of autumn? The yellows, browns, reds and even purples of the leaves and the way the trees look so beautiful and spooky when they're bare. I love to take walks in the fall - I find it to be the most romantic season for it - cozy sweaters and holding hands and crunching leaves under your feet - it's great. The temperature is always a little more tolerable than summer too. Here in Winnipeg the summers can get pretty muggy; I do like when it's warm, but when I walk to my car in the morning and work up a sweat, it's too hot. The clothes for fall are great too, jewel tones and all things cozy - my favourite way to dress. I'm usually the girl who is cold no matter what and is shivering and wearing 3 sweaters and her leopard print slippers in the summer A.C. at work. So when I can dress cozy for indoors and not melt when I walk outside it's just an added bonus.
Crisp air, romantic, beautiful colours, gorgeous clothes...what more could you ask for in a season?
I’m a lover and a fighter. I’m extremely curious. I hunger for knowledge, but I’m hopelessly lazy. I have dreams nearly beyond the scope of imagination. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I adore curse words. I’m easy to read, yet amazingly complicated. Next to my daughter, belly laughs are the highlight of my day.
Essentially I’m a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, rolled in make-believe, dipped in immaturity, and sprinkled with sarcasm.
I have this habit of naming inanimate objects. My car's name is Bruce Eugene, the husband's car is named Biff, I have had plants (which are animate, I know) named Betty, Helen and Josie, and one at work named Jelly, we have a wooden crab from Cuba named Crabby, and the list goes on and on.
