Christmas illness

I get sick every Christmas. Or it's been that way for the last three years at least. True to form I started feeling icky Boxing Day cutting our visiting short. Sunday it hit full force. I was certain I would never feel better. My stomach was a knot of nausea that had somehow convinced my brain that the smell of baking chocolate chip cookies was repulsive. Needless to say, I couldn't eat. Ginger ale became my best friend. Yesterday things looked up I could eat again and my love of all things chocolate began to resurface. But here I am now at the doctor's office, I did go to work today but I'm still not the best (kinds feeling worse than yesterday:S). So I thought a little check up might be in order. Let's hope all goes well.

Christmas Changes

The change from school to work hasn't been too bad but I'm missing the amount of holiday time. I like to veg out for days over the holidays, eat junk, read books, play games (video and board). This year there won't be much of that. I have to work quite a few days and I'll be driving back and forth between my home and my family home during the time I'm off.

But then, I'm also going to be enjoying my first Christmas with me and Mr. Boyfriend living together so changes aren't all that bad :)


Jane

Oh dearie me, Christmas

I celebrate Christmas. It happens to be one of my favorite times of the year, after 4:00PM on the 24th. That's when the madness stops and the fun begins :)

Meanwhile, I'm going crazy trying to get all my shopping (and some of my Mom's shopping) done. I got a good chunk done yesterday taking advantage of my lunch hour and a few hours after work. But the important thing we got done yesterday was putting up our Christmas tree. It wasn't all sunshine and roses but we got it up and it looks pretty cute. Cute because it's a somewhat sparse little artificial tree we bought at Canadian Tire for $30 and we didn't buy enough beads for it. We're somewhat hopeless.

The cat only chewed on it a little which we quickly clapped at, hopefully I won't find little green "needles" in his poop tonight.


Jane

So freaking tired

Why? Why do I want sleep so badly right now? I feel like my brain isn't even working right, probably because I'm trying to cut out my morning caffeinated tea. Unfortunately honeybush isn't cutting it.

It's pretty bad if I need it to feel alert :S


Jane

Appointments

I started my job about I months ago now and I have to say, it's nice to have health and dental insurance. I've been able to make sure I'm not falling apart. I'm pretty much done with the maintenance appointments, next, wisdom tooth extractions. Yay.


Jane

Mondays are a write off

I may have fully planned my post for Monday and I still don't get it out.

However, not updating last night may have something to do with watching 9 episodes of Extras.

Anyhow, I think we'll try Tuesday to Thursday from now on for my posting schedule.

In and out

When I leave the office in the evening and the fresh, cool air hits my face I feel like I haven't taken a breath in hours.

Done!

I passed in my report last night. It feels so good to be done. What was I thinking doing a course after just graduating? I'm silly.

Posting should resume as normal tonight :)

Dance

I had a song in my head this afternoon. I couldn't stop humming it, nor could I figure out it's origin except for a faint inkling that it was from the eighties. So, I called Mr. Boyfriend, who being slightly older than me has a better memory of the esteemed decade in question. Well, he figured it out Wishing Well, by Terence Trent D'Arby. And that didn't help too much, it struck a bell but I did not experience a full recollection. It wasn't til I got home, looked it up, and heard it that I truly remembered the song.

And the recollection was glorious! Not being able to remember had been eating away at me all afternoon as I mindlessly hummed or whistled the few bars rattling around in my head. When I finally heard it I was so happy I broke into dance. Which brought back memories of when I used to dance alone in my room. I know it may sound odd but I really enjoyed being by myself and dancing in a way that would never see the dance floor.

I think I may take up the habit again. Don't tell anyone.


Jane

Woolly Mammoths

I came across this article on cloning woolly mammoths. Which is pretty freaky. You kind of think of extinction as being, well, final. I guess not . . .

It kinda got me thinking, why is it ok to clone animals but not humans? Is it because of all the movies predicting the horrible things we'd do to our clones?

Probably, us humans, such arses.

Sick Day :(

I was off sick today. Not much exciting on the go. I slept, did some laundry (I was home afterall), and generally laying about. The sleep certainly helped me feel better. Good ol sleep, nothing like it :)

Maybe my brain will be doing more elaborate thinking tomorrow.


Jane

The Vegetable Way

I've made the decision to become a vegetarian. It's something I've always leaned towards and since my parents had me put the turkey in the roaster Thanksgiving (closing my eyes just made it worse :P) I've been thinking about it a lot more. Someone incapable of handling a dead animal (let alone killing it) just shouldn't eat meat.

In the end there were lots of reasons but animal rights is probably on the top of the list. I've promised my boyfriend I won't push it on him (which I won't) and I guess we'll see how things go from there. I have to be extra careful about my new diet. I'm prone to iron deficiency so greens and iron supplements will be a must. I've started taking a general multivitamin in the mornings to help fill in the holes (which even meat eaters should do anyways). Also I've been looking into the vegetarian diet and the foods I have to eat to stay healthy. The Vegetarian Starter Kit from the Vegetarian Times is a good place to start.


Jane

Peak Oil

Peak oil, the idea that we're using more than we're producing. Makes sense to me. There seems to be a lot of debate over when it will happen (or whether it already has happened) and how much it will affect culture and society. There's people who speculate it will be the end of modern society as we know it and others who believe it'll just push us into the green revolution. It's hard to predict the future, considering there's so many variables (like billions of people) in that equation.

I'm going to remain optimistic, mostly because I've learned that there's no point going around with a doom and gloom attitude (one of the many lessons from going through adolescence :P). I will however be looking casually into survivalism (perhaps encourage my mother to expand her greenhouse :D).


Jane

A realization

Last night it dawned on me that I have a 20 page paper due in two weeks. Fall just flew by, where did all the time go? At least I'm not in school which means I can focus solely on the paper (as opposed to regular school semesters where I'd leave everything to the last minute and it all got done half assed).

So, I probably won't be updating too regularly for the next two weeks.

Thems the breaks!


Jane

Tall Trees?

I love how the tress look taller than the buildings in this shot (taken in Strawberry Fields, New York).



We really had a great day in Central Park. It was a clear, sunny day and there were saxophone players scattered around giving the place a lovely musical score. It's definitely one of my favorite places in New York, it's so well maintained but as the same time looks so natural, as if it just grew there the way it is :)

Let's just agree the week starts today

So, did some grocery shopping last night. Good times were had by all. We (Mr boyfriend and I) need to learn how to eat all the food we buy. There's the tendancy to think there's nothing to eat in the house. Often times, there is many things, we're just lazy and don't see them.

So, now we have even more and we have to work at eating it all instead of going out to eat everyday (even if it is just Subway). We'll see how it goes :S

Tonight I'll finally post that New York picture. Tomorrow I've got a big idea planned.


Jane

Book Worm

So I've been slowly getting my mind around the idea that books are becoming digital. I'm one of those people that finds comfort in shelves and shelves of books. Libraries just feel right.

So why do eBook Readers appeal to me? Well, because it sounds so convenient. It'll definitely save space, help conserve trees, and save me money (in the long run). I'd probably still buy the occasional book, just to maintain that bibliophile look I've got going in my apartment, but the majority of my reading could be done from a reader.

The biggest problem is figuring out which one. There's more on the market than I thought there would be. The Amazon Kindle doesn't appeal to me because the wireless capability doesn't work in Canada and it you have to buy their books. The Sony Reader doesn't have wireless either but it is $50 cheaper. Also, it seems to support more file formats. Wikipedia lists a few more but they don't seem to have a lot in the way of battery life. Frankly, I don't know which is the best buy; they all seem to have the same basic features.

Personally, I'd like a device that is easily portable and serves all the functions I'd like to use on the go. A reader, a browser, a phone, a camera, a notepad, an organizer all this and a device that interfaces with my email, igoogle, blog, what have you. But I think that's going to take a little while longer :)

For now I guess I just have to carry them all around separately in my very large purse :P

Potato

Spending last night on the couch did not spawn any big ideas other than "don't buy chips if you're going to be the only one eating them."

I'll be posting a picture from my trip tonight and hopefully I'll have a big idea for tomorrow :D

Back from NYC

Wow, I am tired. I can't wait for the weekend so I can recover from my vacation :P

We did a lot of walking, gawking, and shopping.

More later, when I'm awake.

Walking to work

Now that daylights savings is over my main dose of sunlight in the day is in the morning. Beautiful fall mornings.



It almost makes it up for having to watch the sunset in my last hour of work :S

I threw my lunch in the garbage

. . . by accident :S

I was so wound up from my hair fiasco (see my other blog) and the fact that money is a tad tight right now that I almost cried.

I am way too dramatic sometimes.

Silly me

So I brought my camera with me on my walk to work this morning so I could take some pictures for this blog but I forgot the cable for connecting to the computer home. Silly person. Making plans and forgetting items integral to those plans.

So, I'll have to post the pictures this evening. If I have time while I'm getting ready to go to New York tomorrow.

Should be fun.

Winds of change

Well, Obama was elected. I was looking at the CBC article which seems quite positive.

The only thing I'll miss about Bush is the wisecracks directed his way, and I have to admit, they were getting fairly tiring towards the end of it.

Frustration

Why is it that angry frustration is followed by apathy? I was running late this morning, over come with frustration that nothing worked out this morning as I stomped my way to work and now I'm just Bleh.

I must have tired out my brain. Or maybe it's realized there's nothing I can do to change it.

Hmm.

But I don't want a 40 hour work week . . .

I'm sure there's a reason why this is the case but I could speculate forever on the why. Why I have a high level of family values, amount of pride in my home, and desire to relax for hours at a time while my brain returns to equillibrium. I just do (there's probably not much I can do to change it at this point :P). However, the result is that now I'm in the workforce 40+ hours a week for the rest of my life seems a little daunting.

There enlies the problem. I'm an engineer and engineers work long weeks. It's not the only profession either in Canada the work week increased from 44.6 to 46.3 hours in the period of 1998 - 2005 [1]. What's the deal guys? Is it the high cost of living? The competition for jobs? What makes us willing to work this long?

Is it really necessary? Consider the price. We have less leisure time, less time with our families, less time building our relationships (other than the ones at work).

So, I'm creating a goal for myself. In the next 5 - 10 years I want to get into a job that is 35 - 37 hours a week. Definitely necessary before I have children, I mean I want them to know who their mommy is instead of seeing her in the two hours between when she gets home and they go to bed (and to not know her as the highly stressed psycho lady :P).

[1] http://www.irpp.org/newsroom/archive/2007/020107e.pdf