>мебель в болгарииhere did you begin 2009? Reading clipse.
2. What was your status by Valentine’s Day? Who
3. Were you in school (anytime this year)? I was in school ALL year.
4. How did you earn your money? Supporting people with special needs
5. Did you have to go to the hospital?
6. Did you have any encounters with the police? Numrous
7. Where did you go on holidays? Toronto, over and over and over again; otherwise, and with the exception of a weekend in Vancouver, most of my “holidays” were tied in with work.
8. What did you purchase that was over $1,000? tuition.
9. Have you kissed anyone this year? Of course
10. Did you know anybody who passed away? My namesake, Uncle Steve, died in late January; the world became approximately 1,000% less funny as a result.
11. Did you move anywhere? Yup…I am no longer living in sin.
12. What concerts/shows/sporting events did you go to? Miley Cyrus (for real), Doodlebops, Wild vs. Rangers, The Rankin Family, Robert Munsch, Fred Penner
13. Are you registered to vote? Yup.
14. What was the biggest change in your life? To be honest, I don’t know if there was a major change worth noting in 2009. I lived, I learned; there’s something to be said for that, I suppose.
15. Where do you live now? In a house?
16. Describe your birthday? Firstly, why is the question mark still there? Secondly, and pursuant to #9, I can only offer limited information about my birthday–namely, I got a year older, Manchester United beat Birmingham City 1-0 and I played soccer.
17. What has been your favorite moment? Pearl Jam playing “The Real Me” at Canada Olympic Park
18. What’s something you learned about yourself? I can do pretty much anything I set my mind to accomplishing
19. Any new additions to your family? Disaster was averted on that particular front…
20. What was your best month? August
21. What music will you remember 2009 by? “The Fixer,” along with the rest of Backspacer; No Line on the Horizon by U2; Live at Shea Stadium by the Clash; Together Through Life by Bob Dylan; Abbey Road by the Beatles; “Zero” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; and “If You’re Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)” by Weezer
22. Who has been your best drinking buddy? I am not sure I even had a drink in 2009.
23. Made new friends?
24. New best friend? Nah..
25. Favorite night out? After Pearl Jam in Toronto on August 22
26. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Saw Social Distortion (finally!)
27. Did you keep your New Year’s Resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions
28. Did anyone close to you give birth? Not this year.
29. What countries did you visit? We had a Party in the USA or two.
30. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Organization
31. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 28, when Queen’s won the Vanier
32. What was your biggest achievement of the year? The Ride to Conquer Cancer
33. What was your biggest failure? I should have really finished HR.
34. Did you suffer illness or injury?
35. What was the best thing you bought? The PS3, obviously
36. Whose behavior merited celebration? Dr. Paolo Zamboni
37. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The collective response to Michael Jackson’s death destroyed much of my remaining faith in humanity
38. Where did most of your money go? rent and tu
39. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The Ride to Conquer Cancer was one of the greatest things I’ve ever been involved with, even if the actual ride almost ended me.
40. Compared to this time last year, are you: a. more happy or more sad? b. thinner or fatter? c. richer or poorer? A, more or less the same; b, a bit thinner; c, a little bit richer (yay, union-mandated raises!).
41. What do you wish you’d done more of? Skiied
42. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worked
43. How will you be spending Christmas? I spent Christmas in Toronto (and, indeed, am still here) visiting with family and friends
44. What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2009? Breaking my hand while riding a mechanical bull
45. Did you fall in love in 2009? Not “in love,” no…
46. How many one-night stands? Believe it or not we bought five night stands just before Christmas!
47. What was your favorite TV program? Friday Night Lights; honourable mention to Being Erica, which didn’t even exist this time last year! (Well, okay: I’m sure it existed, but hadn’t yet been televised.)
48. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I still don’t get why this question’s included. Anyway, the answer’s “no.”
49. What was the best book you read? I read a lot this year, yet nothing’s particularly standing out as a clear-cut favourte book.
50. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Beatles remasters
51. What did you want and get? I completed the 200km Ride to Conquer Cancer course without walking a single time. That was big.
52. What did you want and not get? Another shot at Warewolf
53. What was your favorite film of this year? Inglorious Basterds
54. On your birthday, how old were you? 29
55. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A better idea of what I was doing with my life
56. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Holding steady
57. What kept you sane? Reading and bike-riding
58. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I can’t believe I’m saying this but…Brett Favre. (Imagine I’d have known this five years ago? My head would’ve exploded.)
59. What political issue stirred you the most? Stephen Harper performing “With a Little Help From My Friends” instead of “Fool on the Hill”
60. Who do you miss? My grandparents
61. Who was the best new person you met? Some of the new recruiters are great, great people
62. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. You can’t always get what you want–but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.
You know what? Song lyrics as post titles just never gets old.
The new house is fantastic. Two months later, things are finally coming together. It was like I was in this bizarre state of denial that this wasn’t a permanent move despite the fact I was shelling out $1000 for bills a month. I just finished putting up my curtains*and it’s finally feeling like a home. The other night, while on a potential sleepover/date, I opted to come “home” instead so I must like it here. Yay! It’s funny because whenever I start talking about the house, Feist’s Mushaboom plays on in my head. I saw Feist once…did I ever blog about that? Probably not.
This new neighbourhood is home to either the most friendly or the most nosey people I have ever met. I have literally met everyone on “the place.” I have people who cut the grass and shovel the snow, potential babysitters and dogwalkers and playdates. I hope they are friendly because honestly, my life is painfully boring lately so if they are nosey about me….yikes.
It’s funny because around the same time I moved in here, my hours changed for my new job and i finished college for the year. I no longer work any evenings and lack hobbies or interests to pass the time. After Parker goes to bed, I literally do nothing. I browse the internet, sometimes rent movies and have random chats on msn. I do not have tv or an xbox360 which pains me everyday. I have been told to do something productive with my time….but what!? This abundance of spare time often leads to “rumination.” I have a milestone birthday coming up and changes galore in the next few months so there are plenty of things to think about……I might actually blog more. Watch for it.
* Yeah…I didn’t have curtains for months. I have a lot of windows. I didn’t even hang up sheets….CLASSY.
i guess this is the part where i tell the world how lonely i am and how my life sucks, how i am never going near another man again because i will only up being hurt/alone/poor/miserable and instead, i will choose a life of cats because they will always love me. however, one could review the archives from 2003-2005 to see how that will go. just change the names, add 50lbs, five years, and a dog and you will get my current situation. seriously, my life is in reruns. i survive the day, i cry nightly from 9pm on but still try to convince myself i am a superfox like in “it’s called a breakup because it’s broken”.
i have heard that if i plant some positivity things can grow. so it’s worth a shot…
positive stuff:
i kinda like it in my brand new place (alright, i will stop it with the jewel lyrics)
i got accepted into the one year b.ed program. next year at this time, i can be a teacher.
i got a perm. i like it.
parker is coming along with his sight words…that’s some progress.
the snow is finally gone. i know, it’s nearly may, but i live in thunder bay and it snowed last week.
i finished college. i can write my chrp exam sometime in the next ten years.
i’ve been sharing my all-time favourite movies with parker. so far we’ve watched beauty and beast, anastasia and annie.
i can blog all i want. i can tell the internet EVERYTHING.
Seriously.
There is something wrong with me.
Remember in Twilight, how it was kinda funny at first? Oh, that Bella always doing something clumsy or saying something stupid and getting into ridiculous situations. How funny. By Eclipse, the whole thing was old. Clearly, we all understood that she was brutal but Edward/Jacob/etc. all loved her anyway. Good for her.
It’s similar here in Lauraland. I get nervous all the time and say ridiculous things (ie. my job interview where I had the brainwave answer that a child protection agency’s role was to….protect the children. Well, yes but…christ.) The other week in computer lab at school, I fell off my chair and landed on the floor in the middle of the lesson. When it was icy last week, I fell numerous times which is sad because my winter outdoor activities involve walking out to the car and back. I constantly spill things including my carnation instant breakfast EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Last night, I was at a hockey game where I fell up the stairs, spilling Parker’s fries. I skinned both knees and had to visit the first aid booth as I was bleeding through my pants. Honestly, I had seniors asking if I was okay. (Somehow, they managed to get up to their seats without incident.)
I am going to be 30 in July. I am too old to be doing this crap. It’s no longer mildly amusing. It’s just sad. But really, what do you do about this? I’ve been drinking from a cup and walking for decades; I should have it figured out by now. Any suggestions on living a life less awkward would be greatly appreciated.
I am quite confident that one day, I will be an older and more graceful woman (like…Pamela Wallin). In the meantime, everytime I bend my knee, it feels as if my skin is being stretched over nails and then ripped apart.
I have a paper due tomorrow and I’m at work. This means I am recapping my favourite Dawson’s Creek episodes on MSN which reminded me of the time, i wrote a list.
Here’s a blast from the past:
One year ago today, i watched my first episode of dawson’s creek (a good six years later than the rest of the world, i live in thunder bay..we have shitty tv). although so much has changed in my life the past year, through it all, i watched dawson’s creek. At the beginning, i taped all four hours a day and rushed to watch them all before the series finale. i had about a hundred tapes with dawson’s creek episodes on them. I remember being totally shocked when mitch died, crying like mad when pacey and joey finally got together and sailed away, and getting so excited when jackers and doug got together in the end. I remember being more than a little cranky when i missed the end of season three (by far, my favourite season, dvd comes out in august) when i was in the hospital with parker. I should have taped it. I remember wanting to bid on the items in the dawson’s creek auction and sending the urls to everyone who happened to be on msn (like they cared). i remember telling everyone i was going to name the baby pacey and not caring what they thought..or what most of them thought. i would watch the show and then go to dawson’s creek music guide and download my favourite songs. I still listen to paper cup (heather nova) at least once a day. most of all, i remember watching the show when i needed to be cheered up and smile and watching it when i needed to have a good cry. it got me through some very tough times.
In honour of my one year anniversary as a dawson’s creek obsessed dork, i am going to countdown my ten favourite episodes. if you’re wondering, most of this is from memory. i just looked up the episode names to link.
10. ch ch ch changes (221): Andie heads off to the mental hospital. her and pacey dance at the waterfront to my previously mentioned paper cup song. “and every dream is just a dream, after all..and everything stands so still when you dance.. everything spins so fast..and the night’s in a paper cup when you want it to last.” dawson makes joey a fence and jack stops jen when she was going to leave town. sadness all around.
9. detention (106): the breakfast club episode. abby is a bitch. joey acts like a loon. pacey is a pervert. there is a mighty duck reference. hilarious.
8. a winter’s tale (414); the one where pacey and joey have sex. jack and jen have a moment. joey says all the nice reasons why they are doing it..he taught her to drive, he remembered her mother’s bracelet, he bought her a wall, he kissed her first, and the second time counted to ten….
7. the graduate (422): graduation episodes always get me. I think it’s cause i remember my own and my grad was one of my happiest memories. joey had a wonderful speech about people who are not there but they’re there. the sprinklers go off and hats are thrown.
6.stolen kisses (319): the daydream believer episode. who doesn’t love this song? (ANNE MURRAY ROCKS!) seeing everyone sing karaoke was fantastic. andie has an interesting rendition of “oooh child..” pacey and joey kiss. jen acts irrational. i feel so relieved when i see other people act irrational. mitch and gail are cute.
5. a weekend in the country (312): they dance in the kitchen. a food critic comes to the b&b and everyone is great. grams tells a story about how when you love someone you can just sit there and watch them sleep. later, pacey is watching joey sleep…awwwww. the critic talks about how the furnace doesn’t work but there is so much love and warmth there. awwww..
4. Guess who’s coming to dinner? (308): Everyone has thanksgiving at Gram’s. Jen’s mom is there. Dawson talks about her other daughter which later we are all supposed to forget about. Pacey and Andie are in the terrible postbreakup awkward stages and joey says something profound like, “the darks nights will pass and eventually,you will find peace.” she was a veteran of multiple breakups with the same boy you know. pacey talks to jack and they go through the..”you broke my sister’s heart, she broke mine” conversation. at the end, they are all by the fire and it’s great. awww again.
3. Castaways (615): pacey and joey in kmart. love this episode. it’s the only full pacey and joey episode. this aside from the last three episodes were the only bright points in season 6. i didn’t like season 6 mostly cause of audrey’s battles with the drink. i cringe just thinking of it. i have alcholism issues. anyway, this is great. i was so excited thinking they would get back together after this episode. joey shaved off pacey’s beard. they were in kmart and wore pajams and slept in sleepings bags. he talked to her on the tv.
2. All good things…must come to an end (623/624): the series finale. some people didn’t like it. i loved it. i was a little disappointed that they cut andie out but she is on the dvd (extended version) so that’s fantastic. you have to love jen’s “remember the time, my boyfriend knocked me up and left me to raise a baby by myself?” it was sad when jen died and how she was talking about being a mother. i didn’t get that part before but now i do. i just loved everything about this episode (well, technically two episodes). i remember watching it and i was so excited the first time they showed everyone cause i had wondered what happened to them. like oh jen..AND A STROLLER. huge pops for jack and doug. they teased me through the whole episode..joey/pacey..dawson/pacey ugh. i loved it at the end when joey was watching then ahh..it’s pacey. few shows have ever made me as excited as this one. :)
1. true love (323): ask me to stay!!!! My favourite episode. i love it. joey goes, “i think i’m in love with you” at the boat….mitch and gail get married. grams takes everyone on a road trip to get their loves back. all about love and taking risk which is a nice thought. sometimes it works, sometimes not. the only thing that irritated me was dawson’s pooh crying face. ugh, dawson.
honorable mentions go to: joey potter and the capeside redemption(everyone helps make the movie) and the long goodbye (everyone remembers mitch).
even typing this out, words do not express how much i still love this show. i admit, i love a teen soap. (oh boy, now i am quoting the finale). it could be worse. i could be writing fan fiction.
Tags: tv rots your brain
1. I just posted my recruitment assignment 2 on the discussion board for my organizational behaviour assignment 2. there is no way to delete it. i am the most obnoxious person ever. I complain about people who can’t use blackboard properly and then I do something far more ridiculous than anyone else ever did. FANTASTIC. there are all ready some comments noting the fact I am an idiot.
2. I watched the superbowl tonight. I cried at the end despite not even liking football. that’s how i roll.
3. i have a lot of friends…..on facebook. in real life, i am tempted to pay someone to see revolutionary road with me.
4. i have a dog. her name is bella. i’ve had her for four days. i love her despite the fact she possibly has ear mites and eats her own vomit.
5. i am obsessed with the twilight saga. i don’t care if you don’t like it. i love it….and uh…named my dog after Bella.
6. i love musicals and theatre. i’ve listened to the mamma mia soundtrack for the last month in my minivan. this makes me cool, i’m positive. parker even sings along with me.
7. i don’t know how to swim. to overcompensate, parker has been in swimming lessons since he was 3months old.
8. right now i’m listening to taylor swift. i love our song and love story.they remind me when “love” was new and exciting and they give me hope that things work out for some people….
9. yeah, relationships are hard. i am still deciding whether i am unlovable or unable to get along with people or that the guy of my dreams is sitting somewhere waiting for me. Maybe he’s watching Twilight, blogging and plans to naming his unborn daughter, matilda.
10. i am having another kiddo one of these days…even if i have to steal one or live with my mother and get invitro so i can have 14.
11. i make jokes that are inappropriate and laugh hysterically at bad jokes. I’m probably going straight to hell.
12. i’m a hockey mom!
13. i am scared of car washes, mice and public speaking. i can never get my car in the grooves at the car wash and have been known to cause a huge line with people honking and shooting obscenities at me. i usually leave in tears.
14. i really need a makeover. i either dress like i am 15 or…80.
15. i would be lost without my grandmother. this is scary because she’s almost 80.
16. i have a miley cyrus song on my ipod. don’t tell anyone.
17. i love video games. i never started playing until i was like 27. i have a gamer score that some grade 8s would be proud of.
18. there is this guy who messages me on xbox live all the time and he thinks i’m (or my avatar) is sexy and wants me to put on my headset and talk to him again. i don’t recall talking to him the first time… i think this totally counts as action and yeah…i still got it. RIGHT?
19. i recently started watching private practice. by recently, i mean friday and i have watched like ten episodes already and bought season one. you see, i never knew this show existed and i love AMY. okay, her name is violet on the show but she will always be amy gray to me. judging amy was my alltime favourite show (why isn’t it on dvd?). maxine and her dcf adventures inspired me to go into social work…come to think of it, that might have not been the best idea ever.
20. so social work was not for me. people die and then i cry. right now, i am taking hr. i also applied to get my b.ed for craps and giggles. i have no clue what i want to do with my life.
21. k so i lied. i would love to be a SAHM. in fact, i am insanely jealous of people who are….
22. i cannot parallel park at all. i only got my full license because i was very pregnant and started to cry.
23. i overshare and talk too much (note how 25 random things turned into 18 random STORIES.) i am also shy and hide in my room when company comes over especially if they are intimidating. there is no grey area..i am either crazy, talking girl or snobby witch.
24. do you like big macs? well i sure do..i am on a diet and recently stopped traffic when i was the red light turned green and i was gazing and possibly drooling at the big M.
25. omg! i am done. i could go all night. seriously, i cannot sleep. i’ve got an 8am class tomorrow. i’ve never shown up on time yet…
Let’s face it. Lots of things go wrong in life. Some people have it really bad and others have it semi-bad. My grandmother has always taught me that no matter how bad things are, someone out there always has it worse. It amazes me that as someone who gravitates to the negative side of the spectrum, I am more positive than most people lately. And really, that’s sad because I am a huge whiner.
I am really struggling with people these days. I’ve always had trouble getting along with people but lately, it is ridiculous. With age, I have learned that some things are acceptable while others…not so much. I am finding it really difficult at school. With my four years of a human services program, never did I encounter what I have heard in the business program. It’s an incredible lack of any sensitivity, kindness and basic social skills. Today, I actually had a professor use the term “brain-dead” in discussing a failed approach to management. It’s one thing to think it but to actually say it repeatedly in front of an audience….yikes. The way different businesses are criticized without even thinking that maybe someone in class works there just blows my mind. All along, I thought these were basic skills.
Like the Sarah Palin thing..leave her alone. If you don’t like her, don’t vote for her. End of Story. (I can see the encouraging people not to vote for her strategy but to wish physical harm is disgusting.) I find that a lot of the people who talk “crap” are people who I don’t really value their political views anyway. Because really, when researching candidates, Madonna and Lindsay Lohan’s recommendations would totally seal the deal for me. She can’t wear underwear or remember to drive SOBER but she can tell you how to vote.
It’s the same with Harper. I wasn’t a fan because of his views on harm reduction among other things. No, I didn’t vote for him but a lot of people did, he “won” and that’s the way it goes. I understand the anger and disappointment but I think that if people want some sort of electoral reform, maybe they should do something about it other than change their facebook status to “Jane Smith is OMG SO PISSED ABOUT HARPER!!!!!!!!!111 PEople VoTe StUpiD.”
As a mother, it really bothers me that I live in a world where people can wish gang rape upon people they don’t know simply because they have different beliefs. The ageist/sexist/racist views that are still acceptable astound me. It bothers me that everyday people will bitch about a person because they don’t like their shoes or hair (and i’m talking thirty year old women, not teenagers.) It bothers me that you can’t tell a person what party you support without them telling you the many reasons why you are “wrong.” Just once, wouldn’t it be nice for someone to say, “You know I don’t really agree with you, but I’d like to know why you are voting that way?”
I try to teach my son how everyone has an opinion and even if you don’t agree with it, respect it. I teach him daily not to be rude and to treat others as he would like to be treated. It’s a real shame that he’s going to grow up and realize that the world doesn’t work that way AT ALL. It’s sad.
1. Get out all the books, notes, laptop, power cord and healthy snacks.
2….but first I need to check out facebook.
3. …and my email.
4. …and then my college email.
5. …anything going on on perez hilton? what about canoe? or eonline?
6. google reader!! What if someone blogged and I missed it?!!
7. Are my test marks up yet? I should check.
8. Oh, look. A friend is talking to me on msn.
9. Bills must be paid. I should pay them now.
10. Are there any new pictures on flickr?
11. Time to vote soon. Better check the election coverage.
12. What the hell? Let’s check the American election too.
13. Stare at a blank Word document.
14. Repeat numbers 1 through 13 for the next week until suddenly, I now have two papers due. I haven’t really started any of them and I am now experiencing major anxiety.
*Recently, I returned to the land of higher learning. This time, I am going to the college taking Human Resource Management.
*pauses for the Internet to think about this for a second and shout, “WHAT?!?!*
Yeah…I don’t know either.
Tags: higher learning
Me: So, our kingsized bed will be delivered today.
Grandma: That’s good. Is Kevin happy?
Me: Sure. I guess this means we can sleep in the same bed finally.
Grandma: silent *gives me a look*
Me: I’ve been sleeping in Hannah’s room for like the last year.
Grandma: Oh. Well if you are sleeping together, you better get some more *pats her ass*
I know what she is talking about. Other people may just be wondering why an 80 year old woman is slapping her ass in the local Chinese restaurant.
another school picture, another mullet.
Originally uploaded by lauraandparker.
Parker had his first day of senior kindergarten on Tuesday.* The knockout pictured above is me circa SK (ummm…1984).
When I found out who was teaching Parker this year, I immediately recognized the name and wondered if it was the same teacher who taught me twice in elementary school. When I met her, I thought, “No way. She looks too young to have been teaching 25 years ago.” She asked me if she knew me from somewhere and I brushed her off, saying that she probably saw me last year when I walked by her classroom every day. (Yes, I am pretty smooth.)
Today, when we discussing my son’s exceptionalities, she said she figured out who I reminded her of……
a student named Laura _______ she taught years ago.
Of course I was as charming** as ever when I explained how I didn’t think she was that old because heck, I am old. I have blocked out most of my childhood memories but I do remember liking her and that she was my teacher the year that I puked on the school bus. My mother didn’t believe that I was sick and sent me to school anyway. I threw up all over my Popples backpack. I also remember she showed the class a $100 bill one day and everyone thought she was rich.
She went on to say that I have a beautiful son (which I do) and that she remembers me being very shy in elementary school. When she says “shy”, what she really means is that I didn’t speak until the 10th grade and I cried all the time. I guess some things never change.
She also said that I look the same in the face. If so, Internet, please pray for me.
* I cried on Parker’s first day of school again. What age will Parker have to be for me to quit crying? 30? We bumped into Parker’s JK teacher and she said how tall Parker was, how he’s growing up and that she is proud of him. Of course that got me blubbering and she told me not to cry just like last year. He is my baby (even though he will be 5 in a few months) and I am just so proud and that makes me emotional. At least I didn’t leave the school in tears and the teacher didn’t have to console me because that’s embarrassing; I know that from last year. Things are looking up.
** I am really trying hard not to use the r-word anymore. I am failing miserably. I also laughed really hard at Tropic Thunder. I am going straight to hell.