A Year in review.

Ahhh another year is ending and we are looking forwards to 2012. If I do say so myself, I am quite pleased to be finished with 2011.

2011 started off well enough I guess. I started work with the Federal Government and was looking good for a term position, but that fell to pot so I was unemployed again (nothing shocking there). I spent almost 6 weeks treking around the UK on a solo vacation, which was the start of many firsts for me!

on either side of Tower Bridge

I had never been off the North American Continent, and I had never been so far away from home, nor had I ever done it alone. So that was a bit crazy. Walking around London by myself realizing that I was by myself, and could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted? That was just freaking awesome. I wasn't accountable to anyone but myself. I could eat where I wanted, drink what I wanted, and shop as I pleased and see whatever sights I deemed interesting. So yes I spent an hour in Harrods picking out the perfect gift for my mom while eyeing up all the high end designer shoes. And no I didn't check out a single museum in London. Any regrets? Not a single one.

I spent almost weeks on bus tours meeting amazing people from all over the world and started to really understand what it means to never judge a book by its cover. First impressions aren't always right, but your gut feeling never misses. I also learned to stand up for myself because ultimately if you don't stand up for yourself and how you're feeling, no one else will.

Me in the Circus in Bath

UK was amazing for a couple other reasons. I learned that I can do things on my own. Until then I had always had people covering my back. No matter what happened to me I had an army of people behind me to catch me if I feel, and just before leaving for the UK and even more so after returning I realized that I had started to get a bit too dependent on that. Certain people in my life couldn't seem to come to terms with the fact that yes I was very capable of doing things myself, and that I didn't need people to treat me like an infant. A big realization came right as I walked through the security gate to leave for London. The Asscountant felt the need to come with me all the way to Vancovuer, take me to the airport and make sure I got on that plane. He watched my plane take off. Now I know you're all thinking "Ex Student you're nuts that's him showing he cared and he was just doing a nice thing", and to an extent you're right. But before all that I argued with him tooth and nail I could just go over myself and take the bus and take the ferry, but he said no that it was stupid. Now before I start getting all "he said she said" and showing how bitter I am, really my point here is that in 2011 I realized how bloody dependent I was on other people. And it was all the little things that added up to me realizing I couldn't live like that. Isn't part of any relationship blind faith that the other knows what they are doing sometimes?

I spent almost 6 weeks in the UK (England, Scotland and Ireland) and never once did I get lost (ok well that's a bit of lie...I got "turned around" in London but ended up going to Kings Cross and seeing where Harry Potter was filmed and jumped on the Tube and was back to my hotel in no time......so not really lost but was wondering...), or was mugged or got food poisoning. I never once overspent, and I never once got shot or hurt. I was 100% responsible for myself, and everything turned ok peachy. I found my tours, and managed the tubes, I saw a West End Show at night and made it home safely, I had ice cream in Hyde Park and saw Buckingham Palace. I got on the trains and got myself to Manchester, and got myself to and from Dublin by bus and ferry. All came up daisies :)

So I came back from England and didn't let people step all over me. And apparently that meant I had changed too much, and the Asscountant and I went our separate ways. He said I had changed too much, I said I just didn't want him to control my life for me. He had also made some pretty harsh comments about how I am choosing to live my life, and he also mentioned that I was a pain in his ass (in other words but the jist is still the same). I still stipulate to this day that if it had not been for me, he would never have made it to where he is, and would have dropped out of CASB after he failed a module.

Its taken me quite awhile, and while I still miss this person that was so intricately woven into my life, I'm realizing that I can make it without them, and that I certainly don't need people in my life doubting my decisions. Who want things from me but don't reciprocate.

After my UK trip I went back to working with the Federal Government to finish out the last of my contract. After that I basically lounged around for the summer, taking temp gigs and doing whatever I wanted. Which I'm sure did not thrill my parents. But it made for a great summer.  I did manage to see the Pixies in concert and took in Wicked in Vancouver (saw it in NY originally but the Vancouver one was decent). Also saw Dralion the travelling show with my parents which sounds geeky but was totally awesome.

Jasper National Park

I also spent a week with my other sister Krazy (again not her name just a cute nickname) and her son and my other nephew JYD (again...a nickname) going from Victoria to Valemont (hillbilly hell...) to Edmonton (shopping!!) to Jasper National Park. All in this time span Krazy destroyed almost 1000$ of eyewear. All mine, and I was blind. But there was something incredibly cool about seeing more of my own back yard. I got to see what makes this country so beautiful. I got to be a bit of a tourist and of course as I wasn't working it was nice to meander and do whatever. Also cool? Jasper has hotsprings and tons of goats running around! Also got to see moose!! Also learned that I cannot spend a week in a car with Krazy's son because hes an arse. But that's totally another story. Honestly contemplated pushing him off a cliff. We also drove through Banff National Park and I got to see the glacier and JYD I treked to the top, in like jeans and t shirts while people around us had actual gear on....oh well! We survived!

Anway. Still grieving the loss of the Asscountant and having to come to terms with the declining health of my Granddad, I decided to go back to school and take classes. I had the funds and the time and no jobs were coming available so why not? That's not true actually. I could have gone to work with SeaSpan ship builders because of my Federal Government training but it didn't seem like a good idea at the time. I could have also gone to start another school program off the Island but I decided against it. Which I do believe in the end was the right choice.

The edge of the glacier in Banff National Park

I took classes that I figured would eventually get me in a good place to apply to better grad programs and it suited me anyways because after a very long struggle with Pulmonary Fibrosis my Granddad passed away and as a result my life crumbled a bit. He had always been someone impartial in my life that I could talk to about anything. We had lenghty conversations about everything and anything and he always understood me. We had a really unique relationship compared to the rest of my cousins. They saw him as an authority figure, I saw him as the loveable Granddad that always had advice for me. He always believed in me doing whatever I wanted to do and not taking any shit for it. Those were pretty much his exact words "Always do what you think is best, don't take shit from anyone else about it". Also he told me that I had a good head on my shoulders and that with it I could never go wrong trusting my gut. I still feel his loss. Every day. But I realize that he wouldn't have wanted me to be too wrapped up in it that I couldn't live my life.


One of the reasons I decided not to move off the Island is that I knew the minute I did, he would pass away and I would be right back where I started, so now I can move without worrying about him. Wanting to be close by to be near him was really important to me and now that he's passed, I can literally move on too.

Il Pacas at the fair!

So with that all happening, (and with the Saanich Fair happening in there somewhere too) I took a semester of school and seemed to do fairly well. I became a shoulder to cry on and friend for advice for my old work supervisor as she returned to University after years of being with the federal government. I became a study buddy to so most amazing people with shitty time management skills (but oh well it all worked out in the end lol).

My friend T went back to school and seems to be kicking butt and taking names in her Office administration program, which means that together we are one step closer to world domination (I swear get enough coffee and sugar in us and we could do it). Her daughter Squirt (not her real name I assure you but my nickname for her) had a busy year as well, she turned three started preschool and the best part (in my humble opinion) got her first skating badge!!!!! So proud of her accomplishments!

Squirts First time skating!! Us having a pow wow.

Taking Squirt to skating lessons every Saturday I'm sure had fufilled any maternal instinct my ovaries might have ever felt, and it was actually a lot of fun! We did two sessions of parent and tot skating lessons (first session we had a terrible instructor, second instructor was incredibly cute and yes I have a ridiculous crush on him). It also kept us busy with life as both T and I had suffered significant family losses this year.

And with that school continued to pass by as did the fall and we were soon into winter and my skating club decided that this year will be its last with active skaters, with us taking next year to close down completely. I shattered by this decision have really stepped away from my skating club. I also recieved by level one promotion so I've been to and from skating competitions a lot this year which has been awesome.

Every time I go to a skating competition I learn something new about skating, the people involved and skating and even myself. I learn a new trick to my position, I learn whose butt to kiss and who to stay away from, and I learn that I myself never want to be like these people and if given the chance, I want to be able to help change Figure Skating in Canada. I want more people to have the opportunity to skate and I want everyone to remember that we as volunteers are here for the skaters and for the sport. Not to be power tripping dictators, which is sadly sometimes the case.

My dog Roo!!!

As I'm reviewing my year I'm trying to think of all the things I did and places I went. Trying to figure out where things like concerts and such fit in and when I went where. I know I went to a 3 Days grace concert and saw Finger 11 live with the Envy but where they all fit in is a bit vauge. I also stopped associating with one of my oldest friends because she couldn't get over her jealousy or something (?) with me going to England (seems that trip pissed off a lot of people lol) and sadly the fact that I don't really miss their crappy attitude was another rude awakening. Apparently according to T and my Mom I'm a lot nicer now that I don't hang around this person. I know I volunteered with skating and such like a crazy person. Always the person to jump in and help out when needed, but I certainly cut back on things like volunteering at the hospital and didn't take a gig with the SPCA like I've always wanted to. This year also brought me Roo!!! My communal family dog!! Technically BB's dog but he spends so much time with my dad at the farm hes mostly communal. And he's the absolute best thing. Best dog in the world hands down.

Vans Warped Tour 2011 The Gorge

Along the lines in here somewhere I managed to take a couple road trips with my sister BB to see a couple concerts. We took in The Vans Warped Tour in Gorge WA, which was fantastic, and in November we saw the Michael Jackson Immortal Tour which was ok. 

I know they say that how you spend your New Years Eve is how you will spend the rest of the year, and after the year I've had, if 2012 is a quiet year surrounded by awesome family (as much as they drive me literally insane) and amazing friends, then I will consider myself incredibly lucky.

Happy New Year All!! Whatever you do tonight I hope you have a fantastic (and safe) one!!!

I've been a bad blogger lately. I have been so busy getting wrapped up in Holiday Insanity that everytime I thought "Oh I should blog about by day!" I realized that I hadn't even turned my computer on that day and it wasn't in my vicinity before bed. Getting up going upstairs grabbing my computer and coming back to bed just to blog about how I spent my day running around a warehouse attempting to locate donated gifts to meet the deadline for the gift and hamper distribution just didn't seem an appealing option.

But that has been where I have been none the less. I spent the majority of last week volunteering for Santa's Anonymous, a charity that when families sign up we distribute gifts and food hampers to them to help them out through the holidays. In theory is sounds simple but the reality is a lot of planning and the need for a lot of volunteers. Unfortuately (not that these people aren't amazing....I mean no disrespect) the majority of people that volunteer are retired and well they have their own way of doing things, and so this year when they changed the whole system, and modernized it (ie computers) it made some of the older more seasoned volunteers a little upset. Made it a little stressful and a bit hard to manage but we got through it! We had a lot of new volunteers this year that were younger and didn't know the old system, so they didn't let it bother them, but for those that were so used to the "old way" the "new way" threw them.

So with the chaos of the volunteering, I somehow (not surprisingly) managed to leave all my own Christmas things to the wayside and so for the last couple days that I have no longer been volunteering, I've been rushing like a mad woman to get all my Christmas shopping and such out of the way. This year I've turned to "doing things with people" or "making gifts" rather than just going out and buying presents. Year after year I buy things for people and I swear it just sits and collects dust. I forefit. But making the presents takes time, and more specically it takes more time than I had anticipated so I am (not at all shockingly) behind. Damn.

Today I finally finished a sewing project for a friend of mines Mom. We were sitting around one night and trying to figure out what to do for everyone for Xmas, both of us short on cash and trying to be thrifty this year decided to try and make everything. We got onto this idea of sewing a bag, which in theory seemed simple, until I realized that neither of us had really sewn all that much in the past few years, nor had enough experience to really design anything or create patterns. Not that that stopped us. We figured it out, and I managed to get an exuberant amount of pin pricks while piecing everything together to FINALLY get it done today. Phew big sigh of relief. Especially when we wanted to have it done at the start of December. Oh well better late than never! I think it turned out pretty amazingly if I do say so myself. Wish I could have had time to press it properly (hint hint nudge nudge T).

During all of this I managed to get in all the shopping I needed to do for my parents Xmas party for their staff, pick up my new glasses and catch up with T and her daughter (who adored the barbie I bought her...suck on that Asscountant), and take my nephew to a Magic Show. Phew. Busy day! The staff party was fantastic and the magic show was good, and of course my new glasses didn't last 5 hours before I noticed they have a ding in them and they have to go back. WHY ME? Its a good thing the people at my optometrist's office like me so much because tomorrow they are going to be seeing me come in with dinged glasses less than 24 hours after taking them home. Awesome. At least this time I think I'm keeping the frames.

Anyway! So I'm trying to get on board with the Holidays. Tomorrow I'm going on in search of my last couple Xmas presents that I'm not making (I'm not wonder woman) and some stocking stuffers for my parents! I hope whoever you and regardless of what you believe, that you are having a much more productive December than I am!

Ahhh crazy hazy weekends

It's beginning to feel a lot like December in my world! I hesitate to say its starting to feel like Christmas, when I associate Christmas with good eatting, lazy afternoons and wearing new fuzzy jammies, when all I've been doing this weekend is running around going to parades, getting ready for an ice show and studying for upcoming finals, the things I usually associate with the end of the school semester and fall skating season.

Friday night I joined my mom and sister for a little late night shopping at Zellers and Walmart. I know the states have this crazy thing called Black Friday, but we don't really have it in Canada. I know every year more American corporations try to push it on us by having really big sales here, and I know a lot of Canadians cross the border to go join the chaos, but to me it seemed that we Victorian's didn't really jump on board. My mom and sister decided to go out after dinner and honestly I didn't find much that I wanted/needed, but I did break my rule of "nothing Christmas till no earlier than Dec 1" rule by buying a 2$ box of warhead candy canes. Which yes are sour and after one my mouth is a wreck, but for 2$ you can't lose and I'll hand them out at school and all my upcoming study sessions.

Shopping with my sister Boozy B (no she's not a drunk/lush/alcoholic, but we have had many a conversation over how best to make child friendly drinks...erm not so child friendly...) is always enjoyable. She has a pretty good sense of ha-ha and knows not to take things too seriously. She's pretty laid back so when we decided to ditch Zellers, she was all game for Walmart. Good times had by all but really no deals to be had that were any different than anything we would usually see Black friday or not....but something to do to keep me busy.

It's been good keeping busy though. Last night my friend T and I threw on lots of layers, packed up the car along with my niece (her daughter) and headed downtown to catch the Victoria Santa Clause Day parade and festival of lights. Now to any parents that have a less than 2 adults to 1 kid ratio you have my new found respect and adoration. T and I just had the one kid to look after and she was really good at sitting still (bribery will get you everywhere) yet I know I never would have wanted to go downtown to such a huge crowd all on my own! Especially with all those other crazy parents running around loose.

We got downtown with LOTS of time to spare because I wanted to make sure we got a great seat curb side so that we would have an unobstructed view of all floats and the big red suited fat man that comes along at the end. So we got there when there weren't a lot of people yet situated and we got a great seat right on the curb, we set out blanket up and our snacks and we waited it out. YET some woman and her kid who came late decided it would be really awesome to just stand about a foot out from the curb and block the view of everything coming our way. Awesome huh? What a great tool to teach your kid...show up late and stand at the FRONT so you become a dark cloud in everyone's line of vision. The interesting coincidence is that someone after we sat down, two groups of deaf people sat on either side of us! Now granted I know I only know a teeny tiny subject of ASL, but I do know enough about facial expression and non manual signs to know when someones annoyed, or is showing dislike, and well these people didn't seem to be terribly thrilled about the dark cloud either. SO doing something that I have always wished I could do and be more assertive about, I got up and asked dark cloud to move!!! Now granted she only moved back about half a step, but at least I got my point across, and eventually as the floats and and bands and stuff went by she had to move back to not get trampled so that made it better, but at least I did something!

Still super annoyed by the whole thing. Why get there late and budge in front of everyone??? I just don't comprehend how some people think stuff like that is a good idea!

Ugh anyways. Tonight I have tickets for my mom BB and I to all go to this thing called "night before late night shopping" at Hillside mall. All the stores will be open till 9:30 and you buy tickets to get into the mall past the normal Sunday hours. All the stores inside will have deals, and there will be door prizes and a fashion show and that kind of stuff going on so I think it will be a hoot. Also there is a draw for a trip for 4 to Disneyland and I could really use a vacation so we've decided that if anyone in our collective goes and wins the trip we all get to go, plus my sister Klepto K (she is a spend a holic and loves to buy useless shit for no reason...i love her but she does..).

anyways! That's my weekend in a nut shell, I'm trying to find the energy to get off my ass and go to the anatomy lab for an hour to study but I've got a serious case of the Lazy Sundays...sigh. Anyways!

Happy Weekend All!