2006 In Review

Time: 5:09pm
Mood: Excited (last day of the year!)
Song of the moment: Ok Go - Here It Goes

I can't believe a year as flown by - it has definitely been speedy. This is the first full year I have been working. I still don't like my job but damn it's good getting a steady paycheque every week.

This year has definitely been the calm before the storm. I spent most of this year preparing for 2007 actually - purchasing a brand new house with Jimmy (which was probably the biggest highlight of the year! Biggest purchase ever!), and making preparations for our upcoming wedding.

Things I will remember the most about 2006:

• Trip to Boston during the Canada Day long weekend
• Watching our house being built from the ground up (and all those fun decor appointments!)
• My 27th Birthday
• Going to the Foo's acoustic show

This year has taught me that rest and relaxation for yourself should be taken, opportunities will open if you wait, and the fact that I've become so old, staying up past 12 midnight is a struggle. LoL!

2006 was quiet, but 2007 is definitely going to be a bang. I'm definitely excited for next year, but I bet in the midst of all the chaos I will be thinking "2006... I miss you!"

My X'mas Break

Time: 11:43pm
Mood: Sleepy (boy am I old...)
Song of the moment: Ok Go - Here It Goes

It's near the end of my week off and I must say I am well rested :D I really needed this time to unwind, considering it's going to get pretty crazy for me really soon.

To sum up my holiday, I went to:

1 wedding (Elizabeth and Andrew's wedding)
2 house parties
5 family meals
1 mall (I tired as best as possible to avoid those!)
Numerous friend gatherings

I didn't go boxing day shopping - I usually brave the weather and head downtown, but this year I'm broke so no shopping for me.. and the fact that Jimmy and I just bought a washer/dryer set online (Future Shop was having their boxing day sale at 8:00pm Dec. 24th. We saved $800!). Acutally we ran into some problems with regards to the delivery time of the washer/dryer set that resulted in me saving an additional $75 b/c Future Shop screwed up and I got pissed off. It pays to be bitchy!

I got some pretty cool gifts this year, which includes high-end frying pans from my parents, a apron from my sister and soap products from Sephora. I think my friends and family are trying to say I should learn how to cook and shower more (haha!). If you guys are wondering what Jimmy got me for x'mas - Season 1 & 2 DVD of my favorite cartoon - Anamaniacs :D I love my Yakko, Wakko and Dot! :D Fabooooo!

Over the holidays I spent much time at my new house, putting in extra screws and nails on into the floorboards (or as Jimmy put it, we spent the day "nailing and screwing" LoL!). We were there on X'mas eve, X'mas day and Boxing day! This is to prevent future squeeky floors. I bumped into Charlene over the holidays, and she told me her floors were already squeeking - and she moved in her new house in June! Our floors better not squeek or I'm going to scream!

Here are just some photos I took over the holidays:


The progress of our house - we have shingles, windows and doors now! :D And the extra screws we put in! Yipee!

Elizabeth and Andrew's wedding - Elizabeth is an old elementry/HS friend of mines. She looked absolutely stunning that day, and I was so happy I was part of it!

The Edgevale Gals - Rosie, Me, Suzanne and Kathy. I met up with my old housemates from my days @ Mac. I miss living w/ them! They were the best housemates!



Jimmy's 'lil experiment - he took apart a LCD monitor he had, attached the screen to an overhead projector. Now we are able to watch dl-ed shows and movies from his computer on his wall!



My year-end review to come tomorrow :D

Darren Hayes, You're Awesome!

I've become slightly addicted to YouTube lately (that Ok Go vid really did it for me! haha). Anyway, I love Darren Hayes and his music (I'm a huge fan), and I came across this video made to my favorite Darren Hayes song. The video is kinda cheesy, but the song is amazing. This song got me through a rough time in my life.. really made me reassess my life and the direction I was taking.

These are my favorite lines of the song (these are the lines that really got me thinking):

"While I decided
To make everyone else happy
I just put aside
My foolish pride
I guess I denied
My own desire
I was too busy pleasing
To ever be pleased
I forgot how to breathe
Or question anything
Or ask why?
Am I?"

Pushed In A Box For Floating Shelves

Time: 11:44pm
Mood: Sleepy (according to my msn nickname, I'm supposed to be sleeping.. hehe)
Song of the moment: Ok Go - Here It Goes Again

This past weekend was the anticipated Umbra Sale. It has got to be one of the biggest sales of the year, where people start lining up at 5am on the first day to be the first through the doors at 9am. And for every new homeowner, this sale is an absolute Godsend. You'll see why in a bit.

Kathy really wanted to go early to line up Saturday morning. Sucked for me because I was out celebrating Jen's birthday the night before, so it was pretty hard for me to get up at 7am. We got there around 8am and the line-up had already wrapped around the building. I was smart enough to bring toe-warmers with me, but stupid enough to put them in wrong, so they were completely useless (my toes froze. But, as I found out later from my mom, those toe-warmers expired back in 2002... so I don't feel that stupid!). We lined up for about an hour and a half before we were allowed through the doors. Once inside, it was madness. We quickly grabbed our carts and within the first 30s, I had lost Kathy in the sea of bargin hunters. On my first day, I managed to snag 4 curtain rods (I had the windows of the new house measured. I came prepared!), 2 really nice picture frames, 2 bathroom towel racks, a towel ring. It cost me $95.

The second day was even better...

Sunday I went again w/ Jimmy, Katie and Ray. Now on Sundays the prices are slightly cheaper, and after 4pm, everything becomes 2 for 1. We arrived there around noon time and it was pretty crazy already. We ran around and grabbed the stuff we needed - by 2pm we all were pretty much done, so we camped out around the off-loading dock. Katie and Ray were still on the search for some floating shelves they saw people toting around in their boxes. So I stood around the off-loading dock, to see if I could score those shelves for them. I was standing around, all of a sudden, I see this lady carrying off a shelf. I guess I wasn't the only one, because all of a sudden it was a mad dash to grab one. That's when I got pushed into a box. I literally fell in. Lucky for me, the box was still full of picture frames, and the lady that pushed me in stopped to help me up. LoL! Anyway, I got to the front of the line, told the shipping guy to give me a box (each box had 4 individually wrapped shelves). Jimmy came along and thought it would be good to get those shelves for us. So we had 2 boxes.. 8 shelves in total. 4pm rolls around and they announce that everything is 2 for 1. As Jimmy and I went to pay, the cashier asked us what was in the boxes. We told her they were shelves. I begin to reach into the box to pull one out, when the cashier lady says "ok so you have 2 shelves?" and punches in the price of one shelf. $5. We paid $5 for 8 shelves! What a steal!!

The damage for Sunday - 10 curtain rods, 4 picture frames, 6 double rod brackets, 4 curtain hooks, 2 garbage cans, 2 bathroom hooks, 8 floating shelves...$65!!! Holy El-Cheapo!

**house update**

We have a roof!!

The Best Video Ever!

I absolutely LOVE this video! And the song is great! I have it stuck in my head :) I know it's been out there for a while (even Jimmy made fun of me for seeing it before me! haha).

Robbery @ It's Lowest Form

Time: 9:02pm
Mood: Excited (my Leaf's are up 2-0!)
Song of the moment: Incubus - Anna Molly

I've finally experienced robbery at it's lowest form.

I ordered a free sample of fabric softener online (cuz I love free samples). I got home today, and I saw that my dad had brought in the mail. There was a box sitting on the kitchen table, with labels indicating it was my free sample in the mail. The box was open and my sample was stolen.

Common people... it was a FREE SAMPLE! Let's emphasize the word FREE. I could simply order another one, but they've put a limit to one per household. Well I hope the person that stole it is enjoying softer and whiter clothes.

One Crazy Week!

Time: 10:45pm
Mood: Lazy..
Song of the moment: Incubus - Anna Molly

It has been one crazy and eventful week. Definitely on the up-side though! I went down to Detroit on Tuesday night for a Wednesday morning lab tour. I had the luck of the draw because Jimmy managed to get the day off (a last minute deal! His boss is awesome!) so he came with me! And thank God he did! Part of the highway was closed so we ended up being adventurous and took farm roads between Cambridge and Woodstock.

While down there, I did a bit of shopping and I FINALLY bought myself a Coach purse! It was definitely well deserved! It's beautiful! But I admit... I felt a little guilty...









Friday rolls along and I had my yearly work review with my boss. I was a little nervous because I've never been reviewed like that before -> I was planning to ask for a raise, and by how my company has been doing lately, it didn't look like they were going to be giving out raises. My review went well and I found out my boss was really impressed with me. *whew* I'm so glad! I knew my boss really liked me, but to know that my work ethic is noticeable, it's a great feeling. So I got the raise I was looking for (actually they offered me more than what I was going to ask.. so that's a big plus!). Now I don't feel so guilty for buying that purse! haha!

Yesterday was my company's x'mas party. My co-workers and I had our table all planned out. Bad luck for me, I arrived slightly later than the other guests, and someone took my seat. One of my co-workers actually left that table after awhile because according to him, the person that replaced me was "damn annoying". LoL. It was alright though.. I sat at a table with a bunch of Filippino ppl and they were so funny! Our table wasn't full, but there was this one guy at our table that kept insisting to the servers that someone was sitting in the empty seats, all so he can get extra food! LoL! I later moved to another table with the lab techs I work closely with. All in all it was a fun evening!

Which brings me to today. What did I do today? Absolutely nothing! Jimmy and I were supposed to get our asses into gear and play squash, but that didn't happen. And it was all my fault. Damn me and my lazy ass! But tomorrow! Gym tomorrow.. for sure...!!

**house update**
We've got a second floor... and a partial roof!!! Yippee!!