Today I got a reasonably substantial raise! It's nice to be recognized for the work and frustration I've put in and gone through in the last while. This company sure doesn't make it easy to want to leave...

In other news, well there's nothing all that exciting going on as usual. I'm really looking forward to Raph, Wifey and Britney next week-end (never thought I'd ever use those three in a sentence before) and Europe shortly after.

I'm pretty positive there's going to be more frustration in the middle of all this but I'll just deal with that when it arrives. Management's talking about my move to Calgary, after my trip, openly but I'm not holding my breath or expecting anything because we all know how well these things go when I actually do.

It's been a while...

First off, bit of an update since the last post. Vancouver was good, although not as good as I've been used to. I suppose that aside from the highlights of hanging out with Matthew and Pavel nothing really happened of note, to me anyway.

Sister on the other hand finally got a performing part that PAYS! Interestingly enough it's in Kamloops and is a 7 month contract. So on the 23rd she's leaving town and heading home for a few days then off to Kamloops. For some reason I'm very confident this is going to be a good move for her. Just an overall good feeling that this will be a good experience. The downside of this is that I won't have a perfect location to stay at in Vancouver if I decided to go for a visit.

Today I've been in an absolutely evil mood. It's a good thing traffic was rather slow in the office cause I was ready to lose it on someone just for the sheer joy of it. I'm expecting tomorrow will be much better and Sunday's going to be excellent as I get to go home.

I'm looking forward to April a lot. The month starts off with the Britney Spears concert in Edmonton with a bunch of friends and the chance to hang with Raph and Wifey again. Then I go back to work for 15 days and... I GO TO EUROPE!

I booked what I'm expecting to be the most amazing trip through France and Italy the other day. I hadn't heard anything about my vacation request for a couple weeks so I went to ask about it. Fully expecting that it had been declined. To my humoungous surprise I was told it had been approved.

I literally ran back to my office and called my travel agent. Then I called Visa to redeem my points for a free flight (well I had to pay the taxes but who cares) from Calgary to Paris returning Rome to Calgary! I could hardly sit still that day and freely admit I did almost no work. I also managed to book a four star hotel right in the middle of Rome for a really wicked price. Can't complain about the economy if you wanna do some travelling that's for sure!

Was talking to a friend of mine that works for my company in Edmonton and she said word is that I'm going to Calgary after my vacation. I don't believe it but ya just never know...




Current Mood - Evil
Current Song - Mannequin, Britney Spears

As usual there's very little of consequence going on up here. I have decided that I'm going to go to Europe again in a few months. This time for a jaunt with GAP Adventures through France and Italy. Unfortunately I don't quite have the same amount of time as I have been able to squeeze previously but I'm still planning at least 19 days.

When I handed in my 'request for leave' form to my Manager today his response was "Management has said no vacations until after April". To which I gave him a blank look and said 'well I was first told I was leaving here February 28, then that got switched to end of March... what are you trying to tell me? My date isn't until the 26th of April, is there something I need to know?' He made some feeble attempt at an explanation and I just waved him off saying don't worry about it.

I'm fully resigned to the fact that they seem completely intent on keeping me here. I just keep going about my business with a smile on my face and making sure everything gets done. That way maybe someday when I do get away from here they'll remember that. Not to mention that I'm still pretty happy to have a job in this crazy economy.

Very much looking forward to Vancouver on Thursday. Looking forward to cutting loose and partying a little but also to check up on Sister. I think she's nearing rock bottom so maybe she'll actually be open to listening to some common sense. While I doubt it I'll at least try.

Hey! I'm back. Emotionally and mentally. Apparently the same thing is happening that was happening a number of years back when I was being poisoned by Chanel products. Unfortunately this time it's not proving to be that obvious as to what the culprit is. So I'm going to have to do some investigating when I get back to work.

I forgot to mention that Valentines day actually turned out to be rather pleasant. Thanks to a visitor from Vancouver.

I'm barely keeping it together. I'm sitting at the kitchen table and almost burst into tears just looking at random pictures. I am so glad I'm going to the Naturalpath tomorrow. Something's majorly wrong and it needs to be fixed. I need something to numb the pain.

Today was a good day.

After much the usual roller-coaster ride that is my company's way of doing anything; today I was told I would be staying on site at least until the end of March. I'm not actually getting my hopes up that I will be released at that point either though, quite honestly. I fully expect that when that time comes around I'll be "asked" to stay on until the end of the project (who knows when that will be).

I'm really not even sure what to feel about this. I do know that my depression has escalated since the announcement today. I desperately need to get home so I can get to my Naturalpath.

I am trying to remember the good in this situation of which there is a lot. First off I still have a secure, high paying job. Many people would go to great lengths to secure what I've been given. Second, I enjoy the people I work with and am enjoying learning some new things with my job. Third I have just that many more pay cheques that I'm able to put away now.

This job has given me opportunities I never would have dreamed of. I've been able to travel, enjoy the finer things in life and spend a good deal of time with people who are important to me that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to see as much. So with these thoughts in mind I'm going to go to bed and wake up with a better outlook in the morning.