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.

I'm really starting to wonder about Feb. 5th. Today around 10:00 my Manager came into the office and told me that he'd received an e-mail at 23:00 last night saying that I was to be in Calgary on Saturday! I just shrugged and said that until I got specifics about this I wasn't going to worry about it. He agreed this was probably a good response to the news.

Around 14:00 he came back into the office and told me he'd talked to the Project Manager here and he said he hadn't heard anything about Calgary. So he told Business Manager to tell Calgary they couldn't have me until he decided I was able to go. He's back on site tomorrow and will make his decision then. The fact that it's Friday and I may be leaving on Saturday doesn't seem to phase him at all. Must be nice to be him.

In fact I don't really care. For some reason I can't see myself leaving here quite yet. Not that I wouldn't enjoy being emancipated from here but another pay-period or two wouldn't hurt either. I hope they ask me what I think of the whole thing tomorrow so I can tell them I'm not particularly enjoying being jerked around like a dog tied to a bumper.

Since I've been back some of the "promises" that have been made to me have started to go forward a little. While I'm still working at my desk in my office Management has finally started to train me in some other areas. In truth I'm glad they haven't physically moved me as I've pretty much formed the environment to my specific needs.

What else is going on?

Can't think of anything quite honestly.

Life's very dull at the moment which means everything is going as expected.




Current mood: Mildly depressed
Current music: The Highwayman - Loreena McKennitt

It's always astonishing and disturbing to return to camp and realize that I'm happy to be back. Being where I have a purpose and a function really makes me happy. That and it's always nice to be back in my room. The fact that tonight was steak night made me really happy as well. Now if I could just get rid of the migraine that I woke up with. Hopefully it'll be gone in the morning.

After falling down the ski hill strapped to a board for two days straight at home I flew to Edmonton to spend a couple nights with Raph and Wifey. Had an altogether enjoyable time, aside from the pain and inflammation which was a direct result of the attempt at boarding.

I applied for that job at Uni back home that I may have mentioned, so now I wait a while and see what happens. I'm expecting nothing so that if something does happen I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Now I'm off to bed.



Current mood: Content
Current music: These 3 Words - Elise Estrada

Ok kids! First of all I'd like to state that Wifey is not allowed to read this post. I can feel the disapproval already! I don't think I can handle it and then see her later this week. So Wifey if you're reading, turn the computer off, go make some tea and knit something! You can read it after I'm gone on Saturday.

So yes, Texas was where I made the transition from person who enjoys having a good time frequently toooo... legend.

Essentially the meeting was the same as last year. The company (that sounds so ominous) held us hostage for two straight days of meetings at a luxery hotel. This year was the Hyatt Regency, of which they rented the entire thing. Great hotel with fantastic service.

The first night I got there it was really late and I was exhausted from travelling all the way from McMurray. So I went to my room and tried to relax. Well that involved having a shower and shaving. Well somehow I managed to cut my face so bad that my room looked like a crime scene! You could actually see the marks from two out of three Mach 3 blades, once the blood stopped gushing long enough. Unfortunatly this make me look like I had some horrible zit or something gross on my face for the next two days of meetings. I can't say I was terribly impressed with this situation.

The next day was full of meetings, meetings and more meetings. Then the fun began with an outdoor "Texas rodeo". In typical Texas fashion there were probably 50 to a 100 gas heaters set up throughout the grounds to keep us warm. The food was great, the drinks were plentiful and the mechanical bull tossed absolutely everyone almost immediately (no I didn't bother trying).

Next day... meetings, meetings, meetings. Then the dinner and dance. Dinner was great. The band! Wow, the band was phenomenal! They were able to do just about anything anyone asked them to do from Usher, Justin Timberlake, The Eagles, AC/DC, etc. Whatever the company paid them was SO worth it. The party kept jumping till late into the night.

The next day I went with a few friends into Austin where we had arranged to rent a vehicle for a couple days and reserved hotels. During the day we spent our time at this INSANE outlet mall in a place called San Marco's. Only outlet mall I've ever seen with a Gucci, Armani, Kenneth Cole, Cole Haan etc. I ended up getting an insane steal of a deal on a gorgeous pair of Cole Haan shoes and bought Sister yet another Coach purse (I've got to stop with the purses, I'm spoiling her).

That night I had said that I really wanted to go have a nice meal at a good restaurant. My friends all agreed but weren't sure where we should go. So I called my Concierge and asked for recommendations. She recommended a restaurant that sounded good so I asked her to make us a reservation.

When the Manager met us at the door I figured something was up. It took me until the next day to realize that having Visa Concierge make a restaurant reservation for you probably made them think we were high rollers of some kind. Well we met the Executive Chef, the General Manager and the Manager, as mentioned previously. The meal was fantastic as was the service. We had Mussles, Oysters and shots of ice cold Grey Goose, crab and artichoke dip, steak and lobster, scallops, two bottles of wine, a couple glasses of sangria and port to finish.

For 6 of us, all this incredible food (and more, I don't really remember what everyone else ate) came to a little over $300US. We thought this was an insane deal and tipped the waitress overly generously (see two bottles of wine and shots). That's when things got interesting.

We decided to go to a club on the "legendary 6th St." Well we didn't fully realize how completely committed to partying Austinites were until we realized that 6th St. is closed to traffic all night! The whole street is bar, after bar, after bar. The eight of us (our numbers grew at the restaurant) went to one bar together and that's when my buddy and I decided to split.

*Wifey, if you're reading this, STOP NOW!*

The rest of the night is an incredible blur. All I know that 'for sure happened' is the following. We went to over seven bars. Danced, danced, danced. I drank Grey Goose and Cran all night. Decided I wanted to smoke so bought a pack of Davidoff cigarrettes (didn't remember this until the next morning when going through my pockets I found a matchbook with used matches). Ended up dancing on a raised platform in some random bar with possibly the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen (I have pictures). Lost my hoodie with my company logo on it (thank God, I hope this was relatively early in the evening) including the aformentioned pack of cigarrettes. Visited a bank machine took out $100US (I'm hoping no other charges pop up on my Visa), proceeded to spend $60, not including the money I'd originally allocated to this venture. Paid some random homeless guy (well I think he was homeless, quite honestly I don't remember at all) to walk me back to my hotel cause I had NO idea where I was. I do vividly remember him holding me back as I almost made a wrong turn into oncoming traffic though so whatever I paid him, if I did, was absolutely worth the money. Almost got kicked out of the hotel (possibly a result of showing up with a homeless guy). Woke up the next morning in my bed drunk.

So yes, according to the people at work I have now attained legendary status. Thank God the smoking was a one off thing and nothing seriously bad happened. Talk about stupid. I've decided that the next time I go out, especially in a foreign city, I'm going to be MUCH more responsible. So Wifey's going to be travelling with me from now on. That way she can take care of the credit cards and make sure I get home ok.

Sorry Raph, can't afford to take you too.

So to wrap up this massive post I'd just like to let everyone know that I went snowboarding for the first time today. It was... well it was. Didn't really enjoy it all that much but it was the first time. Before I left the hill I booked another lesson for tomorrow and extended all my rental equipment. That way I HAVE to go back tomorrow... if my poor body can get itself out of bed.

Texas was unreal. Mildly surprised my escapades on Saturday night didn't make CNN or get me thrown in the drunk tank. I'll update shortly but I'm tired, have a cold and am going for my first snowboarding lesson tomorrow morning!!!

Had some rather disappointing news today. Marcie e-mailed from Toronto saying that baby A was sick. She had even been to the children's hospital as a result of this sickness and was still struggling with it. As a result of Baby and the rest of the family all being sick Marcie asked if I would be able to change my schedule for my trip. So I had to rebook everything from Austin and will now be going back to the Valley for a few days. I am still going to Edmonton for a couple nights as I'm looking forward to the plans I have there and didn't really want to cancel. So trip number one of the new year has been thwarted. I hope this doesn't turn into a trend!

When I was at home at Christmas my Father impressed upon me the importance of having a will. So because I'm all grown up and have 'assets' I called a lawyer today and made an appointment to have a will drawn up when I'm home in February. Now that I have the appointment I'm actually starting to think about this a little.

Unfortunately for those who end up being my beneficiaries, if I kick it, you're gonna have to wait for a long time and a major stock market correction before you're gonna be filthy rich. That said with some patience (like another 20 years or so) you will end up filthy rich.

So now I'm starting to think about who those beneficiaries should be and the thoughts running through my mind are somewhat surprising. The more I think about it the more I realize that my parents certainly don't need any of my money. The only logical person that would demonstrate need (at the moment anyway) would be Sister.

Here's where the mental road block comes up. Sister is busy 'following her dreams' and while that's admirable I feel that she's thrown away way to many opportunities. So by naming her sole beneficiary would I be contributing to her general directionless state? Of course I'm not planning on having anyone to have to use this will anytime soon but I think that's the point of the will isn't it? So of course this leads me to thinking about leaving her money with conditions on it, which pretty much blows but seriously I think that's about the only alternative. I suppose the only condition that would make sense is that she could have the money upon retirement age or something. That's what it's intended to do for me so I see no reason why that would be unreasonable for her.

A friend I was talking to about this said she'd likely leave a lot to charity. While I currently give to a number of charities, I again come to the conclusion that there's not one charity I feel strongly enough about to leave anything significant to.

I guess the question that makes me twist my mind the most is who'd get my car. The logical choice would be Raph and Wifey but I shudder to think of what she'd do to the stereo!

So anyway this is a lot to ponder and I'm kind of glad that I'm doing it because it just feels like the right thing to do. I suppose I'll just do what my parents said they did and leave everything to the Poodle. That'll make Dad really happy.




Current mood: Contemplative
Current music: Dangerous - Akon Featuring Kardinal Offishall

Well today turned out to be boring with one mildly interesting situation jammed in there for kicks. My Business Manager called me into his office to ask me which two of my three girls (one's still at the old site) I wanted to keep! Good Lord. While I was expecting this it's an uncomfortable situation to be put in that's for sure.

One of the girls is an absolute keeper. The other two may's well be the same person. This is unfortunate because honestly trying to decide which of them should go is almost impossible. They both have the same attributes, both good at their jobs and both somewhat snarky with attitude. I know there's no way they'd work well together (which doesn't seem to be an issue anyway) but God what a tough choice. I made my choice and I told him which one I would suggest (while also pointing out the alternative that moving me out of the department would open it up for someone else) but now I'm seriously thinking that I should have chosen the other one.

I'm going to sleep on it and talk to him again in the morning.



Current Mood: Strangely content
Current Music: With Or Without You - U2 (yeah, that's seriously what just came on iTunes, go figure)

I'm taking a break from working on my resume and cover letter for a position at a University in BC. I have applied for this position before and got shot down but this time I'm hoping there'll be a different outcome. Apparently the major holdout on my resume last time was fired and it's her job I'm gunning for.

Quite honestly I know I'm not completely 'qualified' for the position. Though it seems they have trouble keeping people who are 'qualified'! My ace in the hole though is my friend V who has been instrumental in getting me two previous jobs. She works for the University in the same position and is really, really pushing for me to get the job. The position is HR which is a field I am very interested in and feel I would do well in.

Things with my present company are going well but today I was sitting at my desk bored out of my mind. I couldn't even think of anymore mindless tasks to give my girls to keep them busy. This is a situation I keep running into again and again. I went to our Business Manager and told him I was bored and needed something for myself and the girls to do. So hopefully he'll have found something for us to do by tomorrow.

As I'd mentioned in a previous post I know this year is going to be one of major changes. I also know they're going to be good changes. So it'll be interesting to know what they actually look like. So if you wouldn't mind sending your prayers, positive energy or whatever it is you believe my way I'd appreciate it.


Current mood: Happy
Current music: 'Waiting for Yesterday' - David Archuleta

It's so cold out I spit and I swear it froze! Winter blows!

My experience with religion is such that I'm sure it really should make me run screaming at even the very mention of it. I've been spiritually abused, tortured in fact, to the extent that many years later I still hold much of the hurt.

Astoundingly I still find my mind directed towards the though patterns and longings that I experienced and felt during the heights (depths) of my religious period. As much as I hate the church I still feel that it holds answers for me. I don`t know if this is just a result of my upbringing, a result of a higher power consistently drawing me towards him or my Mother`s unfailing prayers but there`s something there. I just wish I would find answers that satisfied me. Something that didn`t cause more hurt but rather that lifted me out of it.



Current mood: Unsettled
Current music: Desperate, David Archuleta

I woke up on Jan. 2nd (my Birthday) completely convinced this year is going to be a year of big events. I'm not sure what kind but I know that this year is going to be filled with a lot of change. I'm looking forward to and anticipating all this with a great deal of excitement.

I just finished booking my first big trip of the year. This year District Meeting is in Austin, TX! So I'm heading there for three days of meetings during the day and non-stop partying at night. My friend M.K. and I are going to stay for one more night in Austin, just to check it out.

Then I'm flying Austin to Toronto, where I'm FINALLY going to get to meet Marcie and Frank's new baby! I'm SO EXCITED about this quick trip. I feel mildly bad for Marcie though because she's very, very worried that I'll be bored. I'm not really sure why she's so worried. I'm going to see her. I can entertain myself anywhere but I'm going to see her family and I really wouldn't bother if I didn't want to.

From Toronto I fly to Edmonton for Friday Feast with Raph and Wifey, then a night out with some other friends. Then Edmonton back to work the next day. It's gonna be a whirl wind but I'm happy about the fact I'll be able to hang with Raph and Wifey in Vernon mid-February.

So January starts off with a bang and a ton of Aeroplan miles. Can't go wrong there!

A little late but I thought I'd post my annual letter here.

Well here we are again. Another year draws to a close and I find myself sitting in my Sister's living room waiting for my friend Pavel to come pick me up for what will surely be a memorable evening in Vancouver.

Overall 2008 has been so different than last year. Yet, I'm sure, many of you are completely sick of hearing me whine about how nothing ever changes in my life. Thinking of this it's kind of ironic that I'm in Vancouver waiting for Pavel again this year when last year was the same thing. I'll comfort myself with the knowledge that Sister moved to a new apartment across the street from last year's living room so things aren't exactly the same. I digress...

This year I've had so many memorable events occur it's hard to even remember all of them. In the past year I've been to Houston, Toronto, Ottawa, Moscow, Paris, London, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Puerto Vallarta and all sorts of other places in Western Canada. I suppose the significance of all this traveling is that with each destination I got to see one or more of you.

Events of major significance, in no particular order include:

• Our family grew again with the adoption of the super Ms. Sadie, Mom's accomplice in driving Dad crazy.
  
• Marcie and Frank had and incredibly beautiful baby girl named Ava. I'm desperately trying to figure out how to get back to Toronto to meet my new 'Niece'.
• I made it to our Nations Capital to visit K.I. and just loved the whole experience.
  
• I paid off my car!
  
• N.M. came to Vancouver for her first ever trip to BC. We danced, we fell, we saw. It was a GREAT time.
• Sister performed in a musical to which people from all over Western Canada flocked to see.
• Dad and I went to Europe. I fell in love with Paris and Dad fell in love with French baking, French chocolate, French coffee, etc...
  
• One of the most memorable and fun wine festivals ever thanks to my awesome guests.
• My entire family saw MADONNA in Vancouver!!!
• Halloween mayhem in Vancouver with Peter and his boyfriend!
  
• Janet and K got married in Mexico in perhaps one of the most beautiful wedding ceremonies I've ever attended. Jamie even relented and kept her promise that I'd be her MC. I almost cried when I saw her walk down that aisle! Such a gorgeous bride.
  
• I got transferred from site in Fort McMurray to Calgary.
• I got transferred from Calgary to another site out of Fort McMurray a day after the first transfer.
• I restaked my claim on Raph and Wifey's guest bedroom in Edmonton (I fear I'm going to lose it to The Baron again soon though).
• My friends K.M-N and B.N. got married and are now expecting their first baby. I'm hoping he'll (my guess that it's a he) arrive on THE 2nd of Jan.

Ok, I'll stop with those events because I've got WAY to many more.

All in all this year has been pretty fantastic. Again I just want to thank all of you for being part of all these memorable events. I'm so incredibly blessed to have you as a part of my life and I can't wait to see you again soon. If you're ever bored hit me up and I'll make some plans to come and help shake things up for you.

Take care my friends, I love you all very much.

KS