Friday Night Fright

taken from Seattle Post Intelligencer
Ok, so I went to see Wolf Creek tonight with a new friend, aunt of my good friend M. My first in this city at a small two-plex theatre. The venue was good enough, no issue there, it was mostly empty, which is fine with me. If you have seen Wolf Creek or know what it's about, well, after watching it I then had to drive home in the dark to my cabin in the woods, alone. Good for a few jolts, paranoia served up nice and sweet anytime a pickup truck with search lights passed me...

So of course, I couldn't let the night go without completion and stopped off at the local Movie Gallery and picked up a new recommendation from my sis, The Exorcism of Emily Rose...we'll see how many heebie jeebies I can come up with after that...

oddly enough, they are both based on a true story. I think that makes them even scarier than those blood fest movies like Friday the 13th and Halloween. They got more than a little ridiculous towards the end of their run.

So, off I go, doors are locked, lights are dimmed, fire is crackling (it will likely pop with a bang now and again just to scare the shit out of me like it usually does).

I love a good Friday night fright...

Slothful Days

I've been off work since last Friday and don't go back until Tuesday. The 10 days of sloth are well under way. I had hoped to go out exploring a bit since I was off all week...I got about 25 km from my home so far...which is basically nowhere! I've watched a sinful amount of television...not too much on the dish though, more of my own collection than anything. I bought Season 4 of ER on DVD last week so started watching on Christmas Day and finished up yesterday. I haven't been completely idle though. I finished up my granny square afghan, thankfully. I thought my wrists and hands were gonna give out altogether. I finshed up a pair of mittens as well. I still have a scarf to finish and a pair of mittens to get done, but am not sure if that's gonna happen while I'm off. I have gone out, somewhat. I went out for dinner on Christmas Day...um, I drove to Takhini Hot Springs yesterday, and stopped at Bean North, a local fair trade coffee roaster/shop. Oh, and today I went to the gas station/convenience store, twice!

I am going out to a movie for the first time since my arrival, tomorrow night with a new friend, L. Then she invited me for turkey dinner on Sunday, yummy.

and inbetween, there shall be sloth...

My Charlie Brown Tree

Well, I broke down and went out and cut a tree. More like gnawed it down. I had forgotten to bring a knife and wasn't really expecting to find anything but had my car keys in my pocket so set to work gnawing through with that...lo and behold it worked. Poor little tree. It didn't have much of a chance out here anyhow. It was growing up next to a woodpile.

So it is the only decor I have up, and of course I don't have a small string of lights so chose to string my 100 strand around the table and then on up the tree. Had to watch the ornaments though as it is very small, no more than 2 feet tall I'm sure.

I "piled" the presents under the tree then. The biggest one is for that "Chinese Auction" I'm participating in tomorrow. There are a couple of presents for the felines too of course. A rubbing arch and a canister of treats. They had some early gifts too with the water fountain and a covered litter box.

Merry Christmas all!

GET OUT!!!

Well, I survived it. I left my office at 3pm today, went looking for Sears Order Office, stopped at the lawyer's office, went looking for Sears Order Office, then the foster parents, and went looking for the Sears Order Office, and then the liquor store, found the Sears Order Office, and lastly the grocery store and the pick up the mail and THEN come home. It was CRAZY busy in town. The thing was, all YTG (Yukon Territorial Governement) employees were let out early today, many at 3pm...which explained the traffic jams, otherwise unheard of in this city. Lineups were long, and when I finally did get to the Sears Order Office, I couldn't find what I wanted so left empty handed. But I am OUT OF TOWN now. Phew.

I picked up what I needed to get me through to Tuesday or Wednesday and then got the hell out. Too many people for my liking, and I needed to get home to start drinking and hide for a few days...

I am truly looking forward to sleeping until sunup tomorrow!

So I Bought This Safe

I have never owned a safe before, and never went to a Chinese auction before and how on earth could these two things be related? Well, has anyone ever heard of a party game called Chinese Auction? I hadn't but have played a game very similar to it. You bring something that you have at home, like a Christmas present you got last year and didn't like too much and are ready to regift it. Or something you bought for yourself or someone else and never used. So I went to my first one a few weeks ago at my supervisor's house and brought a little gift pack I had picked up at Hilltribe in Halifax earlier this fall and didn't quite know what to do with. Then you draw numbers and pick a gift from the pile from 1 to the last numbered person. The fun comes in when you get your numbered turn (I had # 1 as luck would have it) you can choose to pick a prize from the pile, OR you can take a gift from another person who has already picked. They then have to choose from the pile again, and not from anyone who has already picked a gift. Once you pick a gift, you have to unwrap it, so it's kind of like Monty Hall's Let's Make A Deal" I came home with a snowman candy dish and a bag of M & M's.

And now I am going to another one on Sunday, so had to buy something for that as they had a gift price minimum of $20. I didn't have anything as I had pretty well trimmed things down when I moved out here, so knew I would have to buy something. So I bought a personal safe, just a fireproof lock box. It was about $28 so should be ok. I wonder what I'll come home with on Sunday...should be good with a high minimum.

What I don't get is why it is called a Chinese auction...it doesn't appear to have anything to do with China, and there is no auctioning.

But who am I to question how things go in the Yukon...personally I think it is not actually Chinese auction but just a game someone came up. When I look it up on the net, I find a penny sale/ticket sales auction as the description and such things. I'll be sure to bring it to her attention on Sunday. What a way to get kicked out of a party, lol...just kidding!

I hope they enjoy the safe.

I'm Wireless Tonight!

Usually that would read I'm wired, but alas, with my birthday and Christmas money from my parents, I bought myself a wireless router! Now I can take my laptop anywhere in the range, which for sure is all of my house, but likely for me to sit out by the house in the summer too. I hated being bogged down to the dial-up back east, and then to the DSL cable, although it sure is sweet just to have DSL after crappy dial-up. ANYHOW, I digress...I got a nice router today on my lunch break, and then when I got home from the Longest Night I hauled it out and set it up. Why I felt it was necessary to do when I got home at the late hour of 11pm, I don't quite know, but I was like a kid at Christmas...now my laptop is truly portable.

Do You Know Jack?

so I have been writing to this guy I met through Lavalife...and he sent me his photo today...I am quite a suspicious person anyhow, but I think this pic belongs to someone else. For some strange reason it looks familiar, and the more I look at it, the more I am sure. My guess is this guy in the pic is a clothing model somewhere and that's why I recognize his face. Anyone have any guesses or recognize this dude, because I am quite sure it is NOT the guy from Lavalife...heh heh.

Laughs All Around

Turns out that some tasks can take up to 10 times longer to complete when under the influence of substances such as alcohol or drugs...I bought an electric Fresh Flow Fountain for the kitties last night and had a few drinks and such, and it took me over an hour to get that sucker together. The instructions were in a number of languages (4 or 5 I think) so I kept getting confused with them...didn't take long, lol. And then the damn thing didn't work. I got home with the replacement today, completely sober and it whipped together in minutes and was on the floor for them within 5.

Bought Volume Three of The Family Guy...good for a few hoots tonight. I'm watching Forrest Gump at the moment...needed a Tom Hanks fix for the night before moving on.

I bought another water bottle to get the cats with, namely Stormy, the shit disturber...that should also provide some entertainment, heh heh.

My supervisor bought me a bumper sticker yesterday - "Unless you're a Hemriod, get off my ass". I know, spelled incorrectly but I guess they thought the real spelling was too long, either that or they are manufactured in another country where spelling was not at the top of the list, lol.

ha ha..

Time Flies When You Can't Remember It

I was just organizing some yarn this week and cleared out some of my cloth bags. One has a screen printing from a winter carnival I helped organize in Newfoundland a few years back. Then I noted the year...1996. OMG that is nearly 10 years ago!!! Where in the hell did the time go? Ten years has seen a lot of change now that I think about it. Ten years ago I was still married, barely into my first university degree, my daughter was just 10 years old, and I was living in outport Newfoundland, and I remember wondering if my life was basically over. Well, maybe not that dramatic, but I do recall being disappointed with my life and how I felt trapped in my marriage, in my home, and in my situation. Now look at me, ten years later I am happily divorced, living on my own, my daughter is moved out on her own, and I have graduated from university 3 times and am in my fourth year working as a social worker. I live on the opposite end of the country and have been on three international backpacking trips thus far.

The world has also moved on in the past 10 years, as things tend to do. In the words of John Lennon, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans". Try to enjoy the next ten years.

Christmas Spirit? What's That?

Christmas used to be one of my favorite times of year but I have found that it faded over the years and this year I could care less if it came at all. I now live away from my daughter, and with her grown and spending Christmas elsewhere, there just doesn't seem to be any point to the whole ordeal. I normally decorate in early December, and put up my tree in mid-December, always before my birthday on the 19th however this year, my decorations are sitting in a box in my dining room, as yet untouched. I don't think I shall bother this year, my heart isn't in it and it just seems like making a mess for nothing. As for the tree...hmmm, will miss that, but since it will be just me for the very first time in my life, why bother?

I mentioned this to my mother tonight and she was shocked...could not understand why I wouldn't decorate and at least have a tree up. She talked about her own mother not doing much after her children moved out and her husband had passed on, and how sad that made her and her siblings feel. I don't feel sad about it, I just don't feel concerned about it at all. God knows there is enough Christmas decor everywhere else that I don't need to add to it. The only thing I have done is to get some of those new LED lights that change color...they are pretty trippy and I will likely keep them on all winter as my outdoor light is cranky and only comes on when it wants to.

Even my gift-buying has gone to pot. I used to be the shopper that looked all year for the perfect gifts. It wasn't that I was super organized or anything (although I usually was) it was that when I saw the perfect gift for someone, I just bought it then and there if I could and stuck it in a closet somewhere. This year, I haven't bought a thing for my neice and nephews. Not one thing. What a rotten auntie I have become. I won't see any of them for the holiday, and they barely know me. My niece is more familiar with me since we spent time together over the summer, but the others are so young, and the two newest additions have only met me once (my brother's new woman's sons). Money has also been a factor...just moved up north so still trying to catch up with the bills and setting up, not leaving a lot of extra cash in my budget. A couple of more paycheques and I should be just fine, but until then...

The only thing I have done is write my annual newsletter, and buy a few token things for my daughter, and parents. Not mailed yet, of course. My dad's birthday is on Sunday and his card sits in a bag in my car still. Shocking for me. I am about the only one he could normally count on to get a card in the mail on time. Left to my brother and sister, you are lucky if they call you on the right day (well, that would be my brother normally) let alone send a card.

So anyhow, no Christmas spirit, no decor, no carols playing, no piles of baking in the freezer and no plans to do much of anything. I did get invited over to my supervisor's house for dinner. I will likely go, but will also cook my own bird as I love the leftovers. Other than that, I have a puzzle to put together and that is what my Christmas looks like.

One might say, bah humbug...

From The Back Pew

of course, I'm not the religious type, but this came from my mother last night, and gave me a chuckle, so thought I would share...

There was a preacher whose wife was expecting a baby so he went before the congregation and asked for a raise. After much discussion, they passed a rule that whenever the preacher's family expanded, so would his paycheck.
After 6 children, this started to get expensive and the Congregation decided to hold another meeting to discuss the preacher's salary. There was much yelling and bickering about how much the clergyman's additional children were costing the church.
Finally, the Preacher got up and spoke to the crowd, "Children are a gift from God," he said. Silence fell on the congregation.
In the back pew, a little old lady stood up and in her frail voice said, "Rain is also a gift from God, but when we get too much of it, we wear rubbers."
And the congregation said, "Amen."

Speaking Spanish In School is Forbidden

Is anyone else outraged at this story? When I read it I thought I was in a time warp to when First Nations people in Canada were forbidden to speak their native language in the residential schools. I cannot believe that an American school in this day and age would forbid any language, let alone Spanish, which seems to be very predominant in many states, much like French is in some of our provinces. I would think the school would embrace bilingualism, not suspend children for it. Ridiculous!

25 years John...has it been that long?

Hard to believe, but it's been a quarter of a century since John Lennon's death. I have been a fan as long as I can remember, and I remember the day I heard on the radio that he was murdered. I was setting the table for supper at our house in Newfoundland and I just sat down and started to cry. Even though my mother was not a huge fan, she understood. She and I had lived through losing Elvis in the seventies.

I miss you John, but at least I have your music to help me out.

Imagine.

Rick Mercer

Does anyone out there watch Rick Mercer's Monday Report? He used to be on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and now has his own show. It is freaking hilarious! I have just recently become a fan and wanted to get the word out. Watch it, you'll laugh. My favorite segment is Talking to Americans...it amazes me how ignorant some Americans are of anything Canadian.

Two Year Anniversary

Well, I just noticed when flipping through my old posts that today marks two full years of blogging. I was re-reading the old stuff about me not knowing what to do with my life next...nice to know that I was finally able to decide THAT! Now here I am in the Yukon, starting a new chapter in my life. Happy Blogiversary!

Let The Shredding Begin

Made an attempt to glue some nail caps onto Stormy tonight. Yeah, that was fun. I didn't get too many wounds but by the shrieking and howling sounds coming out of him, you would swear I was driving bamboo shoots up under his nails instead of simply slipping rubber nail caps over them. If anyone has any tips on how to put them on with the least amount of shredding and howling, please, let me know.

Usually I can simply lull him into a false sense of security and slip one on here and there, but he is up to my tricks now and I go through similar shrieking while simply clipping his razor like talons. Gawd, what a pussy.