Eight!
Sometime in the next 24 hours will be our eighth anniversary together. I say “sometime” because (as you may know) I (we) was (were) a little inebriated. To be honest, I was the drunkest, but hey: we were at a New Year’s party! We were competing to see who could drink the most! We had also spent the previous night drunk at my place, lighting things on fire in the kitchen sink. Good times. Although I was feeling pretty rough when I finally got home. Drinking for two days straight will do that.
I often hear stories of how people knew when they first met their spouse that he or she was “the one”. I can’t say that was necessarily true for Paul and me. The first thing he ever said to me was “who is she, and why is she in my house?” My first memory of Paul is him saying that while jamming a toque over his head.
Okay, so he had just woken up after working for an ungodly amount of hours at Stockhouse, and found a strange girl in his house. I’d have been kind of pissed off, too.
It didn’t take long for us to become inseparable, heh. About two weeks, to be exact.
I’m not one to write a bunch of mushy stuff, but I am so happy that Paul is my husband/partner/buddy/love.
I love you!
(I’m still not convinced that there really wasn’t a kangaroo. Maybe Cupid is a kangaroo?)
A semi-productive day
We headed out to the North Vancouver MEC to pick up the last of my Christmas presents (in “mousse”). We met up with Dale for brunch which was kind of a spur-of-the-moment-type-thing (as much as they can be when we live across the GVRD from each other!) Dale also provided us with this truism:
“You drive a big truck, which makes me suspect you’re an asshole. The you park it in a “small car only” spot and confirm it.”
- Dale, on parking like an asshole.
I should open up my own Etsy shop and sell “asshole confirmed” stickers. I guess I’ll have to license the quote from Dale, first.
Then Paul and I went to Metrotown, and reminded ourselves of why we hate shopping there (hint: parking lot hell, and masses of zombified mall people). I wanted to check out American Apparel for a hoodie, but we walked in and did an about-face and walked out. It was such an uncomfortable experience being in there. According to Paul: “any store selling Hypercolour shirts in 2008 is not a store I want to be in”. I felt like I was in a commercial for Koodo Mobile, between the garish colours and the lamé leggings and gym bags.
The 1980s called and said that you can keep anything you want, even the legwarmers.
Oh god, what if acid-wash jeans come back in style?
In the end, Chapters did not have the book in stock that its website promised me, but I did end up with a hoodie, albeit from Old Navy, so we didn’t really need to venture in to crazytown.
Then we spent over $135 at the liquor store. It’s weird buying sparkling wine, liqueurs, and microbrewery beer when the only other customer is a scruffy guy buying Wildcat beer.
(Side note: they never used to sell three different kinds of Wildcat. It only used to be Wildcat Strong: that was the whole point. If you’re gonna drink shitty beer, you might as well drink strong shitty beer so you can drink less of it with the same result. Or drink less of it before the taste doesn’t matter. Yes, I’ve had it – it’s just as horrible as you would imagine. Even as a teenager drinking in a park I couldn’t stomach it. I’m pretty sure that’s a cougar on the box. If you’re going to drink Wildcat, why bother with the light? And is there really such a difference between Strong and Dry?)
Free Wii
I was going to get Paul a Wii for our wedding anniversary, which was November 30th. Yay for one year of marriage!
Anyways.
Two weeks before our anniversary he announced at breakfast (apropos of nothing, mind you) that he had no interest in a Wii. I clarified, in a panic, because he had been talking about getting one a few times that month. If I didn’t get him a Wii I’d have to get him the things I had planned on getting him for Christmas…and you have no idea how difficult it is to shop for Paul. This is the first year ever that I knew exactly what I was getting him well in advance.
Nope, he did not want a Wii. Damnit.
The week before our anniversary he went to a symposium on contact centres and technology and came home with a door prize. “Look what I won!” he exclaimed as he bounded in the front door: a goddamn Wii!
And to top it off, he suspects that it was rigged!
He was at a lecture/talk/presentation by a vendor, and Paul raised some concerns about the way a large installation had been handled where he works. To be honest the whole things did go to hell in a handbasket, and if the vendor wants to work with other companies like Paul’s they need to know. I think Paul was pretty blunt though.
So after Paul’s feedback, they go right to draw for the door prize. “…and the winner is Paul, from Suckess Corp! Yaaaay!”
Hmm.
“But I thought you said you didn’t want a Wii,” I protested, as he danced around the room clutching it. Ah, but this was a Wii that he won, nay: earned. And now that he had it, it became the greatest thing ever.
So that’s how we ended up we ended up with a Wii. Which was free.
Freedom from myself
On a forum that I belong to someone started a discussion about who we are when we “get out of the way of ourselves”, or as she says:
We all have something that we are when we get out of our own way. Something that when we’re in the midst of our doldrums, we’re embarrassed to think we might dream to be, but something we know we are deep down.
People have posted some really insightful things about themselves. I’ve been thinking hard about it and I can’t come up with an answer.
A quiet holiday
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Season’s Greetings!
For the first time Paul & I are spending Christmas at home by ourselves. We had Christmas at my Mom’s two weeks ago with my brother, his wife, our grandpa and our step-brothers, and we’ll see my Dad after Boxing Day. Paul’s planning on visiting his parents for a day in January. It was nice waking up with nowhere to go, especially since I think we still aren’t able to get the car out of the lane without ripping off the body kit. Bender even allowed us to sleep in until eight, which was nice.
We had the traditional breakfast of coffee & Bailey’s and bacon and eggs. Maggie and Bender got a piece of bacon, which they thought was totally awesome, because, we’ll it’s bacon (duh) and they never get people-food.
I’m going to cook a turkey breast in the slow-cooker, which is the awesomest way to cook “roasted” meat, since you can’t really mess it up. (It’s also the best way to cook amazing bbq ribs. Trust me.)
Paul’s playing something online with suicydmachine, and I’m getting ready to test out my gifts. It’s a great Christmas; we even have snow! It feels really peaceful and relaxed; it’s nice.
Though I wouldn’t mind trying out Christmas in a tropical setting. While I adore the scent of Christmas trees, and the sight of snow, I have a feeling I could adapt quite well to sun, sand, and a lit up palm tree ;)
I hope you at least gets a few hours to wind down and relax, and spend some time today with the people and animals you love.
Maggie for the holidays
The dog in this ad by Iams looks like a more terrier-ish Maggie, don’t you think?
Compare:
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- Angel (Iams dog)
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- Maggie
The part that they forget to tell you in the video is that before the dog starts acting like a normal dog, it destroys your kitchen floor and needs to be on anti-anxiety drugs. Maggie never fetches a ball, but she will bring you her rope toy (“rope-rope”) to play tug-of-war with. She’ll pay with Bender’s ball, throwing it around and chasing it, and keeping it from him when he really wants it. The first things she ever played with for us was a tea towel, which was cute, but little did we know it was an indication of her love for shredding fabric and paper. And the kitchen floor. And a foam mattress. And…well, lots of other stuff.
But still, it’s true: when your adopted pet finally realizes that your home is her home, and she feels like a part of the family, it’s a pretty awesome feeling. Especially when you know she’s been through hell, like Maggie surviving Hurricane Katrina, a crowded animal shelter (where she would have been euthanized if she hadn’t have been shipped up to our pet clinic) a day-long plane ride while very pregnant, and a caesarian section.
It’s been three years since Maggie came into our lives, and really, I don’t know if we’d have this house or Bender without the changes we had to make to keep her (namely, buying a house!).
Vacation
I’ve been spectacularly lazy the first two days of vacation. I started and finished Christmas shopping on Saturday to get it done ahead of the snow, and since then all I’ve done is sleep in, surf, read, walk the dogs, and stay curled up on the couch with either a cup of tea or coffee. I’ve finished three books and re-played the first three worlds of LocoRoco.
Lazy is good.
Things II
I’m an auntie! My brother and Laura had their son Traviss David on December 1st. He is *tiny* and very cute.
Paul and I are going to Hawai’i in April, it was his wedding anniversary gift to me. We’re going April 28-May 12 and staying near Lahaina on Maui.
I’m on holidays this week, which is a waste of a holiday day today, seeing as I’m snowed in. When we went on a walk this morning our lane was blocked by two spun out cars. Only the locals made it in today, which is fine because a lot of the appointments canceled anyways.
I have been neglecting this blog again, but I want to get back into regular posting. I want to go in a different direction with my blog, and I think I have things a little more sorted out. I’m thinking of getting a wordepress.org self-hosted blog that I have more control over, but I figure before I pay money and register a domain name I’ll test out my grand plans for a while anyways.
Besides, I still haven’t settled on a domain name yet ;)
Homeward
I’m leaving for the airport in 20 mintues. My head is full of things to consider, plan, teach, and implement at work.
I miss Paul. I miss the dogs. I miss eating vegetables.
