Goal List Update

Working On:

#14 Take vitamins every day for 90 days

Ugh!! I gave this one a go again this month (if you recall I previously gave up on it as I could never remember to take the bloody things). I was doing very well, almost had a whole month under my belt when I got lazy. It was a Friday night, I was laying in bed watching TV when I realized that I had not taken my vitamins for the day. There they were on my dresser and I thought, in a minute I'll get up and take them. I forgot....and have to start all over again *sigh*

#35 Read all of the unread books on my shelf: currently 7/35

I read Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill. It gave me a much better appreciation for some of the youth that I work with and the lives that they live. The girl in the novel could be any one of them what with the the drug use, sex work, bad influences and single parent home. It made me a little bit sad.

Completed:

#67 Go to a Flea Market

I was getting gas and low and behold directly in front of me was a Flea Market so I took advantage of the opportunity and went inside. Oh my!!! I really had no idea what to expect and can't believe that these places even exist. It was like an enormous garage sale full of old crappy junk, rooms filled to the ceiling with atari games and old glassware. How do they stay in business?

#71 Read a Choose Your Own Adventure book without cheating

I read Surf Monkey's circa 1992. It was a very quick read which was a bonus but I must say flipping to a different page every minute was a bit bothersome. I probably found this exciting as a youth however annoying as an adult, read, flip, read, flip. Ugh!

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There are a few goals that I'm going to have to plan for this summer or I'll have to forget about them: IE skydiving or real camping as my list expires in May of 2010. I will certainly not be camping in the winter nor skydiving when it's chilly so I need to sit down and plan ahead for the year. Definitely something to look forward to!!

I don't have any exciting weekend stories to blab about as I stayed in as much as possible. I needed a weekend to relax and rejuvenate, catch up on my reading and of course TV watching (shhhh don't judge). I'm starting to realize......well let me rephrase that.....I'm finally admitting that I clearly watch wayyyyyyy too much TV. Hours upon hours of useless shit that makes me laugh (which is good) and/or say bye bye to much needed braincells (not so good) depending on the show.

I did see an interesting program on The Fifth Estate regarding Insite which is the first legal safe injection site in North America. I am all for needle exchange programs however this place is the cream of the crop. I remember reading about it years ago when they first opened up and thought it was a great idea back then. I mean the reality is people are going to do drugs so why not give them a safe environment to do so. Addicts can bring in their drugs and shoot up in sterilized booths. They have access to all the works (clean needles, sterilized water, citric acid to cut the drugs) and medical staff are on site as well in case anything goes awry (IE an overdose) or the person wants some medical information. There are counsellors available as well as a detox and rehab program upstairs if a person so chooses to go that route. The staff are non judgemental and actually make the people feel like human beings.

I don't understand the big hullabaloo from people who oppose such places. Why don't you want a safe place for people to dispose of their syringes? Would you rather they be strewn across the sidewalk or street where you walk?? Would you rather the person shoot up in front of your son or daughter in the street? Is it better to give out clean needles or would you rather people share them thus increasing the risk of spreading disease??? Needles are to be used one time and one time only, when people need a fix they will use the same needle countless times if they have no other choice. This leads to barbing and jagged edges which leads to ripped skin and open sores/abscess' and of course terrible infections.

I don't understand why anyone would think a place such as Insite is bad, I really don't get it. As I said people are going to shoot drugs intravenously regardless of what anyone says, so let's treat them with respect and dignity and try to keep them as safe as possible. You have to remember that as well as being addicts they are people too. They are daughters or sisters or mothers, fathers and they are just as human as you or I.

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On a completely different note I was driving the other day and noticed two young girls crouched near the side of a very busy street over what appeared to be roadkill. I continued to drive however my conscience got the better of me and I circled around to see if they needed any help. Well it turns out a cute little squirrel had it's legs smushed by a car however the poor thing was still alive. I called the Humane Society and told the girls I would wait until they arrived. So there I found myself standing over the squirrel, crouching down and talking to the squirrel (for comfort of course) and eventually kneeling on the road beside the squirrel to ensure it would not take another hit ( I understand another hit would have put him/her out of misery however I just couldn't possibly bear the thought). Poor thing was terrified; whenever someone walked by on the sidewalk its head would pop up and it would try to drag itself away which for obvious reasons was next to impossible. The animal control guy arrived about 20 mins later and of course had to euthanize the little doll. I kept it together until he mentioned the inevitable then I started to cry, but I cried alone as I walked to my car so the man would not see. It just made me really sad.......

Awwww Moz you did it again!!! J'taime!!

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I have kept this one article from the newspaper in my desk for a few months now. Whenever I’m having a bad day at work I pull that little piece of paper out and read away. It makes me laugh every time as I can just picture the scene unfolding, enjoy!

“Police are investigating after a man went on a bizarre rampage at a car dealership. A man allegedly used his pickup truck as a battering ram, smashing into five parked vehicles before driving the truck through the entrance of a Volkswagen dealership. Regional police say the man then started urinating on parked vehicles before returning to his truck, grabbing a bottle of champagne and a glass and climbing onto the roof.
_____ was charged with mischief over $5000 and committing an indecent act.”


A recent favorite:

“Police say horns started honking as a sport-utility vehicle sat through six red lights at a south central PA intersection. Officers arrived to investigate the SUV that seemed to be parked in the intersection and found the driver asleep at the wheel with his foot on the brake and a beer in the console. Officers had to yell to wake the man, then had to quickly halt the vehicle when his foot came off the brake and it drifted into the intersection. The 41 year old was charged with driving under the influence.”

Of course drinking and driving is never a laughing matter but the article put a smile on my face regardless.

I was out this weekend for a friends birthday and of course brought my camera to capture the good times. M and I decide to take these ridiculous pictures beside a photo hanging on the washroom door. It's of this very old Ukrainian looking woman wearing a babushka so of course M and I pretend to kiss the photo......only my half of the picture looks like I'm actually kissing the woman and apparently there is some questionable cruddy stuff on parts of the photo. Perhaps others had the same idea??? Ewe!!


Anyway we decide to take some more photos in the cab on the way home of us looking super hot after hours of being out. Sarcasm anyone.....


In the morning we realize that my camera is MIA and begin to frantically call the various places we had been the previous evening. I didn't care so much about losing the camera I just didn't want some weirdo to have access to my 500 ridiculous photos and then find some bizarre myspace page full of my face.


Eventually we get a hold of the cab company and voila, my camera has been turned in. Yay!!! I head to the office to retrieve my goods and before I can say a word the man at the desk says "Oh good they sent the hot one" and starts laughing. Apparently these folks decided to take a gander at all of the photos on the memory card. There was nothing bad on there, embarrassing yes, but not bad (which apparently they see all of the time as the guy said that cell phones have super dirty stuff on them). After my face went back to it's normal colour I thanked them and got the heck outta there. Note to self, delete, delete, delete after uploading photos!

I had to interview a new client at work recently which is a normal part of my job. So in the guy walks all confident and smooth, you can tell he thinks he's wonderful and down he sits. He pulls his chair rather close to mine which I find odd as I enjoy my personal space and do not enjoy people reading over my shoulder.

So we're talking and he's asking me all these ridiculous questions and then points to a picture on my bookshelf quite far behind both of us. "Are you in that picture?" to which I answer "Yes" and try to continue our interview. "Mmmm you look real good in it, " in my head I'm thinking EWE! I try to ignore him and continue on with my job when I think he says something along the lines of "you're hot" which he whispers under his breath. My face of course turns a million shades of red ( I blush like crazy) and I turn my head to make a phone call as I'm not 100% sure that he's said this so I don't want to confront him (though it really really sounds like it).

I get out of my chair as soon as we're finished the appointment and he lingers on, asking more questions and seems a little disappointed that he has to leave. He then gets up, walks all the way over to my shelf, takes a good look at the photo and again says "Mmmmm you look real good in that picture" however I'm already half way down the hall trying to get him the hell out of my office.

What the fuck is wrong with people??? I would never in a million years say such things to any professional that I'm dealing with regardless of whether they were hot or not.

If he does this again at least I will be better prepared. When I turn red I'll mention that it's because I'm livid rather than embarrassed and rip him a new one for being so inappropriate. "Are you fucking kidding me? Is my face red? It's not because I'm embarassed It's because I'm pissed off....." Something along those lines should do it!

I must say last week I did in fact feel exactly like the statue. I'd rather not go into details but I got some shitty news and spent a good part of the week in tears. Life will do that to you ........

What better way to cheer up than to spend a weekend with great friends, good food and lots of drinks. I did just that and had a fabulous time. Perhaps too much of a good time......I have a rather large bruise on my knee to prove it! It's extremely sore, very swollen and takes up my entire knee cap. The floor was slippery I swear.

I ate like a pig, drank like a fish and did not keep my lips to myself. It's all about sharing right! I didn't share too much though as one young man suggested a hotel that rents by the hour hmmmmm noooooo thanks! Anyway, I really enjoyed the music on Saturday evening ( a little blurb from the DJs myspace page)

"CHRONOLOGIC is a dance party held every so often at The Boat - The Goin' Steady DJs play the absolute best dance tracks from every era - beat music from the 1940s to 2009 - played in chronological order ---- unexpect the accepted except exceptional exceptions & DANCE! Pop and Antipop from Since the End of History "

It was so much fun dancing to C & C Music Factory and Run DMC. Jennifer and I arrived during the 80's segment as we had a bit of an issue with our cab driver, quite possibly the dumbest man on the face of the earth. I thought that surely one of us was going to lose it and start yelling at him but we refrained.

It was my special weekend (actually week as it's continuing on into the coming weekend) and I had a really great time! I was able to forget about the crappy news and let loose. I came home and had a wonderful dinner with my family and some close friends and I felt really really lucky to have such amazing people in my life.

I think I've become a little bit boring as it seems most of my weekends are filled with TV and books. It's like I've realized I'm a bit too old and/or too lazy to get ready for a night on the town and would rather cuddle up under my covers and veg. I never thought the day would come........



I've also been trying to knock some of the books off of my goal list and have set a side goal of reading one book a week. By the time I drive home from work, go to the gym, have dinner and finally have a chance to relax it's well after 8pm and I'm pooched. Going out doesn't even cross my mind.

I also met with a trainer at the gym for a free consultation this weekend. Don't ask me why I even signed up for this.....I saw the form, figured what the hell it's normally a $99 assessment and wrote my name in ink. Well, doesn't he call a week later. So on Saturday after my E test & licence renewal (what happened to sleeping in on the weekend, who the fuck makes appointments at 9 AM??) I went to the gym for my assessment. It was painless but rather long, over an hour and basically consisted of him asking me a million questions and then going back and pointing out things like "you said time was an issue for you, however you just said you live 5 minutes away from the gym...explain." I was however happy to see my BMI down even further and the number on the scale a few pounds lighter than I had thought. Of course the whole point of this was for him to mention personal training blah blah blah. He wasn't pushy which I liked and it did make me stop and think a little bit. I mean, I've been going to the gym for 6 years now and yes I've lost some weight and yes I'm in much better shape than previously but really after 6 years I should have a kick ass body, clearly I have no idea what I'm doing training wise. I could be wasting much less of my time if I actually had a knowledgeable person there by my side guiding me. So we'll see....



Totally off topic, I'm heading to Vegas again in a few months and just had a few questions. Have any of you been to the Grand Canyon and if so was it via a helicopter or foot?? I'm debating about doing one of those day hikes and would like some input, best way to get there etc. I know people who have done the helicopter tours but I was kind of hoping to spend more time there and actually walk around for a few hours so I'm not sure I want to pay $550 for a half an hour in the canyon.



As well, I'd like to see a Cirque show and had my mind set on O up until last year. Two men I had met on the plane had plans to see both O and Love and when I saw them again on the plane home, they said that Love blew O out of the water (tee hee). Any thoughts for those who have seen a Cirque show there?