Life is kicking my ass lately. I'm house sitting for a new colleague (living out of a suitcase has been my life for >2 months) where a big ass brown lab dog slobers all over the place and wants to be walked every single day. ha! Didn't someone let him know I'm too self-absorbed for such things? Speaking of which, I have been failing in general at mastering the motorbike (as can be witnessed by the biggest mother-effen bruise I've ever giving myself...it covers mostly my entire left knee area). This week I've bought a new car (upgraded from a '99 Tercel to a '99 Corolla), trying to buy a new house (structural engineer appointment tomorrow afternoon), teach little snots about science for three days (again) and going to both a local (awesome indie) music festival AND a conference in a city about 300 km away. That's before Sunday of this week.

Last week I was in Montreal at another conference for three days, and found out I'll be going to Sweden at the end of the summer. Which is great. The bad part is that I need to make the full-day trip the day after a good friends' wedding. And be ready for serious meetings the day I arrive. I guess I won't be drinking much...which I suppose makes sense as I'm the MC of the event. Ask me if I've done a thing to prepare yet. Ugh. Guilt. There is always tomorrow.

Half off sale at the thrift store.

See? This is how I can afford a scooter, and a motorcycle, and a new macbook, and a trip overseas. I know all the tricks...
I picked up Guns, Germs and Steel at Salvation Army for a dollar. Also, my third copy of Poisonwood Bible for 50 cents, which I promptly gave to the undergrad student I'm overseeing as I was just recommending the book to her last week. How fortuitous.

Such savings! I could even consider a trip to Toronto just to see Underworld. Maybe.

Best thing since sliced bread

Eat Green

I forgot how long it took to prepare actual food. I was half an hour late to work this morning, because I was planning out the next two weeks of healthy eating (recipes from a wonky "woo" book on detoxing - but hey, at least they are healthy) and making buckwheat pancakes (with blueberries! and pumpkin-seed butter!) as well as my lunch. Drumroll please....

A spinach and dulse cold soup.



Sounds good eh? Ever eaten dulse? If you licked a beach stone and then chewed on some seaweed, it would give you a good idea. Luckily, the soup (which I made this morning to bring to work) is zucchini and avocado-based, so the spinach and dulse are nutrient-packed flavour afterthoughts.

Quite a different menu then Gobstoppers for breakfast, Pringles for lunch and Rolo icecream for supper.

It's all downhill from here...

I have spent the last two hours trying to get this thing to print labels. The Bane:



...I can't believe I spent six+ years of post-secondary for this.

As if they don't do this on purpose:



Sigh.

My life today

I was preparing my salad and tuna this morning for my lunch when the bag of pre-packaged salad blew up all over the kitchen floor. This kitchen floor is sketchy, as the "furnished" apartment was lacking a broom, and a mop (well, to be fair, there is one mop. I just can't make myself pick it up. So gross. It'll sit in the lonely corner until I get the guts to chuck it). Much like the cutlery, and the tub, and carpets...I really must wash everything in the apartment. So I had to throw out all my brand new salad. Sadness.

Keeping up in the sleepy village

The first week here has been busy, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Our apartment in still musty and old, but it is starting to become personalized and thus a bit more cozy. I decided that my eating habits while on extended vacation sucked so bad I needed a re-haul, so I picked up a "detox-your-life" sorta book, and plan to start that tomorrow (many items on the "please eat" list are unavailable here in the village, so I'll need to drive to the next town over to get my kale).

Hubby is busy working all day here, and then frantically trying to complete a job he agreed to do way back when he was still jobless. The timing was wonky, but he made the commitment (to someone he is related to) and now he has to juggle to two. It means frequent visits to Hometown. Last night I went with, and was able to catch up with a old friend who has been in Ireland all year doing her medicine degree. It was fun to catch up and drink steamed milk.

The best part of the job so far has been riding my scooter around. So cute! I need to get a new helmet though, as the full face black one that came with the scooter lacks the fashionable pizazz I require in all my accessories :)

Like this, in grey so it matches my scooter?


With rose coloured glasses, to match my mood. Although really, I feel completely boring lately. Nothing to write about - no travels, no house, no plans. Boring. I'll be leaving for Montreal on Sunday afternoon, and shortly after getting back I'll be writing my test for the motorcycle license. Sigh. Life is certainly slower here in the village :)

Schmoozing...

(Part) of my new job looks like this, which is wayyyyy different than the nerdy-geeky-drinking-excessively conferences that I'm used to attending:





I ordered business cards on Monday (essential!) AND a few pieces of clothing with the company logo (I got to pick from a catalog - fun because I got to choose clothing without having to pay for it). I went with a beige collared button up shirt for a "professional" look (small company logo on left pocket area) and a white, stretchy T-shirt for the "booth babe" part of the job :) I was tempted by a pair of hot looking yoga pants (maybe with the logo emblazoned on the ass?) but decided I probably didn't need to advertise non-model organism anti-bodies during workouts. Huzzah! I'm looking forward to the conference next week.

Low-income housing

We've succeeded in finding an apartment in the village where we work now. It was surprising difficult, as we weren't interested in a full year long lease and have a pet. Two no-nos in a college-driven town. But a tiny thing (probably under 500 square feet) in an old house (don't think we'll get the queen size boxspring up the stairs) for $400/month, all utilities included. Which works well for us since neither will be getting paid for a few more weeks, and we keep blowing our money on two wheeled vehicles :)

And we are still on the search for a house. The little hovel on the floodplain here in EmploymentVillage is definitely out (yeesh), but there are a few other very cute options as well as a "bank re-po, super-fixer-upper" back in Hometown that I'm convinced is the best financial investment. We are waiting on the realtors to acquire keys, then we can get inside the place and assess the damage (very bad, I'm told, mostly mold) and the condition of the electrical wiring and plumbing (mostly good, I think, based on the age of the house). That would be a good project for the next six months.

But at least now we don't have to commute, and our cat can emerge from the in-laws basement where he has been residing for the last few months. Poor thing probably has seasonal-affective disorder by now...

Secret question of the day

What is your mother's maiden name?

So in the past few days, as part of my new job (as well as just ordinary-run-of-the-mill password expiry deadlines), I've had to remember a bunch of new passwords. And ohmy, it's getting ridiculous. It used to be so easy, a person's name (or your pet) 5 to 8 characters long. I used to just change the password when it expired to the same password, and no problem-o. But not now:



The code is nearly impossible to crack, even when I'M THE ONE PICKING THE PASSWORD.

My brain hurts.

July in the maritimes

I know, I know! It's been too long since I've complained about the weather.

Well: Weatherperson is calling for frost this evening.


Yay!!! This is just the beach weather I've been waiting for all fucking year long!!

I think that makes me a two year old

Well, I bought the scooter. And then I saw an awesome, navy blue, immaculate 1988 Honda Shadow on the side of the road. And bought that one too.

Vroom vroom vroom...



Like this, only navy, with saddle bags.

Maturity

Would it be irresponsible of me to spend 2K on a scooter (for "commuting") when we don't even have a house OR apartment yet? Eh? Eh?

I hope not, cause that Vino is seriously calling my name.