Boxing Day oh-9

The second best holiday of the year was a smash hit this year, but it was an expensive one, and it's driven me to consider putting myself back on the temp sheet for Templine in January because I also have to pay for a ticket to Ottawa. Ottawa, again? Yes, and I'll get into that later. First, the goodies!

So, I was up at 7 am on Boxing Day, and out the door, walking to Metrotown by 8:15 (you don't *drive* to Metrotown on Boxing Day if you live close by...unless you're planning major/heavy purchases). I arrived, and for the first time in years, didn't have much of a plan...I just know that after two months of having no money to spend, or having to spend what little I had on xmas presents, I'm going to go mad if I don't go crazy on Boxing Day. So the plan was "look for something interesting". Well, I dropped into a store I rarely enter in Vancouver, but frequented more in Ottawa (I don't know why), Femme de Carriere. It's got nice stuff, but I wasn't seeing anything until I nearly finished the lap, when I spotted a devilish little blue sweater...half off. Done!

I moved on to some of the usual suspects, but nothing was knocking my socks off...until Banana Republic! I spotted a grey pea coat, and even though it's not thick enough to withstand winters, it is sufficient for those West Coast days when the temps are about 7-14 degrees, and neither a light summer coat nor a big winter coat will do. It was already marked down 50% from $218 to $109, so why not! I continued on through the mob (it was far busier there this year than in years past), and found some dresses that looked work-appropriate, so I tried them on. With some alterations, one was perfect, and marked down from $185 to $99, so Done! In addition to these deals, it was 30% off of nearly everything in the store, so really, I made out like a bandit!

After that, I decided it was time to leave the mall (it was only 10:30), and head downtown to my secret treasure, The Bay. Seriously people...with patience and a keen eye for deals, The Bay (especially the big flagship stores) can be one of the best kept secrets in the Shopping World...designer and brand names on sale for 30-50% off is a regular feature, and then there are extra markdowns...my love affair with The Bay is well known among those who compliment me on my clothes, accessories and shoes.

Anyway, I made my way up to the shoe department to see if there were any good boots worth considering...and here's were the newest love affair starts. I found a pair of black espadrilles to replace the smelly lace ones I loved but can no longer wear due to the stink, and of course they were discounted by a further 25%. Then I moved on and spotted a couple of pairs of black boots, one by Fossil, one by Nine West that I had to try. While I was waiting for the boots to be pulled from stock, I noticed a pair of camel Fossil boots that really knocked my socks off. The sample was a 7.5, so I slipped it on to see if I'd even like it, and immediately fell in love. I requested them in a size 8, and set about trying the black boots. The black Fossils were out, they just weren't doing it, but the black Nine Wests were awesome...they look like women's biker boots...sold! Then my gorgeous camel Fossil beauties came out from the stock room, and slipping them on in my size...well, I knew in that moment that I loved them more than life itself.

So, faced with an expensive choice? No, not Fancy! Both pairs were around the $270 mark, but guess what? Boxing Week, 50% off! So literally, both pairs for the price of one! I knew it meant I couldn't venture upstairs to the Ladies Department, but who cares! I was in love! And after I bought them, I was a good little consumer, and went home. I made it home, having saved something like $600-700! All before noon! Yes people, Boxing Day shopping got PWNED!

It didn't end there either. Rod went out exploring, looking for shoes, and when he went down to the Adidas Outlet store on Marine Way, he learned that EVERYTHING in store was marked down 50% off the last ticketed price. For a place that's already marked things down, it's crazy cheaper. But the line up was 3 hours long to pay, and I needed the car, so we decided to go back the next day.

(Which we did, and I made myself stay under $100...final total: $86 including taxes on a pair of running shoes, a bag, and a hoodie, regularly retailing about $200)

I rushed off to see Brent, who was home for the holidays, and enjoyed watching the scene: picture a very middle class home in one of the nicer parts of town, with an upright, church-going, loving family...it was all very...anthropological. Seriously...coming from a lifetime of knowing the more "colourful" side of life, it was fascinating to see the Nuclear family in action. Not bad, just different! But the observing had to come to an end, as I was off to a party at a friend's house, which Rod had gone ahead to, so I passed off a couple of Ottawa-bound presents, and took off.

I was late getting to Anastasia's, but it was a fun time, with everyone feeling the liquid holiday cheer, so the night was filled with talking and laughter, and serious discussions...not a bad way to end the second best day of the year!

Now, back to this Ottawa business. Well, I spotted a really interesting conference on development in Africa, and I'll be attending. As per usual this year, I've lined up cheap (free) accommodation with a friend, and the registration fee for the conference was a mindblowing $60 for students...so now the tricky part...paying the $600+/- airfare. Well, originally, I was only supposed to spend $250 max on Boxing Day, but those boots were meant for me, so I'm down to no money to put towards the flight. You might ask yourself if me temping while in Grad school is a smart idea...well, it's not my first choice, but this semester, I've lined up a Monday nights only class, and a 10-day intensive course in April, so I will have the time to work at the start of January to pay for the trip to Ottawa.

I will also have to go back in March to find an apartment for May. Someone suggested I have a friend look for me, but in truth, after my bad experience this summer, I can't take the chance of leaving a big decision like a place to live to someone who doesn't know me well enough to know my insane standards. At least I know which parts of town I want to live in, so I'm ahead of the game on that account. But yeah, the enormity of this move is not lost on me. Moving from Yellowknife to Edmonton is small potatoes, because I just bought the furniture in Edmonton. From Edmonton to Vancouver was a little trickier, because we were moving our stuff, but it was really within a day's drive. This time, the challenge is moving stuff across this enormous country...I suppose this is practice for the day when it's time to drop everything and move across an ocean!

Pop Psychology

Toward the end of Grade 11, my English teacher pulled out a bit of fun for us that was really un-English related; he had us pull out a sheet of paper and asked us five questions. We were to write down our answers to these questions.

1. What is your favourite wild animal and why?
2. What is your favourite domesticated animal and why?
3. Scenario: you are on a beach. It's night time, and the star is filled with stars and a soft moon, and the waves are crashing. There's a gentle breeze, but it's warm. How do you feel?
4. Scenario: you are in a white room, filled with white light. Everything is white. How do you feel?
5. What is your favourite food and why?

Well, we eagerly took to this task, because it was obviously not school or homework. And 14.5 years later, I still remember my answers:

1. Chinchillas because they are wild and cheeky
2. Chinchillas because they are soft and cheeky
3. I feel calm, at peace.
4. I feel dead.
5. Steak, because it's hot, thick and juicy, and it lasts so damn long.

And then came the joke; this was one of those fun little pop psychology quizzes where each question means something, and how you respond means something. Now, the embarrassing part is that the teacher asked us to share our answers for a question, and then he told us what the questions/responses meant. I was doing alright until the last question.

1. Your favourite wild animal and its qualities symbolizes how you want people to see you.
Alright...not bad.

2. Your favourite domesticated animal and its qualities symbolize how people actually see you.
Okay, so the cheeky thing is a reality, I get it.

3. How you feel about the night beach scene symbolizes how you see life.
Alright, mentally well-adjusted answer! Bonus!

4. How you feel about the all-white scenario symbolizes how you feel about marriage.
Oh...loss of bonus points. Uhh...do-over?

5. Your favourite food and why symbolizes what you think about sex.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! DO OVER! DO OVER!

Pop psychology is a sham!

Holidays 2009

So far, I have to admit, the holiday season this year is completely underwhelming, if not nearly non-existent. The situation I'm currently involved in has impacted the holiday cheer this year, as well as the fact that I'm broker than usual this year. I've got most of the presents sorted, but really have to stretch my imagination to finish.

Also, my birfday this year was a downer. I woke up at 5 am because I was obsessed with finding the program from my gramma's funeral; I was caught up in my grief this year. This year marked the 8th birfday without her, but this year's events magnified all the more the hole left in my life without her. I'm lost, and even though I've started to find my way back to Me, I couldn't help but wish that I had Gramma to talk to one last time. I went on my yearly trip down to Washington state, did the shopping thing, and then I came home and went for dinner with Jette and Rod. We went to one of my favourite places, Trattoria Italian Kitchen in Kitsilano, and followed it up with a stop at True Confections and a drive through Stanley Park. All in all, a very quiet day.

And then I went home and promptly succumbed to a cold that nearly sent me to the emergency room. A cold itself wouldn't do this, but I managed to injure myself in a way such that I couldn't breathe properly for three days. I'm happy to say I'm well on my way to recovery, but wow did that hurt.

In the meantime, I've been passing the time with an old passion of mine. This year, I was blessed with a muse, and have taken up writing again. Since June this year, I've written or completed more than 30 poems, and countless letters and prose (though the letters and prose never saw the light of day...because of their intensely personal content, most of those have been burned). Except for a brief period in 2002, and a handful of occasion-specific works, I haven't written like this since 1999. And after a decade away, it's delightful to be back to writing. Of course, it does require that I explore myself and the world around me in ways that can be painful, but there is a sophistication in the pieces that I've never been able to express before. And of course a lot of the new stuff is relationship and love-related, meaning it's likely going to be viewed as drivel...but who cares! Poetry is meant to express yearning and feeling!

In the meantime, because I've been sick, I've been ignoring my capstone. Bad, I know, considering I have to have a monster chunk of it done by January 4th (my analysis), but I blame it on the cold, and will spend all of next week up to Friday plowing through it. Yeah...that will increase my holiday spirit.

I'll leave you with this video. This version of this song sums up where I am this holiday season: facing the season with uncertainty, but looking to next year with hope.

News Embargo

I've been very quiet as of late. Outside of publicizing my survey and a procrastination/writer's block post, I've been unable to spend much time on this blog. It's not about time constraints, although those are a definite reality in Grad School. The problem is that I am constrained by privacy. I've been struggling with some potentially-life-altering issues, and in the interest of protecting the other people involved, I decided to temporarily embargo my posts. This is because the news affects more than myself, and people close to me still aren't in the know.

Don't worry, there are no health problems, no criminal issues, no life-or-death issues; when I believe that discussing what's going on is okay, I will share that part of my journey with readers. Until then, I don't know how much I'll be able to share here, and what I write here may seem either distant or shallow. I ask your patience while things are sorted out.