Assorted Thoughts

Well, things are certainly looking up again. Today is Adam and my second month anniversary - and he remembered! Major boyfriend points going on here. Unfortunately tho he's sick and that kind of puts a damper on things. But he's resilient, that one.
At work today I got my schedule for the rest of August, and nearly all my shifts are 9-12 ones. Hooray! Nothing beats working 2 days a week. But the extra good news is that I got all next week off - which means Camping Trip '05 is a go! Best of all, Colleen the Great and Powerful has managed to get the week off too! This is truly magnificent news, as it means Camping Trip '05 will now not be spent entirely with only my parents - ie Potential Immense Boredom '05. It'll be grand - just like old times. But in an RV.
In other news, life's pretty much returned to normal. Except work is now so abundantly slow there is nothing to do there. At all. Which is why I composed this post at work. Don't tell Anna, Celeste. TRhe only amusement I had all evening was seeing how much I could get away with while Anna walked by every few minutes. That, and reading the paper from February 2004. Compelling stuff. Man ALIVE, we should not be staying open til 9 anymore. And also Minnie the Cat should learn how to pose properly for a portrait. No wonder she ended up looking like some kind of striped weasel. I mean, honestly.

I fear I must apologise for the last post; it was a tad on the melancholy side. Life is looking better now, what with me not being on clean-up anymore and all. And having 4 days off in a row. That helps.
I spent the past few days finishing off my Harry Potter book and enjoying being able to lounge around on the back deck in a dress. Unfortunately tho I have managed to procure a sunburn, despite the fact that I was sitting in the shade all day yesterday. I didn't even know that was possible.
Other than that I've been going to Curves more now that I actually have the time to do so and am not too tired or cranky. It is great fun, especially when Mom comes too. Also I'm thinking of joining Adam's karate class, just for August to see how it goes. Please stop laughing at me. Soon I'll be able to kick all your asses. Haha there's a laugh.
Thursday night Adam and I went to K Days with his friends Josh and Michelle. We went kinda late so we didn't get to go on too many rides (also cuz I'm a huge wuss and wouldn't go on most of them), but we got to see the fireworks and eat some incredibly unhealthy food. T'was all in good fun.
So that's been my life over the past couplda days. Sounds better than it did before, huh?

1. Sweeping.
2. Slugs, spiders, and those nasty little black bugs we found all over the petunias.
3. Watering plants for 9 hours straight.
4. Watering plants for 9 hours straight two days in a row.
5. Coming home tired, dirty, starving, and cranky, and biting my mom's head off when she's not the one to blame.
6. Spending the day wrapped in a cloud of misery, and complaining to anyone who will listen.
7. Crying at work.
8. Crying at work in front of other people.
9. Feeling guilty for having a boss who is nice enough to understand, and let me stay home Wednesday and Thursday.
10. Second guessing myself to the point of wondering if I was really justified in doing what I did. But at the same time, not really caring.

Uhhhhh. Well. Friday sucked a little less than Thursday. Just a little tho. I was working with this dude, Jason, who apparently was hired specifically to do odd jobs around the greenhouse. Why would a person want that? We spent the day sweeping the "soil room," where they fill pots full of soil. Apparently their goal is also to cover the ground in as much soil as possible in there. We needed a snow shovel. There were clouds of dirt everywhere. I feel a respiratory problem coming on. After that we went into one of the outdoor greenhouses and collected old cardboard to throw away. It was spider-infested. Luckily my boss chose that point in time to inform me that every employee gets a complimentary pair of gardening gloves. They're too big, but they came in handy when we were throwing out old plants that were covered in slugs. And Jason CHOSE this job. At least he got to drive the tractor, and I got to ride on the cart behind it.
Saturday, my one day off, I spent mostly with Adam. We played tennis and rented an old movie. And discovered my basement is also spider-infested. Sick.
Sunday I had to work again, but it was up at the front til with my gal Celeste. It was a nice break from the heat and bugs of the back of the greenhouse, but I still had to drag myself into work. I really just don't even want to look at that place anymore.
Then today happened. Today I watered plants. For 9 hours. You know, the first few hours weren't so bad, but there's only so much of, "Look! I've already been here an hour! Only 8 more to go. Look! I've already been here 2 hours..." etc. that a body can take. Dang, that is one dirty job. My fingernails were so disgusting by the end. And I had to wear a huge yellow apron and somebody else's oversized rain boots. Stan told me I looked like a fisherman.
So after that I'm in a pretty bad mood. That's becoming my standard, actually. I can't wait for Friday, my day off. But I really think I may mysteriously come down with some sort of sickness that will force me to call in sick in the near future. My body wants rest now. Goodbye.

Why is it that when something is going well you just can't hold on to it? My day at work today was the most horrible experience I have ever had on the job. I started at 8 and was informed that I would be sweeping the entire main floor with one other girl. So we did that for about 2 hours, and then I was told by Mario to go sweep one of the production greenhouses, in the back. Allow me to illuminate the situation for you: I spent the remaining 7 hours of my shift bent over, trying to sweep mud in the hottest part of the greenhouse during the hottest part of the day. By myself. With a shovel instead of a dustpan. While Mario played soccer in the hall. It was the most tiring, frustrating thing I have ever been asked to do. What made things worse was when Graeme came in and started eating strawberries off the plants and throwing the stems on the floor. And when he stood there watching me with that stupid grin that said, "I'm glad you're doing that, and not me!" and told me I missed a spot. I nearly threw the broom at him.
So today sucked ass. As will tomorrow, and all next week, Monday to Friday, 8 to 5 because apparently my boss has it out for me and has put me on clean up duty. Oh, and I'm working Sunday too, so that means 6 days in a row of pure hell! If they don't fire me by next week I'm quitting. I don't know what the fuck they think "cashier" means, but hard physical labour and isolation are not in my job description. Those bastards.

Well, not too much is going on round here lately. Today I'm going shopping at WEM with my gal the Box Master Celeste (aka Celine because Bernie in watergardens doesn't know her name yet). And my parents are actually gonna let me drive! Score one for the good guys.
So what else is new? Recently I saw The War of the Worlds with Adam and Fantastic Four with the guys. Last night we played poker and laughed at Adam's sleep-deprived friend Lil Adam til around 2. Was highly amusing. The night before that Adam and I played tennis for a while. Despite the fact that neither of us know the rules.
In work news things have been kinda sucky lately. I worked Tuesday through Thursday and it was insanely boring. Then I got called in to work Saturday, but that was OK really cuz then I worked both weekend days with Celeste, which I hadn't done in about forever. So that was a nice change.
So that was my week/weekend. Not too much new but still suffering from sleep deprivation. And a slight cold. Life is still fun.

What a weekend you guys. So I got to Adam's aunt and uncle's cabin on Thursday night and discovered right away that everyone speaks French. Even his wee little cousins. Actually, especially his wee little cousins, because they didn't speak any English at all. At least the rest of his family does tho. It sure made for quite the interesting meeting tho when Adam got a bit confused and introduced me as his daughter in French. Oh, the laughs we had over that one.
Actually, come to think of it, much of this weekend was spent laughing at Adam. His family is really cool that way. They have got to be the funniest people ever. And not to mention interesting. They own a boat and took us all waterskiing or wakeboarding (see pics below). I tried waterskiing and it's really hard but I managed to stand up on the skis on the last day I was there. Pics of that are on the unfinished roll of film. I also went paddleboating at sunset, which was romantic if slightly awkward, and attempted to windsurf. But that really wasn't happening. Again, more pics to come.
We also played frisbee, soccer, and baseball with the chillun - it was jolly good fun. Friday night the neighbours had fireworks, which Adam and I watched from the dock, and then we had s'mores round the campfire. Saturday night I beat everyone at poker - huzzah! - but then I lost horribly at 31. It was still great fun tho. Even his sister and her he's-not-my-boyfriend-friend, who were playing with us, are funny and nice. What a great time. This is what summer is all about.

Colleen was trying to keep her hair dry. You know, in the car. We were on our way to Jessica's party and we just had to start the madness a little early. And now on to the party...

WELL. If you ever need a sweet deal on a watch, I'm guessing Colleen is the person to go to. She even keeps a stock of man watches, for all your man watch needs. Daniel and Tas, her "associates," will gladly take care of any arrangements in the watch department, should you find yourself in need of a watch. Watch how many times can I say "watch" in one post!

This is Adam. This is Adam wearing Bev's watch. This is Adam wearing Bev's watch as a ring. You rock, Adam. And so does Bev's watch.

Awwww, ain't love grand? I think these two missed each other. And I also think Bev is wearing a man watch.

Becca's friend Diane introduces us to her friend Corona Extra.

Jacob of Ottawa, Katie, and Bevin take over the couch. And the alcohol. Look how happy they all are!

Thumb war champions Jessica and Adam take each other on. I can't remember who won but it was a heated battle for sure. Colleen watches on for moral support.

This one turned out really good. Nobody's blinking, or making a weird face or anything. Good job you guys! I particularly enjoy all the alcohol bottles sur le table there. Haha. I miss you guys already.

Hooray for Colleen's super awesome tree in her front yard. I climbed it. Yay!

The three amigos bid adios to Bev, who left for Okotoks Sunday night. Look what hot friends I have!

And now for Climbing Trip '05 action! Our model Colleen shows us how wonderful nature is. All those big hang-y clouds show what the weather was like for us that day, which is to say that it was less than desirable.

On belay! Belay on! Climbing! Climb on! Don is rapelling (I think) and that looks like Colleen a-watching him shimmy down.

Hello down below! Colleen belays and her dad Don watches on in utter amazement as Lori climbs to the top - and doesn't destroy her camera in the process!

And here we have the gorgeous mountains enveloped in clouds. This picture was taken at the top of one of the climbs.

Colleen hath made it to the top!! Check out her "I've-made-it-to-the-top" face.

Awww! Look at him, all perched on the rock there. Chipmunks rule.

And this cheeky little devil tried to eat our trail mix. We thot it was cute until he wouldn't go away. Then Colleen threw rocks at him.

Doesn't Colleen look like she was born to climb here? Work it, work it! Let's show off that hot, hot harness!

Down in the valley, valley so low.... The majesty of the Rocky Mountains looms up before us as we saunter away from the rock walls. Yes, I said saunter, and I meant saunter.

We were here! This is the valley-type place we went rock climbing in. Please don't laugh at my bad, bad hair and jumbo-sized rain coat. But you can laugh at the moose bellowing on the sign there. Ha!

Colleen's mom turns a magical number at their house in Calgary. Kudos to Colleener for picking that cake.

Adam makes really good pancakes. Hurrah for men who can cook!

Now this is Adam making pancakes, and looking slightly stoned. Or maybe that's just bad phtography because I was laughing so hard when I took this pic. Very fetching, Adam.

Adam on the wakeboard. Doesn't he make it look easy?

Here is Adam looking super hot on the wakeboard. Look ma, one hand!