So I got a Christmas card in the mail yesterday. It was exciting. I love getting mail (in case you haven't already gathered that). It was from my friend A, who visited towards the end of my time in York with her family. In it was a picture she took on that visit - she's a talented photographer, and no, I'm not just saying that because she reads this blog. It's true!
It's a photo of me, sitting at the base of the statue of Constantine outside York Minster, mimicking the grandiose, relaxed posture of someone who knows they've got it made, given to this statue by the sculptor in an effort to represent York at its height of Roman power. I love this photo, and it's only now, after thinking about it for hours and sleeping on it that I've figured out why.
I don't look like a model, I'm not thin, I'm not even looking at the camera - hell, I don't even have my eyes open. It's not really a picture of beauty.
But I don't have my eyes open because I was laughing so hard at that moment that I couldn't keep them open.
I was happy.
A managed to capture me in a truly happy moment. A moment I was just being myself, goofing off in front of friends I hadn't seen in years - but it seemed like I'd only seen them the day before.
I wish I had more of those moments captured on film - I look good.
*Thanks, Our Lady Peace
It's a photo of me, sitting at the base of the statue of Constantine outside York Minster, mimicking the grandiose, relaxed posture of someone who knows they've got it made, given to this statue by the sculptor in an effort to represent York at its height of Roman power. I love this photo, and it's only now, after thinking about it for hours and sleeping on it that I've figured out why.
I don't look like a model, I'm not thin, I'm not even looking at the camera - hell, I don't even have my eyes open. It's not really a picture of beauty.
But I don't have my eyes open because I was laughing so hard at that moment that I couldn't keep them open.
I was happy.
A managed to capture me in a truly happy moment. A moment I was just being myself, goofing off in front of friends I hadn't seen in years - but it seemed like I'd only seen them the day before.
I wish I had more of those moments captured on film - I look good.
*Thanks, Our Lady Peace
Is the sign I'm replaced by when I'm not at the uni. It's reassuring to know that I can be replaced by inanimate objects (which reminds me that I need to take the sign down. I'm here now, after all, aren't I?).
I have only three more days to get through before I get a blessed day off - yup, you guessed it, Christmas day. I then get Friday next week off, too, which is stupidly exciting. Two days in one week! Whatever will I do? This is my tenth straight day working after one day off...
So very tired... was at work at FEP until 10 last night (means getting home nearer 11 p.m.), then up at 6 this a.m. to get ready for uni work - a grand total of about 5.5 hours sleep, and I go until 10 again tonight. I HATE having to get up to drive my mother to the bus station - it just makes my day so much longer...
They want me to go out to some Newfie bar after work at FEP tonight, but I'm not sure I'll last that long... Luckily I don't have to be at work at TBS until 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. That's a slight saving grace - I'm not looking forward to it, though - the last Saturday before Christmas? Eep! Hopefully the people will be nicer than they have been so far this week. We've had the parents bringing in the kids that needed to be babysat while Dad shopped, the customers that are frustrated that we don't have stuff in stock, the customers that won't listen when I tell them that our store has never had a certain item (maybe they saw it at WEM?)... Bastards.
That rant aside, the people at FEP last night were the sort that make being at FEP entirely worthwhile. I'm not a huge fan of the storytelling that's happening in St. A's this year, mostly because it seems like a bit of a cop-out after Gift of the Magi, but whatever - the folks last night were actually interested and attentive to my stories. And the fact that I snagged the fedora to wear when I went outside was kinda fun, too (me, materialistic about my costume? Nah...).
And I don't imagine I'm going to be particularly busy today. So maybe, as the IT guy just suggested, I can curl up under the desk and nap. Maybe the "ring bell for assistance" sign isn't so bad after all...
**So, looks like I won't be avoiding the bitchy people after all... Just had a guy come in pissed off that we wouldn't let his daughter back into her room to get some stuff she'd left behind - Yelling is a bit of an understatement, and it just HAD to be the day our resident 5-0 officer wasn't in... go figure... Luckily we didn't end up having to call 5-0, but it was a pretty near thing.**
I have only three more days to get through before I get a blessed day off - yup, you guessed it, Christmas day. I then get Friday next week off, too, which is stupidly exciting. Two days in one week! Whatever will I do? This is my tenth straight day working after one day off...
So very tired... was at work at FEP until 10 last night (means getting home nearer 11 p.m.), then up at 6 this a.m. to get ready for uni work - a grand total of about 5.5 hours sleep, and I go until 10 again tonight. I HATE having to get up to drive my mother to the bus station - it just makes my day so much longer...
They want me to go out to some Newfie bar after work at FEP tonight, but I'm not sure I'll last that long... Luckily I don't have to be at work at TBS until 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. That's a slight saving grace - I'm not looking forward to it, though - the last Saturday before Christmas? Eep! Hopefully the people will be nicer than they have been so far this week. We've had the parents bringing in the kids that needed to be babysat while Dad shopped, the customers that are frustrated that we don't have stuff in stock, the customers that won't listen when I tell them that our store has never had a certain item (maybe they saw it at WEM?)... Bastards.
That rant aside, the people at FEP last night were the sort that make being at FEP entirely worthwhile. I'm not a huge fan of the storytelling that's happening in St. A's this year, mostly because it seems like a bit of a cop-out after Gift of the Magi, but whatever - the folks last night were actually interested and attentive to my stories. And the fact that I snagged the fedora to wear when I went outside was kinda fun, too (me, materialistic about my costume? Nah...).
And I don't imagine I'm going to be particularly busy today. So maybe, as the IT guy just suggested, I can curl up under the desk and nap. Maybe the "ring bell for assistance" sign isn't so bad after all...
**So, looks like I won't be avoiding the bitchy people after all... Just had a guy come in pissed off that we wouldn't let his daughter back into her room to get some stuff she'd left behind - Yelling is a bit of an understatement, and it just HAD to be the day our resident 5-0 officer wasn't in... go figure... Luckily we didn't end up having to call 5-0, but it was a pretty near thing.**
So with the U of A, I trained myself to say "convocate" instead of "graduate". Now I have to retrain myself... U of York students just plain old 'graduate'. Ah well. But as it turns out, I'm GOING to the ceremony! Yay! So on the 28 of March, I'll hop a plane with my parents (this part I'm a little doubtful about...) get to London on the 29th, and wake up first bloody thing in the morning on the 30th to collect my gown, get pictures done, etc. and go graduate. Much like the first time I gr... convocated... I'm having mixed feelings about this one.
a) I hate having a fuss made over me and my achievements. I'm not all that special or unique. Thousands of other people get Master's degrees each year, so I don't see why they need to make that much fuss, put me in the limelight, take pictures (I'm totally UN photogenic). Not looking forward to that.
b) TOTALLY looking forward to being back in York. I miss it. Much as I was longing to get home, there's something to be said for wandering down thousand-year-old streets each day and having a Starbucks coffee in a 400-year-old house.
c) Don't know what I'm going to do with the 'rents on the Saturday. They say they'll be fine wandering around without me, but I don't know. I feel fairly guilty abandoning them in a foreign country (although having said that, they're sending me home early so that they can gad about in Britain for an extra week and I can come back to work... *sigh*). Especially don't like the fuss they'll be making about me. Drives me nuts. Absolutely nuts. I wish they could just sortof let me have the robes so I could take pictures (to satisfy the 'rents) and then give me the degree with no real ceremony (although if I'd gone to Cambridge, I'd go to the ceremony! It's all in Latin!) and let me go on my way. But, no, I need to go to the ceremony (in the ugliest building on Campus, by the way), have photos taken, go to the luncheon afterwards, schmooze and just generally make myself pleasant for an entire day.
d) have a feeling it's not going to be enough time - I'll get there on Thursday, graduation is on the Friday, Saturday is free, Sunday I'll have to head back to London and then fly out on Monday back to Edmonton...
e) Get to order my graduation robe rental from a place called Ede and Ravenscroft - who've been making graduation robes since 1689 (according to their website...). How cool is that?
f) York's robes are unfortunately ugly as all hell.
So there you have it, folks. I'm sitting here about to bawl and I'm not entirely sure why... I guess it's 'cuz after this I'll have no excuse to head back to England at all in the near future... and I'm not sure when I'll get to go back again at all. Lord knows I'll still not be making enough money to put a lot away for savings... I guess as long as graduation was still just a "way off in the future" sort of thing I could just pretend that it hadn't all really ended and now I can't get away with that any more.
And on a completely unrelated note, if I hear "All I want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey one more time, I may shoot myself.
a) I hate having a fuss made over me and my achievements. I'm not all that special or unique. Thousands of other people get Master's degrees each year, so I don't see why they need to make that much fuss, put me in the limelight, take pictures (I'm totally UN photogenic). Not looking forward to that.
b) TOTALLY looking forward to being back in York. I miss it. Much as I was longing to get home, there's something to be said for wandering down thousand-year-old streets each day and having a Starbucks coffee in a 400-year-old house.
c) Don't know what I'm going to do with the 'rents on the Saturday. They say they'll be fine wandering around without me, but I don't know. I feel fairly guilty abandoning them in a foreign country (although having said that, they're sending me home early so that they can gad about in Britain for an extra week and I can come back to work... *sigh*). Especially don't like the fuss they'll be making about me. Drives me nuts. Absolutely nuts. I wish they could just sortof let me have the robes so I could take pictures (to satisfy the 'rents) and then give me the degree with no real ceremony (although if I'd gone to Cambridge, I'd go to the ceremony! It's all in Latin!) and let me go on my way. But, no, I need to go to the ceremony (in the ugliest building on Campus, by the way), have photos taken, go to the luncheon afterwards, schmooze and just generally make myself pleasant for an entire day.
d) have a feeling it's not going to be enough time - I'll get there on Thursday, graduation is on the Friday, Saturday is free, Sunday I'll have to head back to London and then fly out on Monday back to Edmonton...
e) Get to order my graduation robe rental from a place called Ede and Ravenscroft - who've been making graduation robes since 1689 (according to their website...). How cool is that?
f) York's robes are unfortunately ugly as all hell.
So there you have it, folks. I'm sitting here about to bawl and I'm not entirely sure why... I guess it's 'cuz after this I'll have no excuse to head back to England at all in the near future... and I'm not sure when I'll get to go back again at all. Lord knows I'll still not be making enough money to put a lot away for savings... I guess as long as graduation was still just a "way off in the future" sort of thing I could just pretend that it hadn't all really ended and now I can't get away with that any more.
And on a completely unrelated note, if I hear "All I want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey one more time, I may shoot myself.
Yup, it's a day.
Yup, I have three jobs.
Yup, it's nearly Christmas. There are presents to pay for, parties to attend, and a huge amount of general busy-ness.
And where am I?
Yup.
I'm at home, in my pyjamas at 11:30 a.m. (They're sweet-ass flannel La Senza pjs in brown-and-white Hawaiian print, too, that I got on sale in a random fit of girliness, but maybe that's TMI).
You see, UPS was meant to be bringing me my boxes of stuff that I shipped home from England. Yesterday. And so I was prepared to wait at home until the last possible moment before I had to leave for work so that I could get my stuff, sign for it, and run away (when you work retail from 1:30-9:30 p.m., this is a slightly feasible plan). I watched UPS dude pull up outside the house at about noon, and watched him unload box after box.... (ok, there were only 8 in total) expecting the doorbell to ring any second so that he could collect that all-important signature from me... And then I watched him pull away.
Yup.
He'd piled the boxes around by our garage door, and just left.
Asshole. I didn't even need to be around. And I didn't need to change my shift (I could have been off earlier and avoided the hassle of closing the store). And I... hey, wait a second... there were meant to be 9 boxes...
A quick check of UPS's website confirmed that one box has somehow been diverted to Calgary and won't be arriving until today.
Now, I'd told my boss at the uni that if the boxes didn't come on Monday or if they wouldn't let my dad sign for them if I wasn't there, I'd likely have to wait at home on Tuesday and not come in. So without really telling her a lie, I told her that only 8 of my 9 boxes arrived and that I'd be sitting at home waiting for UPS again today. Which is true - I don't want my box sitting out there in melting snow all frickin day!
It also means I've got a day to just do whatever the hell I want. And I'm not sure where to start. It's my first day completely off since the 2nd of this month, and what do I do first? Do I catch up on television that I've not touched in 2.5 weeks? Do I watch some of the DVDs that have returned home to me? Do I embroider? Do I knit? Do I clean (my bathroom could use a scrubbing... well, the sink anyway... pink eyeshadow and cream sink do not a happy couple make)?
Or do I help decorate the Christmas tree (which is up, lit, but sadly bare of ornaments)?
AAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Stop the insanity!!!!!
Edit - 3:58 p.m. - As it turns out, all I've managed to do so far is have a shower, get dressed, rescue my 9th box from beside the garage (ASSHOLE!), help decorate the tree, and promptly fall asleep on the couch in the living room with my computer playing Christmas music. Having said that, the decorating bit was quite nice - I missed it last year, being in England and all, and so it was like being a kid again, helping Dad decorate the tree...
Yup, I have three jobs.
Yup, it's nearly Christmas. There are presents to pay for, parties to attend, and a huge amount of general busy-ness.
And where am I?
Yup.
I'm at home, in my pyjamas at 11:30 a.m. (They're sweet-ass flannel La Senza pjs in brown-and-white Hawaiian print, too, that I got on sale in a random fit of girliness, but maybe that's TMI).
You see, UPS was meant to be bringing me my boxes of stuff that I shipped home from England. Yesterday. And so I was prepared to wait at home until the last possible moment before I had to leave for work so that I could get my stuff, sign for it, and run away (when you work retail from 1:30-9:30 p.m., this is a slightly feasible plan). I watched UPS dude pull up outside the house at about noon, and watched him unload box after box.... (ok, there were only 8 in total) expecting the doorbell to ring any second so that he could collect that all-important signature from me... And then I watched him pull away.
Yup.
He'd piled the boxes around by our garage door, and just left.
Asshole. I didn't even need to be around. And I didn't need to change my shift (I could have been off earlier and avoided the hassle of closing the store). And I... hey, wait a second... there were meant to be 9 boxes...
A quick check of UPS's website confirmed that one box has somehow been diverted to Calgary and won't be arriving until today.
Now, I'd told my boss at the uni that if the boxes didn't come on Monday or if they wouldn't let my dad sign for them if I wasn't there, I'd likely have to wait at home on Tuesday and not come in. So without really telling her a lie, I told her that only 8 of my 9 boxes arrived and that I'd be sitting at home waiting for UPS again today. Which is true - I don't want my box sitting out there in melting snow all frickin day!
It also means I've got a day to just do whatever the hell I want. And I'm not sure where to start. It's my first day completely off since the 2nd of this month, and what do I do first? Do I catch up on television that I've not touched in 2.5 weeks? Do I watch some of the DVDs that have returned home to me? Do I embroider? Do I knit? Do I clean (my bathroom could use a scrubbing... well, the sink anyway... pink eyeshadow and cream sink do not a happy couple make)?
Or do I help decorate the Christmas tree (which is up, lit, but sadly bare of ornaments)?
AAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Stop the insanity!!!!!
Edit - 3:58 p.m. - As it turns out, all I've managed to do so far is have a shower, get dressed, rescue my 9th box from beside the garage (ASSHOLE!), help decorate the tree, and promptly fall asleep on the couch in the living room with my computer playing Christmas music. Having said that, the decorating bit was quite nice - I missed it last year, being in England and all, and so it was like being a kid again, helping Dad decorate the tree...
So we decorated the office at the uni for Christmas today. This involved an early morning trek deep into the bowels of the residence boiler room complex (I say complex, because there is not simply one boiler room...) to the cages where random storage occurs. We retrieved a few small boxes of stuff (yup, three boxes... four people on the trek... you can see how busy we are in this office) and returned to the office to set up. We were done in an hour. I'm not sure what to say about the results, except that it has a mini light-up porcelain Christmas village as part of the scheme behind my desk. It's not my style (last time I checked velvet-textured bristol-board snow men weren't quite on the list of most classy Christmas decorations ever), but, y'know, it's Christmas. And it's nice that I got to help decorate.
It's my first Christmas shift at FEP tonight, as well. I'm looking forward to it - not in costume today, but will be tomorrow. I got bonfire and tour-guide duty this evening. I'm a little nervous as I haven't really bothered to read the information they gave me about Christmases past in Edmonton; that might be my task for this afternoon, since there's really not much work-work to be done in the office here.
It's also jeans day. But I forgot my money, so no jeans for me (not to mention that I forgot to wear jeans... I could have scrounged something up in terms of cash).
And we're going out for lunch! Yay!
And that is all.
It's my first Christmas shift at FEP tonight, as well. I'm looking forward to it - not in costume today, but will be tomorrow. I got bonfire and tour-guide duty this evening. I'm a little nervous as I haven't really bothered to read the information they gave me about Christmases past in Edmonton; that might be my task for this afternoon, since there's really not much work-work to be done in the office here.
It's also jeans day. But I forgot my money, so no jeans for me (not to mention that I forgot to wear jeans... I could have scrounged something up in terms of cash).
And we're going out for lunch! Yay!
And that is all.
So for someone who was complaining a month ago that I wasn't able to find a job... I now have three.
Granted, two of them will more or less end when the Christmas rush does, but that means I'll be stupid busy in the mean time, working 4-5 days a week at The Body Shop, 2 days a week at the uni and some evenings down at Fort Edmonton Park.
My apologies if the blogging suffers as a result. I may have to blog at the uni job to keep sane there, but I'm not sure what the uni's policy is on that yet - so until I do, I'll play it safe.
Take care, all.
Granted, two of them will more or less end when the Christmas rush does, but that means I'll be stupid busy in the mean time, working 4-5 days a week at The Body Shop, 2 days a week at the uni and some evenings down at Fort Edmonton Park.
My apologies if the blogging suffers as a result. I may have to blog at the uni job to keep sane there, but I'm not sure what the uni's policy is on that yet - so until I do, I'll play it safe.
Take care, all.
1. Yourself: cold
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse: what?
3. Your hair: ponytail
4. Your mother: cook
5. Your father: silent
6. Your favorite item: books
7. Your dream last night: unknown
8. Your favorite drink: Pepsi
9. Your dream car: unbroken
10. The room you are in: bed
11. Your ex: whatever
12. Your fear: loss
13. What you want to be in 10 years? established
14. Who you hung out with last night? coworkers
15. What You're Not? stupid
16. Muffins: cranberry
17. One of your wish list items: margarita
18. Time: evening
19. The last thing you did: supper
20. What you are wearing: redt
21. Your favorite weather: hot
22. Your favorite book: Penman
23. The last thing you ate: pizza
24. Your life: overrun
25. Your mood: bored
26. Your best friend: few
27. What are you thinking about right now? bed
28. Your car: none
29. What are you doing at the moment? one
30. Your summer: boring
31. Your relationship status: scarce
32. What is on your TV? black
33. What is the weather like? better
34. When is the last time you laughed? work
35. Who did you steal this from? Delly
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse: what?
3. Your hair: ponytail
4. Your mother: cook
5. Your father: silent
6. Your favorite item: books
7. Your dream last night: unknown
8. Your favorite drink: Pepsi
9. Your dream car: unbroken
10. The room you are in: bed
11. Your ex: whatever
12. Your fear: loss
13. What you want to be in 10 years? established
14. Who you hung out with last night? coworkers
15. What You're Not? stupid
16. Muffins: cranberry
17. One of your wish list items: margarita
18. Time: evening
19. The last thing you did: supper
20. What you are wearing: redt
21. Your favorite weather: hot
22. Your favorite book: Penman
23. The last thing you ate: pizza
24. Your life: overrun
25. Your mood: bored
26. Your best friend: few
27. What are you thinking about right now? bed
28. Your car: none
29. What are you doing at the moment? one
30. Your summer: boring
31. Your relationship status: scarce
32. What is on your TV? black
33. What is the weather like? better
34. When is the last time you laughed? work
35. Who did you steal this from? Delly
