Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Here come the bridesmaids
So, how about a few wedding pictures?
The night before the wedding, after the rehearsal and the dinner, the girls went to see Step Up. Cute movie--very Save the Last Dance-esque. The social commentary is far better in StLD, and the characters are much better developed, and their motivations and back stories are more compelling, but I liked the dancing itself in SU better. So... there you go. Not a waste of a Thursday night. Anyway, Esther wore a flashing button (which she turned off during the movie) that said "Bride to Be," and a tiara with a veil on it.
The bridesmaids wore...
Temporary tattoos (which I'm not sure you can see well in this size of picture) that said "On the Prowl." Except that Meghan wasn't with us when we put them on, so she never actually got to wear hers. Sad.
Then, Friday morning, we hung out at Esther's old house while Mel (pictured with me) and Andria curled our hair--these are the infamous 2-hour ringlets. At least, though, we could watch movies while we had our hair done. And, apparently, I can paint my toenails, although that proved to be an awkward angle for all.
Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures of the bridesmaids in full dress, hair, and makeup. Mom sewed all our dresses (I spent Tuesday and Wednesday of last week sitting in her office in my underwear while she fitted me!), as well as hers and Emily's (the flower girl), and she altered Esther's dress, too.
From L to R, we've got me, Kristen, Meghan, and Alex. I don't have any pictures of the entire bridal party, since we took these while the photographer was busy with other people.
The sun was in our eyes, but you can kind of see the backs of the dresses.
This is a better shot of the front, and the pink inset peek-a-boo panel in the skirt. I don't actually have any pictures of us standing in the dresses, so this is as close as I've got to a full shot of the dresses, but it's pretty close to seeing everything!
And there they are--Esther's train is hung over her arm, so that's not quite the full effect of her dress, but it's, again, as close as I got. I was just running around with my little camera--there's a reason there was a "real" photographer.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Lately at all
Wedding over. Pretty. Pictures soon.
(Enough of an update for you, Linds?)
No, seriously, I know I've been horrible at updating this lately. I have no excuses for writing nothing in almost a week, except for the fact that I don't have internet in my room yet, and I'm currently on Kim's computer.
But I'll get some pictures up as soon as my wireless is set up, which will be tomorrow!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Curly Sue
Ahhh... I'm moved. Not unpacked yet, but... least everything's in. And, impressively, it only took 4 hours from the time we started loading to the first boxes to the time we unloaded the last ones. From the trucks, that is.
And now I need a chiropractor.
It takes almost 2 hours to curl my hair into ringlets, which brings back memories of Charlie Brown and the Christmas banquet that year. Which was a scary number of years ago.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Beautiful, it's true
I think it must be a sign that all the sites I want to visit are down for maintenance.
Or maybe it's just that I'm no longer in the Eastern time zone, so middle-of-the-night maintenance there (1 a.m.) is just late-night maintenance here (11 p.m.).
In any case, I'm back, and I haven't slept more than about 4 hours in the past 36, but everything went smoothly with security and the airport and everything, and I've spent the day catching up with people and sitting through a very, very long hair appointment.
I think that the caffeine from the 5 cups of coffee and 3 diet cokes that I consumed between 10 p.m. last night and noon today is still lingering somewhere in my bloodstream, too. It's the only explanation I can come up with for why I'm still awake.
But I won't be for long...
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
It's a big, big box...
Who wants to hear a story? I thought so.
So, I've got this big box of stuff that needed to be sent back to Calgary somehow (see: all previous packing-related rants). I actually packed the box yesterday morning, and decided that it wasn't worth the $80 to check it as a third piece of luggage (not to mention taking the third piece of luggage to the airport), so I decided to FedEx it, since sending it by USPS ground mail takes at least three times as long, but the price is comparable.
I looked up the FedEx locations near my house, and there's an "authorized dealer" right around the corner, but the actual dropoff location is down on Court Street, and there was no way that I wanted to take this 50 lb box on the subway, so I decided that we'd try and find the 24-hour FedEx/Kinkos last night.
Last night, Kim slept over, which was an adventure in and of itself, and at around 11:30, after we'd watched a movie and eaten, we loaded the box into the car, and drove down... and the MapQuest directions sucked. I had two sets of directions, and both of them got us in the vicinity of where we wanted to be, but not actually where we wanted to be. We were both recognizing street names, but from the subway, which doesn't actually help above ground. So, after driving around for about an hour, we made our way back home, and I decided to ask at the dealer near my house this morning.
When Kim left for work, I hadn't gotten a work call yet (and I ended up not working today, which was a good thing, in the end), so I walked partway to the subway with her, then went back to the FedEx place, and they called for a quote, but to ship it by ground, I needed to actually drop it off; otherwise the shipping would have been astronomical for them to do a pickup.
The guy at the store gave me yet another set of directions to Court Street, so I loaded the box in the car--again--and headed back down there... and found it this time! However, it took a while to find a place to park, and the spot I found was about 2 1/2 long blocks away, so I picked up this incredibly awkward, very heavy box, and started walking, making it about 30 feet each time before I had to stop and readjust.
Until... a woman came out of a building, heading to her car, and offered me a ride down to the FedEx office. So I tossed my big, big box into the back of my car, and we drove the last 2 blocks, and she let me out on the side of the road, and I shipped my box.
And it cost a bit more than the quote, but a lot less than $80.
And that was the story of my big, big box.
Monday, August 14, 2006
The corner of Pacific Street
Because the last post is hardly worth staying on the top of the page any longer...
I've officially started packing. I packed up a big box this morning, and this evening, I'm going to take it down to the FedEx office, and get it out of my way! Fortunately, Alexandra left the car, so I don't have to try and haul it on the train or anything crazy like that, and the FedEx place isn't too far away, so driving won't be a big deal. Then, I don't have to worry about it.
Kim's coming over tonight, and she's going to spend the night, and then tomorrow evening, I'm going for coffee with Rosa and (maybe) Mary Jo, and then... that's it. Wednesday will be for that last load of laundry, and packing up the last suitcase, and I'll probably call a car for 4:30. Thankfully, that's p.m., not a.m. Still don't know if I'm working tomorrow--we'll see if I get a morning call. I'm okay with it either way. It would be nice to have the day free, but I also know that I've got enough time to get everything done, even if I don't have the day. So... whatever.
Today, I didn't get the call until 10, so it was a short workday, but that worked out well, because I was already up and packing, so I feel like I was productive in both aspects.
Ummm..... Yesterday, I got to hang out with another GGMMer. Fun times. We went to Starbucks and were nearly accosted by a scary man trying to sell us tube socks.
Seriously, I love meeting online friends. It's one of the best parts about the whole "information age." Think about it--you get to know these people online, and you get to know them as personalities, and you know what their families and work and lives are like, but you have no idea what they look like or how their voices sound... and then, when you get to meet some of them, it's just the coolest thing! It's a totally different kind of meeting someone for the first time than just hanging out with someone you've never met before. It's cool. I like it a lot. And my TWoPper count (which sounds like a body count) is up to 2 now. Not that many yet, but it'll increase. Someday, we'll have a GGMMcon, and then we'll all get to meet each other and hang out.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Just like honey
Moving sucks.
Meeting online friends is cool.
Nosebleeds give me a headache.
That's all.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Leaving on a jet plane
The packing/travel saga continues. Like anyone else cares by this point. I called the airline this morning, and found out that yes, I can have books, but yes, they're hand-checking all carry-on luggage, and yes, I can check a third bag for $80.
Which begs the question--is it cheaper to pack a box and ship it or to take the box as a third piece of luggage and pay the $80 to check it? I'm leaning towards the latter, simply because that means that I don't have to haul it down to the post office, only to find out when I get there that the shipping is astronomical.
I could, theoretically, check a box and the big suitcase, like I'd originally planned, and carry on my laptop bag and the small suitcase (packed with only clothes), but if they're hand-checking it all, I don't want to hold up the line that much. Maybe I'll call again the day I leave and see if they're still doing that. Right now, though, I'm planning to be sparse with my carry-ons. Laptop bag and purse, both carefully packed so that I don't get caught unawares with anything.
Um, that's it.
Jen, why haven't you updated in weeks? :(
Mom, I'll be staying at the house on Thursday and Friday, so we'll find some time then for dress fittings, and I can come back out for another fitting or two the next week, if I need to. And of course I'm eager to get my life in order ASAP. You make it sound like that's a bad thing!
Man, I've got a headache.
Tomorrow, I'm meeting someone from the GGMM. Exciting! One more CIP (Crazy Internet Person) to add to my list of people I've met in real life... I love it. Hee.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Ask if I can use it
I totally forgot that the RMC reunion is the Saturday after I move back. Which means it's the day I'm actually moving. Which means I probably won't be able to go. I'll have to see what time people are available to help move, to see if we'll be finished that early in the day. *sigh* Oh well. It's not like it's my class reunion, so even though I'm sure there are people I'd want to see, it's not like missing my own 10-year reunion or something like that.
I'm still trying to figure out the packing dilemma. I'm thinking that I might see how much it would cost to check an extra bag. It would probably be wise to try and carry on as little as possible--which may mean that shipping something is unavoidable, no matter how much I wish it wasn't.
There are even some flights that aren't allowing books on the flight--magazines are okay, but not books. What a pain. But at least I know far enough in advance that I'm not stuck there with a carry-on full of toiletries.
This office is funny. Yesterday, a shipment of copier paper came in, and I had the FedEx guy put it in the wrong place, so I offered to move it--about 10 boxes or so. Not a huge deal. The office manager wouldn't let me lift it, though--she kept insisting that it was too heavy; that they'd call the delivery guy back; that someone else would move it. Seriously. It's 9 boxes of paper. Heavy, sure, but no different than, oh, setting up chairs and tables or unloading a Quiznos food shipment.
I guess there are liability issues, but it's just funny to me.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
New plan
And there goes my packing strategy.Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Beautiful Dawn
One week to go. Have I started packing yet? Pfft. Of course not. That would be too much like thinking ahead!
Besides, I'm still trying to strategize how to do it. Here are the options, like anyone actually cares. For luggage, I've got a huge suitcase, a carry-on sized suitcase, and several backpacks/bags/purses, etc.
Option one: Check both suitcases, pack and ship a box back separately, and carry on a backpack and laptop bag (as a purse).
Option two (probably the more likely option): Check the big suitcase and a medium-sized box. Carry on the small suitcase and a laptop bag (as a purse).
Hopefully, I'll be able to get everything on the plane, but if not, at least if I go with option two, I'll be able to ship back a smaller box, and thus pay less in shipping. I'm going to try (albeit maybe not very hard) to pack the big suitcase over the weekend, leaving just the small suitcase and the box to pack next week. And, I'm going to try and pack all the essentials in the little suitcase, so I don't even have to open the big one until I move into Kim and Kris' place and unpack everything.
Oh yeah--the other challenge? Distributing the weight evenly, so that I don't pay for extra weight. Which means that the heaviest stuff has to go in the smallest bags, so that the overall weight is as evenly distributed as possible. Seriously. It's a good thing I learned to pack from my dad; otherwise, I'd be screwed.
Other than that? Still temping. I actually like it. It'll be nice to get into a "normal" job in the same place every day, but there's something about temping that's kinda nice. Still trying to hang out with as many people as I can before I leave. Doing random "New York" things that I haven't done yet. Last week, I walked halfway home one day, just so that I could walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Which was cool.
And I'm all out of inspiring--or even semi-inspired--things to say. Oh well. C'est la (ma) vie.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Save yourself
Random moment:
A few days ago, the conversation on a board that I hang out on turned to duvets, duvet covers, quilts, blankets, bedspreads, etc. It included such pieces of wisdom as where to find the best covers, how to make a duvet look fluffier (put it into a cover that's one size smaller, in case you were wondering), how often to change the cover, how often to wash it, etc.
In this particular thread, there are probably... 80 of us who hang out there on a regular basis, and maybe 15 involved in this particular conversation. Of the 80-ish people in the GGMM, there are 5 guys, and we know who they all are, and give them a hard time about it constantly.
During this conversation, one of them commented something along the lines of, "The fact that you can carry on a serious, non-ironic conversation about duvets proves that you can't possibly be men pretending to be women."
Sometimes, my online friends make me laugh.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Blah.
I'm cranky. But it's Friday, so I think I'll be okay.
My intensive grades were posted. Yay. Good times all around.
I want chocolate, and I'll hurt someone to get it.
I also want salt, and I may maim for that.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Reckless?
Cool. My iron was high enough to donate blood today. It's such a hit-or-miss thing--I've gotten to the point where I ask them to do the finger prick before we ever get to the questionnaire, so I'm not wasting their time if I can't give.
It's so weird how sometimes--like today--I'll decide to go in on the spur of the moment, and I haven't been eating for high iron, taking my vitamins and supplements, or anything, and my iron levels are high enough (12.6, and the cutoff is 12.5, but still--I tend to fluctuate between 12.3-12.7). Other days, I'll be planning to donate, I'll be taking supplements and eating right, and still... nothing. My blood is weird. (But at least it's not reckless!)
It was really funny, Kim--after you and I were talking about donating marrow, there was a conversation on one of the online boards I hang out on about being added to the bone marrow registry, and I was surprised at how many people want to do it, since it wasn't something I'd thought of before. But it really does reinforce the fact that I want to donate marrow one of these days--join the donor registry (or whatever Canada's equivalent of that is) when I get back.
Seriously--I'm always surprised that more people don't donate blood. It's such an easy way to give. Plus, you get free Oreos. So go donate. Okay? /PSA
Still have those tears and those rocks in my heart
I love it! Last night, I watched OT: Our Town (which, by the way, Laurel and any of the kids who were in Our Town should watch. And I mean, go rent it now), a documentary about an underprivileged school putting on Our Town, the first time that school had done a play in 20 years.
Awesome. Bringing back all kinds of great memories. Especially watching them coach the kids playing George and Emily through their kissing scene for the first time. Awww... it reminds me of Meghan and Edwin, and their really, really awkward publicity photos! Wow.
I love it, and it makes me really excited for the next show I do.
So. I haven't worked for the past two days, but apparently the bank that I worked at last week called because they needed another temp and requested me back, so... that's good. It's not 100% for sure yet, but I should know tomorrow. And I've started sending out resumes for jobs in Calgary, and if nothing else comes through, I've talked to a staffing agency that places temp, full-time, and temp-to-perm, and I've got an appointment there right after I get back. The nice thing about them is that they can give me temp work while they look for a full-time position, and theoretically, even if I don't have a permanent job right away, I can be working until something opens up. So, I'll still keep looking, but at least there's an option, so I don't have to worry as much about it.
And a few pictures from babysitting a few weeks ago... at Brian and Allison's place--their kids (Brooklyn, Campbell, and Xavier, although we missed getting Brooklyn in any of the pictures) are obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean, and have got the dress-up clothes to prove it!
Xavier, Alida, Niebhe, Campbell, and Efa's bum.
Efa as a pretty little pirate!
Xavier goes all out (including Johnny Depp-esque hair!)
The twins (Xavier and Campbell) with Rosa.
And in other news, it's hot out!!