Christmas

Shane and I had a really nice Christmas Day. There is something to be said about spending a holiday with someone you are madly in love with. :)

Shane woke up way earlier than me - 7:30 - but I made him go back to bed until 9 or so. I had given him candy canes, chocolate, gloves, a comb and TMNT 2 & 3 in his sock, socks, underwear, 3 books (A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder, Perfume: Story of a Murderer, and Across the Nightingale Floor), a sweater from RW and a 320 GB portable external hard drive. He gave me a silver/grey robe, a pair of pj pants from jacob, two shirts and a belt from Mango, and 3 movies (Knocked Up, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and DOA).

We went back to bed for a while, and then Shane got up and made pancakes. Yum! I opened up the peach preserves we'd got at the turkey dinner we went to a few weeks ago to try with them. It was all around tasty. :) Shane made his family calls while I gamed in the living room. Around 2 we started prepping the duck for cooking. My mom called right before we were about to take the bird out of the oven. So I left Shane in charge of it for a bit while I chatted with the family.

The duck turned out really well. I'm very proud of how good dinner was actually. Neither Shane or I had ever attempted to roast any kind of big bird. I was also really pleased with the stuffing I made from scratch (thanks to Phil's recipe), and the gravy (I'd mixed and matched my mom's gravy making style with Phil's).

The rest of the evening was pretty chill. We were both too full to do very much. :P We ended up just watching the Hurt Locker together before Shane went into read, and I watched the first half of Tomb Raider before turning in myself.

I think today we're going to head over to Scott's for a board game night and take out from Bejing in China Town.

Labels: Daily Life, Family, Friends

posted by Lisa at 11:21 AM |

 
Monday Update

I've been really slack with the updating, I know. There hasn't been too much going on really. I'm all settled into my new apartment. I still haven't got around to painting the bedroom, but that mostly due to the fact that the humidity has been brutal and my apartment gets really warm - too warm for painting. :)

I had a lovely weekend though. Phil and I went to karaoke last minute Friday night. We didn't stay too late, just enough to do a few songs as we both had plans for later in the evening.

Saturday, I was up bright and early because my new couch was being treated at some point during the day. Luckily they came early, at 9 am, so Shane and I were able to go back to bed to catch up on much needed sleep.

The afternoon was spent enjoying the beautiful weather. We walked to St. Denis to get frozen yogurt from this lovely place that Shane loves, and then we headed to Parc la Fontaine to chill out. We laid on a blanket under the trees reading for hours. I hope the weekend weather is nice for the remainder of the summer. This was really the first time I've got to hang out in Parc la Fontaine thanks to tons of rain.

We were going to get Greek from this great place on Duluth for supper, but the place was lined up right out the door. We opted instead to try something new and went to the Afgan place across the street. After dinner, we stopped at a dep and got some sparkling wine to drink in the park. We set up by the pond, cuddled on the blanket and drank our wine until around 9:30 or so. It was really an excellent way to spend a day.

Yesterday we were going to go to Hudson to hang out on the lake, swim and bbq, but the weather, of course, turned bad. We went for breakfast at Omega in Gare Central and then headed to Shane's to spend the day. We got completely soaked walking from the metro to his place, so we endeded up in comfy clothes watching movies. We made tatziki for to go with dinner (with lots of yummy garlic), which turned out really well. It was easier than I thought, it would be. Next, I think we need to buy a blender so we can start making our own hummus too.

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends

posted by Lisa at 11:54 AM |

 
Springy Sunday

This past week seriously dragged on. Tuesday night we did cheapy Tuesday and saw 'Defiance.' It was really good - Daniel Craig was great, but I particularly enjoy Leiv What's-His-Name. He stole his scenes I thought. Sure, it wasn't the most uplifting of movies, but it was well done.

Wednesday evening was spent chillin' with my boy at my place. Thursday night we did ribs at Deli Planet with Melissa, Scott and Phil. The ribs are very tasty and the beers are cheap. :P

Friday I had to take off from work early to take Kaylee to get her stitches out. The vet was a half hour behind, which kind of sucked. Kaylee freaked out when a ginormous dog was brought in, and it took a good 5 minutes to calm her down. The stitches removal was pretty quick, and on the way home, I stopped in the grocery store to get something for supper. While I cooked, I caught up on episodes of How I Met Your Mother. I totally cried at the end. :P

Saturday I was up early-ish, read for a bit, napped and finally got up and got moving. I had leftovers for lunch, and watched "Doubt," which is excellent, btw. I walked east on Sherbrooke, and met Shane at Frontenac, and we made our way to the SAQ for some wine to take to Phil's. I can't find any of my favorite wines here. Remind me to bring some back with me from Saint John please! We spent the remainder of the afternoon snuggled on Shane's couch watching 'Kung Fu Panda.' Well, you know me and talking animals. Let's just say I enjoyed it. :)

We headed out around 6:30, a bit late as it turned out. We didn't end up getting to sit with Phil at dinner, which is too bad because he always knows the good sushi to order. Shane got to experience good quality sushi. The people at our table really liked the sashimi, which is great, but not really for the new sushi eater. They didn't bring us our dumplings either. :P The salmon sashimi was really good, and surprisingly enough, so were the octopus tentacles. My fav is always the eel - it was a little more bbq and a little less smokey, but still very tasty. After dinner, we went to Phil's, which ended up being a pretty mellow affair. We drank wine in the livingroom and talked video games and computers with his roommate Matt. It was nice to see Matt had taken a break from WoW to join the living. :P

Today, Shane and I were up kind of early. I played 'Super Swing Golf' while he make crepes (thanks babe!). We then headed downtown, and got him some lotion for his hands, and some work clothes. We then made our way out the the Jean Talon Market. The market is great. Butchers, pasta makers, fish market, fruits, veggies, flowers, cheese, you name it, they've got it and it's fresh. This is part of what I love about Montreal. There are places dedicated just to sausages (we got some fancy types to try), for example, or the shop that's all olive oil variations and spices.

I'm sitting on Shane's couch at the present. He's reading "The Watchmen" graphic novel in preparation for the movie. I recommend reading it if you haven't yet. I think we'll be making supper soon and then watching a movie. It's just getting cold out again now that the sun is going down, but it was like spring here today. I hope that's a sign that spring is coming early - I'm so over winter!

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends, Movies, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 5:00 PM |

 
Winter Wonderland

At least, that's what Quebec City was like. Pretty, but damn cold!

Friday night, Sarah, Phil, Sean, Oscar, Shane and myself hit O'Hara's for beer o'clock and karaoke. It was a good time. Not too busy so we (by we I mean me) got to sing lots. We got back to my place around quarter after 11, just enough time for me to pack before the next bus came.

We were up bright and early on Saturday. We headed to Berri-UQAM, arriving just in time to catch the 9 am bus. We watched "Burn After Reading" and the first part of a movie called "Outlander." I enjoyed them both, but "Outlander" was pretty bad. :P We landed in Quebec City about 12 pm. We figured out where we were and where we had to go. Shane assured me that our hotel, the lovely Chateau Bellevue wasn't far, so we decided to walk. It wasn't *too* cold, but by the time we got there, we were pretty cold. We cuddled up under the covers, finished watching "Outlander" while we warmed up and went in search for food.

We went to St. Patrick's Pub, Shane having heard that it was good. It wasn't. The food was expensive. The drinks were expensive, and the stew we ordered arrived at our table cold. I wasn't impressed needless to say. After we ate, we walked until we were too cold to go any further, stopping at this fun cafe for hot chocolate. I ordered a regular mug - Shane ordered a bowl. It was very tasty, but a little rich for me.

After our hot chocolate, we went in search of an SAQ, but ended up missing it because we'd stopped in a cool little medieval shop. The stuff was gorgeous but super expensive. We wandered around a bit, finally finding a dep that was open to get some wine. We met up with Dana briefly, and arranged for her to come to our hotel after she'd gone and changed. We headed back to our room, snuggled under the covers, and cracked open some wine.

Dana joined us at around 7 pm, and we finished our drinks before venturing back out into the cold to find food. We ended up in this lovely little Italian restaurant on Ste. Louis. They had a nice table d' hote. Shane got the lasagna, Dana and I ended up getting the garlic pesto penne. It was super tasty, and it was great spending some time with Dana. It was nice to finally meet her - we've been texting and facebooking for months so it felt like we already were old friends. :) We thought about going out, but Dana had fallen last week and did a number on her tailbone, and we were kind of tired, so we parted ways with hugs (and a few tears) and headed back to our hotels.

We were up early again on Sunday, and headed downstairs for breakfast. We were a bit late, so a lot of the buffet had been picked over, but considering we hadn't realized breakfast was included, were happy anyway. We checked out around 11:30, and hopped a cab to the bus station to come home. We landed at Berri-UQAM around 3 pm.

It was nice to get back - Quebec City is lovely, but it's not as welcoming a city as Montreal, and Montreal is home now. We went to Future Shop, and used our gift cards on a 2nd Wii remote and nunchuck as well as a charger. We headed back to Shane's place, got the fixings for dinner, and spent the evening curled up on his couch. It was a good weekend in all. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 9:21 PM |

 
Hi Winter, thanks for the visit, but its time to go.

It was a long, cold week. I'm totally *not* loving Montreal winter. The air is drier and super cold. It's like a knife some days!

Not much really went on this week. I went out with Shane and Melissa on Thursday and we found Shane a couch. It's really nice, and reasonably priced. I also found a sectional I want, but that's going to have to wait I think. Sigh.

Friday night was beer o'clock followed by some karaoke at Club Date. It's normally packed, but this week it was packed full of Francophones. This wouldn't be an issue if they hadn't insisted on singing horrible, horrible French songs. I mean *bad*. We were there 2 hours and I only got to sing twice, and the KJ decided to 'help' me at the end of my second one. What an ass. Seriously, that's a big karaoke no-no.

Yesterday was a day of D&D. I met Sean and Jason at Cote Vertu and we played until about 10 pm. It was a long session, but the first battle, against two land sharks, took 2 hours! I thought about meeting up with the Boys afterwards, but they'd had a head start on the drinking, and I was tired. I just headed to Shane's place, arriving just before he did. We chatted about the evening, and crashed out. Well, he crashed out and I read for a bit. :)

We were up fairly early today. Shane was expecting his friend Liam to come visit, but things didn't quite work out that way. He went to help Parker paint, and I went and bought the belt and jeans I'd been putting off purchasing. :P I also got a sweet argyle sweater and super comfy dress pants too. I spent a little more than I could really afford, but I really need new clothes. I met Parker and Shane at the Provigo on Parc and we went back to Parker's for some wine and a seafood jambalya. It was really good. We head back to my place around 8 or so, and spent some time curled up chatting. I'm about to go in, read for a bit, and hit the hay. I have an early morning - Kaylee is getting fixed tomorrow and I have to take her to the vet before work.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 11:03 PM |

 
Lazy Weekend = Crazy Monday

I had a very lazy weekend. Friday night Phil and I went to Peel Pub for some beers - Shane met us after - and we ended up staying there until after 10 pm. I crashed at Shane's place, and we pretty much did nothing all day Saturday. We only left the house to go to the store and spent most of the day watching "Rescue Me" season 2. (It's an awesome show!)

Sunday was pretty much the same. We did venture out in search of supper. We went to Le Vieux Dublin, but the kitchen is closed on Sundays. Seriously, wtf?! We ended up at Hurley's. I was craving a burger. It was okay. Hurley's does great stew and yummy fish & chips, but not so much with the burgers.

Today was madness at work. I spent the entire morning working on a report for one of my managers. By the time I ran the dozen reports I needed, and filled in all the data, while juggling my AE requests, it was 1 pm. I got it sent off, ate quick, and ran a few errands before jumping back to it. I spent the next couple hours following up on leads, and finally was able to get to the last few things on my list a little after 4 pm. Sure, the day flew by, but I was exhausted!

After work, Shane and I dropped into Indigo - I picked up a book - and then headed back to my place for food. I made tasty (low point) Indian Butter Chicken (Blue Menu, I love you), and we watched the first part of the BSG pilot. Shane's never seen the show, so I'm trying to torrent it.

I think tomorrow is movie night - I love cheapy Tuesdays :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff, TV

posted by Lisa at 9:55 PM |

 
Saturday Morning

It was a *very* long week. Everything was back to business as usual at the office, but really it actually was *more* busy than before. Which is a good thing. There were a couple of times when I actually had stuff waiting for me to get to it. I'm glad the job is picking up because that means I'm doing my job properly. :)

Let see, Shane and I went to see 'Yes Man' for cheap night Tuesday. It was actually quite funny - I enjoyed it a lot.

Wednesday was a long day - I don't really want to get into it. But, let me just say, Shane is awesome. Seriously. Best boyfriend ever.

Thursday was spent playing a lot of catch up. After work, Phil and I went downstairs to Deli Planet for a couple of pints to unwind. Shane joined us after he was done his work. We were not out too late, but on the way home, we stopped for a few grocery type items and ended up chilling out once we got back to my place.

Yesterday the day pretty much flew by. Phil and I went late to sushi Friday and ended up eating enough sushi for 3 people between the 2 of us. I was *so* full! But, we usually go to Kanda for all you can eat. They make these awesome dragon rolls there, not to mention their chicken rolls and sashimi! Yum! Around 4:45, work slowed down a bit, which was nice. I'd been really busy all day so it was nice to have that last bit of the day to clean up my messages etc. Flav had stopped by - he had got let go last week :( - so we went downstairs with him and a couple of guys from the office to have a drink and wish him well. He's a sweet kid, I was sad to hear he'd been let go. But it's his big 2-0 on Monday, so I think he's planning on popping by again so the guys can take him out to celebrate. :)

Today I'm getting ready to take Kaylee to the vet for her second booster shot before her surgery on the 26th. I think she knows she's going out today - she got a little weirded out when I pulled out the cat carrier. The last trip was a physical and a needle, and she wasn't particularly thrilled by the whole experience. She's not the most affectionate kitty in the world, and having a strange man poking and prodding her got her pretty stressed out. I've actually got a bunch of errands to run. I've got to take her to the vet, get groceries and do laundry. Blah!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 10:07 AM |

 
Fall Already?

I've been here 3 months already! Can you believe it? Where did the summer go?

My week was very busy. I worked late most days, but I did make some good sales. My commission cheque for September will be pretty decent, which is good news.

Friday night, I went to Deli Planet with Philip and some of the guys from work. Andrea met us there, and we went to karaoke at O'Hara's for a bit before heading to the village. We were tipsy and in the mood for dancing so we went to a bar call Unity, which was lots of fun.

Saturday afternoon I did very little. I hung out, read a bit, ran a couple of errands. Aidan called mid-afternoon to advise that his platoon got the weekend off. I met him around 7, and we went for a walk to catch up. I went back to where he was staying to have a beer or two and meet 'the guys.' I was probably the safest girl in Montreal Saturday night with a dozen of the fittest (and attractive) men in the city looking out for me. We went to a couple of clubs, Andrea joined us at the last one, and we danced the evening away until the bar closed at 3.

I didn't do a whole lot yesterday. I was all kinds of hung over. Lots of beer, and at least 3 shots = hang over. I ended up watching movies all afternoon (after going to Mont Royal for some cheap noodles). I met Andrea, Philip, his brother and roommate at Barfly about 10:30 for some blue grass music, but I was still feeling a little under the weather. I ended up leaving about 12:30. Phil was on the way home, so I walked with him to the Sherbrooke metro, which was nice. It's a much shorter walk when you've got company. :-)

I'm going to hit the park once I have some lunch. It's beautiful here today, so I've got a sun dress on, a bunch of books to read and my blanket. I love Park la Fontaine - I'm going to miss lazy days in the park once the weather starts to get colder. On the upside though, Shane arrives next Saturday morning!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 12:19 PM |

 
Sorry - I'm a Slacker!

It's harder to find time to blog now that I can't access it at work! I can tell you about this past weekend, but there's been so much going on, the days kind of bleed together!

Lets see, Monday I went home early from work with a migraine. Tuesday I stayed home from work with the same migraine, and Wednesday left early again and visited a doctor to get stronger painkillers. Thursday I woke up feeling like a new woman and went to work all chipper. I spent Thursday evening hanging out with Andrea and her housemates at Marika's going away 'pantsless' party. :P I left before the streaking. lol

Friday after work I went to rehearsal for "The Color of Me," at Inter Arts. It went very well, and by 10 pm, we had what blocking we needed down etc. I met up with Shana, Marika and Andrea on St. Laurent and we ended up going to this bar just north of Fairmont and riding a mechanical bull. Yes, that's right, a mechanical bull. It was freakin' awesome! Afterwards, we got some beer from the dep and ended up sitting on Andrea's rooftop terrace and chatting. I headed home around 1 or so, whenever Shana left to go to the old man bar on Papineau since it was in the same general direction.

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day. I didn't do much during the day. I chatted with an adorably drunken Shane mid-afternoon (I love drunk dials :P) and hung out in the park a bit. I got home around 4:30, showered, ate and headed out to prep for the staged reading at 8 pm. We started at 6 pm with our warm ups and a run through. In all, it went very well. It's a lovely and thought provoking play. After, Alex and Emily, Sean, Kurt, Andrea and I went to Dieu de Ciel, a micro brewery on Laurier at Clark for a couple of brews. I had 2 of the 9% Imperial Pale Ale. Alex and Emily went home after that, but the rest of us made our way down St. Laurent, getting $2 phad thai from a noodle place and walking Kurt to the metro. Once we said our good byes to Kurt, we hit L'Absinthe where I tried, you guessed it, absinthe. It tastes rather like black licorice, which I'm not a huge fan of, but you really only need one - it packs a wallop!

Yesterday I was very lazy. I slept in, slathered on the sun block and went to Parc la Fontaine. I laid in the sun, reading, dozing and listening to tunes until 5 pm. I met Sean by his place and we went to this delightful restaurant for couscous and lamb. After dinner, I went home, showered again as I was all greasy and sticky from sun block, gathered up my laundry and hit the laundry place around the corner. It was a pretty relaxing day - there won't be many more where I can just sit in the park all day. Seriously, where has the summer gone?

Today was a good day at work. I got a good sized order and got all of my metrics. After work, I called Sarah and we talked as I stopped at Indigo to get a book (the next Laurel K. Hamilton book in the series I'm reading), stopped at Provigo (for groceries) and came home. It was nice to catch up with her. I think tomorrow I will try to get either Em or Dre on the phone. :-)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:54 PM |

 
I Miss You

It would be great to hug you right now. Cause I could use one, and I wish you were here.

Let's see, the rest of my weekend was fun. I overslept on Saturday and ended up arriving at Helene's to help her move just in time to watch them move the last thing into the apartment. Oops! I did help Jenn put together Helene's needless complicated shoe rack though. We hung out, chatted and generally enjoyed each other's company until about 6 when I headed home to get ready for Lesbomonde.

I got dolled up and went to Andrea's for a beer before we headed down to a house party to meet Chiara before hitting the ball. It was pretty crazy party, and I'll just leave it at that. :P

I was a bit hung over Sunday and was very, very lazy. I eventually got up and made my way to Mont Royal Hotdog for a burger. It was tasty and greasy and just what the doctor ordered. I was very full and feeling better and ended up wandering around for a while. I found the pagan bookstore Matt and I had been looking for a few weeks ago, but it was closed. I'll have to drag him out to visit it with me soon. I spent a couple hours in Parc la Fontaine with my sketch book, feet in the pond. It was lovely. I thought about going to Meow Mix with Helene and Andrea but changed my mind (due to vast broke-ed-ness) and ended up chatting with Shane on MSN since he was at work and bored.

Monday I didn't do much. I walked home after working until about 7 pm, and made supper. I ended up chatting with Shane for a couple of hours when he got off work.

Tuesday I stayed late at work with Sean to work out my character - I'm joining his D&D game this weekend. Woot! :-) We walked home, stopping at this great little market not far from home on route. I watched the rest of 'Fly Boys,' caught up on a few things that needed reading/sending/uploading/downloading, IM'd with Shane, read for a bit and hit the hay.

I may pop down to the fireworks tonight, but it's pretty wet and I don't really want to go alone. I'm contemplating running to the dep and buying a giant beer. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:44 PM |

 
Random Adventures

Yesterday was wonderfully random. After work, a few of us from the office went to O'Hara's for beer o'clock (I'm making a monumental effort to make beer o'clock a thing here). Andrea met me there, and the plan was to have one beer, then head to Nemur to meet Kelly and Stephanie for curry before going to the dollar cinema. Of course, one beer turned into two pitchers and before you know it, we had to tell Kelly and Stephanie to just go without us. At 8:30, we dragged Sean with us to Nemur because Andrea still wanted curry.

We got there just before 9 and the guy told us they were actually closing at 9 so we couldn't stay. We ended up going to the giant orange. There is an Orange Julius by the Nemur metro that is a giant freaking orange. It's awesome! We had dirty hotdogs and fries and sat in the parking lot. We then went to the saddest little strip club in the land, where the strippers were bored and not particularly attractive.

We stayed for one drink before heading back to the plateau. We got off at the Sherbrooke metro and spent some time wading in the fountain at the park just off of St. Denis at Prince Arthur. We made our way to St. Laurent. This guy from work said his friend had bought a bar and last night was the grand opening so it was free drinks for women. It was interesting. The opening was sleep-over themed so there were teddy bears and pillows around. Andrea wanted one of the teddy bears, so I stole it for her. lol We stayed for a couple of free cosmos, but this guy was creeping on Andrea and we took off. We spent an hour or two on her rooftop terrance but around 2 am, Sean and I headed home. He lives just on the other side of the parc and walked home with me. It was a completely random night, but lots of fun. :-)

I'm just killing time before meeting up with Andrea for Lesbomonde - it's the big kick off for Pride and should be interesting. :-)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 7:51 PM |

 
Matt = Hero

Matt came by after work tonight and he was able to save my computer. That is the good news. The bad news is that he had to wipe it clean and reinstall the operating system. Which means I lost everything - my music, photos, applications - it's all gone. I have learned a valuable lesson about backing up everything. Sigh.

I had an excellent weekend. After work, Anthony, Cheryl and her friend Penny went to O'Hara's for beer o'clock. There ended up being karaoke and we hung out there until 10:30. I got an encore! I sang Cabaret and the KJ wanted me to do All That Jazz afterwards. It was great! :-) After that, I ran home to change quickly, grab some beer and then made my way to Andrea's for the going away/welcome party. It was a great time. Andrea collects strays like me and makes sure they end up talking to the people they will get along with best. I don't know how she does it, but I'm glad she does - I'm going to miss her when she leaves in September. I ended up chatting to a fellow named Alex who's from Cape Breton. Turns out I'd met his grandfather on a number of occasions. lol Nothing like perpetuating the stereotype that all Maritimers know each other. :P I left at 3 am - I was beat!

Saturday was a relaxing day. I slept in and then went to the park to meet Ryan. He was hung over and running late, but it ended up starting to rain, so we postponed. I spent some quality time with my sketch book before getting ready to go to roller derby. It was, as usual, excellent. Plus, my team won! Woot! We partied pretty hard - I had 5 1/2 beer by the time the match ended, and I lost count at the after party. :P I walked home about 2:40, too drunk to stay any longer.

Sunday when I woke up at 9 am, I was in rough shape. :P I went back to bed after a couple of texts and didn't get out of bed until Ryan texted me around 1:30 to ask if we were still on for the park. I showered and grabbed some food and headed to Parc la Fontaine with my blankets and a sketch book. Andrea joined us and we hung out until the clouds began to look ominous. We made our way to Mont Royale, sat in a bistro of sorts, before grabbed some Thai food from a place a few blocks up. Andrea and I had a good chat about boys (:-P) before parting ways. I took it easy for the evening, although I did spend about two hours chatting with Shane before going to bed.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 8:06 PM |

 
So...

After finally getting my internet working, I downloaded the automatic updates, restarted my computer and it crashed. Yes, it crashed. It is freezing up between the Apple loading screen and the desktop. It's a glorious blue screen of death.

Sigh.

It's not easy to get tech support from Scott via text, let me tell you. :P (Thanks for the help though Scott, I appreciate it.) Matt, the Apple guru at work, was out of the office until today, but he said he can take a look at it for me. Woot! I'm hoping that all of my data isn't lost. Even if the computer works just long enough for me to burn all of my photos etc to a disc, I'll be happy.

Let's see, what have I been up to? After a ridiculously long day of work on Thursday, I met friends for drinks. We ended up at Andrea's - who's roommate made us delicious chick pea curry - until about 12:30. I woke up Friday not feeling well, so I stayed home and ended up dozing and reading most of the day.

Saturday I went out looking for a present for Helene's birthday, to no avail. I had an idea of what I wanted and couldn't find it anywhere! I met Ryan on St. Laurent, and we spent a couple of hours just walking around and chatting. I went home, had some supper, and then went to this lovely little bar on St. Urbain at Sherbrooke called Lolita for karaoke. It was dead, so I bonded with the bartender, who's name I forgot to ask, and the owner. The owner's name is Coco - how awesome is that?! I had a few beer, sang a few songs, got a drink on the house from Coco, and headed home about 1 am.

Sunday, I slept in because I'd stayed up late reading. (I actually finished four books in the course of 5 days. I discovered Laurell K. Hamilton - it's fluffy but very enjoyable reading, and I started 'Twilight' on Sunday) I went to find some lunch, had a lovely chat with Emily, made my way home around supper time, and then got changed. I had a meeting with Adriano and Jimmy to discuss my website/press kit at 7, then I headed to Hurley's to meet Helene, Jenn, Jackie and a few others for Helene's birthday. I got there just in time to head to The Drugstore, where we met Jan and Dave, to enjoy a couple of cheap pitchers. I also realized I'd forgotten my umbrella at Hurley's, which means it's gone forever. Sigh. :P

Yesterday was a pretty long day at work. I was having a rough time getting in touch with the people I needed to talk to, and the day dragged on. I thought about going to see a movie, but didn't really want to spend that much on a movie when I thought I'd been seeing Dark Knight with Alex sometime this week. Besides, I was craving a burger, so I went to this little diner on St. Denis and Mont Royale for supper. I got home a little after 9, feeling a bit down, mopped the floor in the bathroom and kitchen and called Shane. I talked to him for about an hour and a half chatting with him. Thanks again for the cheering up Shane!

Today was another long, stressful day. Alex emailed me about 3:30 to ask if I wanted him to pick up a ticket for the 7 pm showing of Dark Knight. Unfortunately, because I'd thought it was already decided that we wouldn't go tonight, I'd booked an audition for 7:30. Oh well, Allan invited me to go with him and his roommate tomorrow night - it's not cheap night, but oh well. :)

My audition went well, but it's hard to say. It was for a short film, and I was feeling a little out of my element - I've very little experience with film/tv work. I also got caught in the rain on route. Nothing like going to an audition when you look a bit like a drowned cat. :P I think I'll make some supper shortly, and watch a movie.

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Friends, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:36 PM |

 
Please Stop

You know who you are. I'm not interested - it's too little too late.

So Few Updates

Sorry for the lack of updates folks. No access to blogger at work and no real internet at home (stupid Bell!) makes posting tough.

I am really good, no need to worry (if you were). Busy, but what else is new? :P Let's see... Friday night Matt and I went to this cool little diner on St. Laurent after work. It's just a hole in the wall but they make excellent tofu burgers. After we ate, we went in search of a pagan bookstore that I knew was off of St. Joseph just not exactly where. We wandered for a bit without luck (turns out its actually further east than we were looking according to Helene) so we grabbed a 6 pack at a dep and hung out on the mountain chatting. By the time we finished our beer, it was dark, so we made our way to St. Laurent for a pitcher.

It was a good time - he's pagan too and we've a ton in common. Totally destined to be friends. :)

Saturday Niko and I went on a bit of an adventure. I invited him to go with me to Mt. Royale for cat food. He needed sheets and the super for our building had recommended a place. We stopped for directions and the woman must have thought he was cute because she offered to give us a ride to 'a place cheaper.' That ended up being the Wal-Mart almost at the far east end of the green line! I got home in time to eat very quickly and then headed out for roller derby. It was an amazing match - it totally makes me want to try it out. If only I didn't break... We partied with the roller girls (a friend, Dave is the coach for both the all star team and a league team) and I didn't get home until about 3:30.

I slept in on Sunday, needless to say. Around 1 I went off in search of hangover food. I ended up at a pizza place on Mt. Royale where I had a tasty veg pizza. Seriously, the French also make good pizza. After I ate, I ventured out into the pouring rain to the nearest Second Cup. Inspiration struck, and I ended up designing a tattoo (although I kind of want it on my back, but that will mess up the runes I want on my spine. I might get it on my right hip, but it's pretty large... We'll see). I got home about 5:30 or so, and spent the evening curled up with a couple of books Matt had loaned me while texting Shane about his plans to move here. Glad I'm not the only person who found a visit to Montreal just wasn't good enough!

Work has been crazy busy, but I'm enjoying it for the most part. I worked late tonight, which kind of sucked, but I got some stuff done that will hopefully result in some solid commissions.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:00 PM |

 
Hmm...

I can't think of a clever title. :P

So I had a really good audition yesterday. At least, I felt good about it. I didn't call back, but oh well. :-) Alex had just finished his audition when I arrived, so we were able to catch up before I made my way to Greg's. We got sushi - it was very good - from a sushi place on Mont Royal at St. Laurent (too far to be a regular sushi stop for me sadly). I left about ten to 7 to meet folks for roller derby, and of course, managed to get lost. It was pouring and I got completely soaked, but I did manage to hop on the St. Laurent bus to meet Jan and Dave and we made it to the arena.

Roller Derby is awesome! I can't wait to go again. About 15 minutes into the bout I had a light bulb moment where I actually knew what was going on. Plus 2 for $5 beer. :-) After the bout, we headed to KGB for the after party. We partied there until about 1 am before heading deeper into Mile End to crash a party that Greg was at. The host was very nice about 4 strange women just showing up. On the walk home, we got followed by this drunk guy. "My name is Fernado but I'm so much more!" We managed to lose him by the time we got to St. Viateur, which was close to where Andrea lived. I hailed a cab on Mont Royal, too drunk and tired to walk any further. I got to bed around 5 am. :P

Today was a lazy day. I slept until about 11 am, and headed out about 2:20 to meet Alex for a movie. Unfortunately, he got caught up at his call back and didn't make it, but since I was already there (and a bit too hung over to do anything else) I stayed and went to 'The Hulk.' After the movie, I ran him to see what was up, and he was still in the mood for a movie, so he treated me to see "Wanted" which was awesome / terrible / awesome again. :-) I'm about to turn in - it was a very exhausting weekend and I've got a busy day ahead of me tomorrow.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 11:24 PM |

 
Wish I Had Blogger At Work :P

Its so much more effort to blog from home!

Monday, I got a bit lost trying to find Helene and I ended up an hour late. We ate at a restaurant on Prince Arthur - I finally had moussaka but it wasn't awesome and didn't quite satisfy the craving. We walked back home, and, after discovering a mutual enjoyment of dance movies, we watched Step Up instead.

Tuesday was St. Jean Baptiste Day here in Quebec so pretty much everything was closed. It was so surreal going to work. I felt like I was in 28 Days Later. Imagine being in downtown Montreal on a Tuesday morning and only seeing about 3 people and 2 cars. Rene-Levesque, one of the busiest streets in downtown was completely deserted. The work day went very quickly though, and afterwards I went to an early show of "The Happening." I enjoyed it - I didn't really know anything about it going in, no trailer to really ruin it. :-) I walked home to work off some of the popcorn (:P), using the time to call and have a good catch up chat with Sarah.

Wednesday I got home, had a bite to eat, and then met a couple guys from work. We went to House of Jazz to see my trainer from work, Mark, play. It was a lot of fun, but the prices were a little high. We shared 3 pitchers of sangria, which ended up being about $30 a pitcher. We probably won't go there very often! I got home around midnight and then crashed out.

Thursday I met Rosanne at a shop on Parc for a vintage shoe party. I didn't really see anything that I liked - all the really cute ones were size 6 - but she found a fun purse. We walked downtown and walked around the Jazz Fest to discover that there was a homage to Leonard Cohen at Place des Arts. It was jam packed full of people, and we stayed until about 10/10:30. The Jazz Fest is super cool - they've got free shows happening all day from noon on.

Yesterday I picked up cat food, got home in dire need of a shower thanks to the humidity and then went to Allan's. He was throwing a party for our training class to celebrate the end of our classroom training (ie: excuse to get drunk together). It was a good time - I got home about 3:30 or 4. I think I'm going to hang out with Greg this afternoon, I've an audition at 3:20, and then tonight its Roller Derby! Woot! :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Music, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 11:52 AM |

 
Long Weekend

It figures, we get a long weekend and the extra day off is rainy. I don't care though - I'm going to wander around town anyway! :P

Saturday night I met up with Jan and Dave at the Fringe stage for 'Wintersleep.' They've gotten better since the last time I saw them - they had a nice tight set. We wandered around St. Laurent for a bit (got some tasty and crazy cheap Phad Thai from a street vendor). I ended up going to Club Date for karaoke. It was packed and I only got to sing two songs before it was time to head home.

Sunday started out kind of miserable. I wasn't in the mood to run, but I did anyway, and it was brutally difficult! Niko and I watched a few episodes of a show called "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' which is wonderfully funny and irreverent. We went to Mont Royal later in the day once the weather cleared up for a bit and met up with Izy, Sean, Alex, Tanya, Frank and Hania. I had to leave a bit early though as I was meeting Greg at 7-ish to watch 'Bladerunner.' Which he did not have a copy of. :P Luckily, I'd brought along 'DOA'. :)

Today I did some laundry, and now I'm off to run a few errands, including finding a comic shop. Later I'm meeting Helene for some Greek food, and then we're going to watch some Firefly. Woot!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Movies, Music

posted by Lisa at 3:00 PM |

 
Feeling Tuesday-ish on a Wednesday

I've got the blahs. Plus, my hips are a little stiff from my run last night. Sigh. :P

Let's see, Monday after work I went for my first run in a while. It was kind of rough starting, but it was a short one, and I made it through without too much of a struggle. Afterwards, I went (on jelly legs) down to the Provigo to get a grocery order. It seemed to be the only Provigo that doesn't deliver. :P I got home around 8:30/9, made chicken curry for supper and did dishes in preparation for the new roomie.

Yesterday was kind of a long day at the office. Most of the day was spent with vendor/production training - some of which was interesting and some that was really not. I got home to discover Niko was mostly moved in. We chatted a bit, and I went for a run. It was an easier run than Monday, but still a bit tough. I powered through it though. I got home around 7:30, Adriano dropped by to pick up mail about 7:45, I ate some leftovers and called Brett back (who'd I'd met Friday night) and we met for a drink. I chatted with Dre on the walk home, helped Niko make his new bed and we hung out until I went to bed about 12:30. It's definitely going to take some time to get used to having to share my space again, but I think it will good.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health

posted by Lisa at 7:01 PM |

 
The Big Post

Sat, May 31st: I was up bright and early to head to IKEA with Scott and Mare. We were there until about noon (it was a zoo) and I was able to get my new sofa bed. It was quite inexpensive, and for a small extra charge, I was able to get them to deliver it.

We started unloading the truck around 1 pm or so. It had been pouring out, but luckily it stopped long enough for us to get everything in. Unfortunately the tenant, Penny, was still in the apartment, so we had to pile everything into one room. The couch arrived around 8 pm, and I put it together while Penny finished up her packing around me. I slept on it that night as I could not put my bed together.

Sun, June 1st: Again, I was up early, this time to head to Laurier to help Emily move into her new place. I was home around 2, and was able to start unpacking my kitchen stuff. Penny started moving out around 4:30/5, and by 7, I was able to finally start unpacking. It took forever to get my bed put together, but I was able to eventually get it together and spent my first night in my new room.

Mon, June 2nd: The morning was spent unpacking, and then it was off to downtown for my 1:30 interview. It went very well - she made me a verbal offer by the end of the interview. Woot! :) I stopped in the Eaton Centre and got my new cell phone and Montreal phone number, and tried to get the internet, which was less easy than getting the new phone. I made my way back home and spent the rest of the day unpacking.

Tues, June 3rd: It was a rough day. It was raining, and I had to go the store for groceries. I walked all the way down, got my groceries and realized after everything was rung in that I'd forgotten my wallet. So I had to walk home, again, in the rain, and then back to the market. Thankfully Alex stepped up and we went to a movie - The Strangers. Creepy movie, and enjoyable (just don't think about it too much!)

Wed, June 4th: Wednesday was spent much the same way. Lots of unpacking, etc. I also went downtown to sign the papers for my new job. I went for a walk to find a library because I was starting to get desperate. :P While I was gone, Kaylee got out. I couldn't find her anywhere, and ended up calling my Mom and Sarah, a complete wreck. Thankfully, she'd just got into my neighbors' kitchen and hid out there. She came to the door and I went down to get her, extremely relieved!

Thurs, June 5th: I spent the afternoon wandering around the Plateau and Mile End with Alessandro, who had come to see the apartment earlier in the week. We parted ways around 9 pm, I did a bit more unpacking and then to bed.

Fri, June 6th: In the evening, I met Izy at her work and we hit an Irish pub downtown called Hurley's. We were eyeing a table of attractive guys, which sparked a debate about the age of one of them. I went over, asked how old he was, and returned to our table. Brave soul that he was, he followed me back (much to the giggling delight of the girls) and we ended up hanging out with them. They were all actually just in town for Grand Prix and happened to be staying at the same hostel. One was American, two were German, one Slovakian, a Scot and an Aussie. The hostel ended up being close to where I live, so they walked me most of the way home, and we parted ways.

Sat, June 7th: Em and Alex popped by so that Alex could drop off the Opera tickets. I spent the afternoon on Mont Royal for the cool sidewalk sales, and returned home in time to get ready for the opera. Alessandro met me at Place des Arts. The show was spectacular! Truly wonderful.

Sun, June 8th: I spent an hour at Parc la Fontaine before heading to Mont Royal to join Alex and Sean at the tam tams. It was Sean's birthday, so we hung out drinking beer. At one point, Sean, Alex and Dave decided to take part of the Live Action Role Playing, and rented rubber swords. The skies then opened up, and we got completely soaked. Dave and Jan kindly invited us back to their place to dry off, and then we went to a micro brewery called Benelux for Euro Hot Dogs and strong beer. :)

Mon, June 9th: My first day of work at PC Mall. I was up early and on the bus to downtown. The day flew by! The evening is a bit of a blur.

Tues, June 10th: Another fast day at the office. I bought a fan at lunch, which was much needed. Seriously, the humidity migh kill me! :P After supper, I went for a walk on Mont Royal, stopping at the Provigo to get a few groceries. I also had a good chat with Em.

Wed, June 11th: Training flew by again, and for the second time in the week, we were given lunch from the company. After work, I made my way to St. Laurent for an audition. It wasn't my best audition ever - I was nervous. Afterwards, Alex and I went to this brew pub where I got a nice cream ale, and Alex got a crazy beer that smelled (and kind of tasted) like pepperoni. Very odd! I had a good conversation with Sarah after I'd got home.

Thur, June 12th: The day went a little slower as I had caught on to what we were doing a bit faster than everyone else and spent a good portion of the day playing catch up. After work, I was finally able to bully Bell into getting my internet up and running. I then wasted the rest of the evening on Facebook, uploading pics etc. I also chatted with Helene, who I'd met Sunday, for about 2 hours.

Friday, June 13th: Friday was a good day. Work not only fed us, but gave us an extra hour. Me and the guys in my training class ended up going for a beer at the pub up the road during that extra hour. Then we discovered that Fridays are 'Ice Cream Fridays' so work gave us all ice cream bars. Yum! I made my way to Emily's after work and made chili for her house warming pot luck. It was a good time, and I met some really nice people, who invited me to hang out with them Saturday night.

Saturday, June 14th: I showed my apartment to a couple of people. The last guy to come by, Nicholas, liked the room and he and I really hit it off. We decided he'd take the room and we went for beer to celebrate. Kelly called and we met her at the Sherbrooke Metro and then we made our way to St. Denis to go to a veg Thai place. It was very tasty! We parted ways at 7, and I made my way to Vendome to check out Alex's show. I really enjoyed it (although I wasn't wild about the way they presented 'Sure Thing') and afterwards I made my way to Paulina and Ryan's. I ended up there until about 3:30. :P

Today I slept in a bit, and then met Kelly to go thrift shopping. I got two sweet dresses for $12! We made our way to Mont Royal where we went to this cool bakery/deli/coffee shop. We then spent a few hours in Parc la Fontaine - it was lovely!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:02 PM |

 
Pack Rat

Em came over after supper last night and hung out will I packed. I got a fair bit done. I've still got about 1/3 of my apartment to get packed, but I'm making good progress. It was nice to have the company while I worked. I also managed to refrain from getting teary when I hugged her goodbye at 9.

Aidan was going to come over, but due to the loss of his grandfather yesterday, his family wanted him to stay home for the night. He says he's doing okay, but I'll be dropping into the funeral parlor this evening to pay my respects and to check on him. That's what a good 'complicated' does. :)

I went to bed around 1 am - too late, of course - and had a terrible nightmare that I arrived in Montreal to discover I'd forgotten all of my clothes here in Saint John. I woke up in tears. I guess I'm a little stressed about the move. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 10:07 AM |

 
Hello Handsome!

It was a very busy weekend for me - it's actually a bit of a blur!

Thursday night Dre did my hair and make up before we headed to Dan's for a head shot photo shoot. It was fairly quick, and we dropped into Churchills to have a drink with Scott, Mare and Keith afterwards. I popped into Akhord on my way home to say hi to Aidan, and ended up being out a bit later than I'd intended since I was so tired.

Friday I slept in a bit, and did a bit of packing. Jason dropped by and we watched 'Pulp Fiction.' Aidan stopped in on his way to work, which was kind of nice. I made supper - a super easy hamburger pasta dish that I'd got from Sabine - and poked around the apartment until about 9:30. I headed down to Elwoods for Sunspeed and Iron Giant. They were not starting until late, so I went down to Akhord to discover that Keith Hallett was playing, and I ended up hanging out there, chatting with Aidan and the guys.

Saturday I was up earlish, and got a few things done around the apartment before heading to the Imperial to see 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' I took Aidan with me, and we met my cousin Anne-Marie in the lobby. She'd bought her ticket from someone on the street (:P) so I didn't end up seeing her again after the show started! Congrats again to everyone involved with the show - I really enjoyed it. After the show, Aidan and I went to Lemongrass with Sandra and David. Aidan couldn't stay because he was late for work, but it was nice to catch up with Sandra and David before I leave town.

I dropped backstage after dinner to pick up my hot rollers that I'd loaned Woody for the week, chatted a bit with the various players, and was treated to a tour of the new building by Brian. It's looking really good! :) I rushed home to drop off a few things and change before running back to the theatre to man the subscription table. Aidan got off early, and since I was beat, we didn't bother hitting the cast party. I was in bed pretty early for me actually, and I got a good night's sleep.

I spent Sunday afternoon packing to eps of Veronica Mars. I ran out of paper so went on a hunt for some. I dropped by Elwoods where Aidan was working to set up for the Matt Good show, and he took me down to Akhord where he had a pile of old 'here' magazines. I grabbed a bag full, and ran home in time to grab my D&D stuff. It was a good session - we got to kill a dragon! We got back into town about 10, and I headed back to Elwoods to see Matthew Good. He was great. It was all acoustic, just him, his guitar and the audience. It was a late night - I stayed until close, and hung out with my boy for a drink once they'd finished loading out.

I was up bright and early yesterday - okay just early - for a dentist appointment. I had one last filling to get replaced, which didn't take too long. I was uptown to have lunch with Dre by noon. I spent the afternoon packing. Aidan came over the 'help' but of course was a bit more distraction than help. :P He left at 5, and I had some supper and got ready to head to Freddy with Sarah for Sarah Slean. She picked me up a little after 6 and we hit the road. We made a pit stop in Nerepis to drop off props she'd borrowed from her family's cottage, and arrived at the Playhouse just in time.

The opening act, Royal Wood, played all depressing sad songs. I thought the opening act was supposed to warm up an audience, not send them into a depression. Because he was so depressing, Sarah and I were chatting quietly only to have the woman in front of turn around and say "Would you mind not talking during the songs?" It was quite amusing - I could barely hear Sarah over the music, I'm not sure how she could hear us. I think she just had the hots for ol' Royal. She was on the edge of her seat for his set and then watched Sarah Slean back in her seat with her arms folded. Sarah Slean, however, was awesome! She's absolutely riveting to watch, and just very quirky and fun. One of her new songs "Looking for Someone" brought tears to my eyes. We got home about quarter to twelve, and I was actually in bed by one.

In all, it was a very good weekend. Of course, I've done something very silly - I've gotten a bit attached to a certain awesome guy. Cause it's not going to be hard enough leaving on Friday. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music

posted by Lisa at 9:36 AM |

 
Happy Friday!

Today is my Friday! Woot! I'm super tired - I've been staying up too late (I know what a shock right? :P) and I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Last night I rushed home to change and then ran down to Ambiance to get my eyebrows done for my photos tonight. Dre threatened to pluck me into non-existance if I didn't, and I figured it was best not to rish her wrath. lol It took about 10 minutes, and the girl who did them for me actually ended up being a good friend of Em's so we chatted about Mockingbird etc.

Afterwards I popped into the Imperial to drop off my hot rollers for Woody to use. I chatted with him for a few minutes, stopped to hug Richard Roy, and ran home to eat because I was starving. I ended up being a few minutes late for Turtles, but the guys were still chatting so they didn't seem to mind.It was a good session, although it turns out that all of the crazy stuff that we used to get into actually was Anthony's fault. Ha ha! The highlight of the night had to be when 'Baron' thought he could fly but he had actually been picked up by an evil giant flying bug thing. The expression on his face was priceless!

On the way down to have a drink with Aidan, I talked with a gal named Michelle who is in need of a place to live. She seemed nice, and down to earth (and not trying to get me to launder money for her :P) so I'm going to arrange for Adriano to show her the apartment on the weekend. I ended up being out too late again, but the company was good. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 8:37 AM |

 
Good Morning Sunshine!

It's too bad it's going to rain later - it's quite lovely out right now. I totally overslept this morning. I slept right through my alarm and woke up at about 9:10. Great way to start the day. :P

Last night I walked home as it had become nice out. It was windy, and kind of cool, but a nice walk nonetheless. I stopped in the Shoppers on route (as it was the only thing open) and picked up some packing tape. I also treated myself to Phad Thai for supper. After I'd eaten, I spent a bit of time packing. I got pretty much all of my pictures, candles etc. packed, and the first couple shelves of one of my bookcases. If I can get one or two boxes done every night this week, I should be able to get a good chunk done this weekend.

Can you believe I leave next week?!

Shane called about quarter to 8, so I met him at Churchills for a drink at 8:30. We got chatting, and before you know it, it was 11! I was home by about quarter after, and I read "Trinity Prelude," one of the free comics I'd picked up on the 3rd. It's pretty good - I may have to add it to my followed comics.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 9:25 AM |

 
There Is Only One Thing Worse Than a Monday

And that's a Monday when you have to work while everyone else you know is off. Throw in some rain and gloom and you're set! :P

I met Sarah and the legal team at Churchill's after work for beer o'clock. We enjoyed a few beer, before heading to Tim Issac's to take part in the gallery hop. We hung out there for a bit but we actually had got started too late and everything was closing. The rest of the gang hit Happinez and I ran home to drop off my stuff. I chatted with Dre briefly - I ran into her as Doug and Colleen dropped her off after her salsa lesson - ran home, touched up my hair and make up and headed back to Happinez. We ended up going to Scott B's for some more wine etc. and were there until about 1 am.

I slept in a bit on Saturday and ran around the apartment getting things done. I packed a little bit, but didn't feel like venturing out into the pouring rain, so I spent the majority of the day relaxing. I think the most productive I got was washing the dishes.

Sarah and Matt arrived about 8 pm and we had some wine before heading to Akhord. It was a really good turn out. With the exception of the people in Hali, pretty much everyone made an appearance. I've got great friends. :) The drinks were flowing freely (thank you everyone who bought me a drink), and Aiden was mixing me random tasty drink treats. We closed the bar, and Brian walked me home (which is good - by that point I was pretty drunk and probably would have crawled into a corner somewhere on route if left to my own devices :P).

Yesterday I was feeling a wee bit under the weather. I got up around noon, all of my plans going out the window. I had planned on helping with the load in, and I was supposed to have coffee with Shane, but my tummy was not very happy with me. :P I ended up doing pretty much nothing all day. I did check out "Iron Man" again with Scott M, Mare, Jay and Lisa though - it was the movie in Cinema 3. It was just as good the second time - maybe even better because I was anticipating all the good parts. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 8:23 AM |

 
I Need A New Super Power :P

After work I walked down to the grocery store to get a few things. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I'm really disappointed they don't seem to be making the PC Mousakka anymore. :( I had my iPod cranked and was a shopping whirlwind finishing in about a half hour.

Liz popped by about 7:30 or so to drop off some boxes, and she arrived just in time because Mike brought a stack of boxes as well. He fractured his leg just behind his knee so he can't do stairs at present so she helped me bring them up. We chatted for a bit, which was kind of nice - I so rarely get quality Liz time.

I headed down to Elwoods for the Mahones about 10 pm. The band didn't end up starting until almost 11, but that was fine, that gave me time to chat with the friend I'd gone with. The band was a lot of fun - especially once they got warmed up. There are an interesting combination of really heavy punk and Irish. I ended up heading home at 1:15, so by the time I got to bed, it was about 2 am. I'm a wee bit tired today.

Is it bad that I'm already counting down to beer o'clock? :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music

posted by Lisa at 8:42 AM |

 
What If I Was Crazy?

I didn't end up working yesterday. I was feeling sick to my stomach (when combined with a decided lack of desire to work) so I opted to stay in bed. I slept off and on all day, so obviously there was something going on as I'm not one to nap.

I was feeling a bit better by supper time, so I had some soup. The power went off a little after 6, and I spent the next ten minutes trying to find my lighter so I could use the bathroom. :P I got my stuff together and headed down to John and Sabine's for Turtles. Unfortunately Keith overslept so we didn't have enough people to play. The power came back on close to 8 pm, and Sabine and I ended up watching the first episode of 'Firefly.' She didn't hate it, but it's still too sci-fi for her tastes. I'm glad she was willing to watch with an open mind though. :)

I got home a little after 10 (after stopping for ice cream). I finished watching the ep of Veronica Mars I'd been watching before the power so rudely went out, as well as one more, and then went to bed.

I got an email from my future roommate's uncle. He's going to send me the first 3 months rent, which is good. He also seems to be thinking of sending me an additional $9000 because Elisa doesn't have a bank account, and doesn't know how else to ensure she gets her tuition and book money, etc. I suppose I could wire it to her, but that seems like a lot of money to send to a stranger. I'm starting to wonder if he's in Russia too - I just assumed he was in Montreal.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Stuff, TV

posted by Lisa at 8:41 AM |

 
Bang!

What a weekend! 4:45 pm on Friday, I got a *ton* of work dumped on my lap, the majority of which is due by the end of the week (As I'm waiting to hear from the SE, I thought I'd take a short break and blog).

I met Sarah and the lawyers at Churchills for a quick beer o'clock after work and then it was off to the Alehouse for supper with my family. It was a lot of fun. Nanny actually came out, which was nice to see, and (my cousin) Melissa was also up from Hali so she joined us as well. Dinner was very tasty, and the company was great. Jay M texted about 9:30 in dire need of karaoke therapy so we decided to meet him at the Prince Edward Square Pub. It ended up being closed, so Melissa, Jay and I wound up at the Somerset. It was pretty quiet, so I got to sing a number of times, and also tried some new stuff (some of which will never be sung again :P).

Saturday I was up early-ish to have brunch with Val. We went to Cora's (I ate the crepe-omelette - so good, so fatty) before heading out east to visit Holly. Holly bought a house a couple months ago and has been renovating, but I hadn't been out yet. It was good to see her and the house is really coming along nicely (She also gave me some boxes for packing, which is awesome). Afterwards, we drove out to see some wild geese, dropped into the mall for Starbucks, and then it was home.

I made chilli, downloaded some tunes and got ready to go out. Matt picked me up about 8 pm, and we went to grab Sarah before heading to the Thomas's for the Ten-o de Mayo party. It was a lot of fun - lots of great food and awesome company. I took a ton of pics and have a great little video clip of Jay and Keith dancing to George Michael. Thanks again S & A for the hospitality!

It was a late night though, and when I finally got up at noon, I was still pretty tired (and a wee bit hung over :P Tequila + Lisa = Bad!). I headed out to meet Justin for coffee about 1:20, only to discover that Java Moose is closed on Sundays (seriously, wtf?!). We went to Tim's and then sat in the park catching up. I walked with him to work at 3:30, dropped into Reads to pick up my comics, and then called Dre. My plans for the evening had fallen through, so she and I ended up eating Phad Thai and watching chick flicks. We watched '27 Dresses,' which is cute if a bit formulaic, and "The Devil Wears Prada," which I enjoyed immensely. Meryl Streep is delightful in it. I ran home for a bit at 8 pm to show my couch and sofa to potential buyers, went back to Dre's to finished the movie and was home by 11 pm.

Of course, instead of going to bed like I should have, especially since I was exhausted, I opted instead to upload my pics to FB. I ended up being up until 1:30. It was rough getting up, let me tell you!

Well, gotta get back to it!

Labels: Daily Life, Family, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 2:21 PM |

 
Told Ya!

After a painful day at work, I hit the sidewalks for a brisk walk home. It was a lovely day, not too hot or cold, and I enjoyed the walk immensely. It was just what I needed to unwind a bit. I tried to reach Richard a couple of times, but I think he's working nights... I got home about 6:15, had supper, and then it was off to Turtles.

Turtles was a lot of fun. My new dice rolled awesome, I am happy to report. :P There was a great moment when I was controlling Baron (Anthony's character) and he was faced with 3 unknown liquids. I had him drink them. Unfortunately, the first two horribly disfigured him, but the third brought him back to full strength. John suggested that Anthony would 'kill' me, but I stood by the decision - he would totally do that. I also got him a cool new magic power - Fireball. After the game, John called to tell Anthony the news and asked what he would have actually done. Without hesitation, he said "Drink them." Ha ha! :) I also forfeited the tournament to let Nicole have the cybernetics - I'm leaving in 3 weeks, why does Zora need to be super powered? :P

I got home to discover that Facebook was not working properly - it kept dropping the connection or saying I wasn't hooked up to the internet. As I was streaming the latest ep of HIMYM (which is *awesome* btw), I knew it was FB and not me.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Stuff, TV

posted by Lisa at 10:33 AM |

 
Getting There

I forgot my phone today. I feel naked. :(

I walked home yesterday as it was a beautiful day. I cranked the tunes and made my way home. It was lovely! I may do the same today - I've got Turtles at 7, but if I pick up the pace a bit, I should be fine (I tend to mosey if I don't have anywhere to be :P).

I had a light supper, and Mare dropped in to borrow my little table for Dramafest at 7:30. At about 7:55 I left to go down to her place with my lease in hand. We went over it, and she witnessed it for me. Thanks again Mare! I appreciate the help! There was a moment of panic when the lease said no pets, but I called the concierge, and she said that cats are fine, they just don't want dogs. Whew!

I left there at 9, and since I wasn't in the mood to go home, I made a few calls to see if I could find someone to have a drink with me. Al was up for it, so I met him on King Street East and we walked down to Akhord. Sarah and Matt ended up joining us around 10:30 or so, and we all chatted until about 11:40 or so. It was almost midnight by the time I got home, and instead of going to bed, I ended up checking email, facebook and reading. I didn't get to bed until about 1 am. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 9:18 AM |

 
Time to Get Started

On my way home, Scott called and asked if I wanted to join he and Mare for curry. Never one to turn down curry, I met them at the library sale (scored a bunch of books for $8) and we headed to their place for a tasty supper. Thanks again S & M! We also watched "Bon Cop, Bad Cop" which is excellent. A lot of the French was still too fast for me to follow, but there were times that I was able to catch bits and pieces. Actually, the Quebec actor, Patrick something-or-other, was easier to follow than Colm. I headed home about 11, and ended up chatting with a friend for about an hour before going to bed.

I was up early-ish on Saturday, and headed down to the Market to meet Jay. I ran into Brian on the way, and while Jay took Dre a coffee from Jave Moose, B and I hit Reads for 'Free Comic Book Day.' I got about 8 or 9 comics, and also picked up a new set of dice. :) B and I then hit the book sale, and I got a bag of paperbacks for $2. Dre and Jay met us at the book sale and we made our way up to the Market again for lunch. We ended up having samosas from A Touch of Spice. Yum!

Matt and Sarah picked me up at a little after 3 pm, and we hit the theatre for "Iron Man." When we got there, they said that both afternoon shows were sold out. As the parking lot was next to empty, it seemed pretty sketchy, so I gave Sarah my coat and headed into the theatre proper to check it out. Turns out the second theatre had the projector break down Friday night and it was actually closed. I looked in the theatre where it was still playing, and as it didn't look like it was full, we hatched a plan to sneak in. We bought tickets for a different movie and got our snacks. As I was heading in to get seats, I heard the girl telling someone that there would be a delay because they were setting up the new projector. I asked and the girl said that it had been fixed and I could switch my ticket. So that's what we did and legally saw 'Iron Man.' :P It was AWESOME! I totally need to see it again. It's totally my new favorite super hero movie. Robert Downey Jr. is spectularly cast as Tony Stark, and the support cast is equally excellent.

After the movie, they dropped me off and I ran down to the booze hut to get some wine for book club. It was really nice by that time, so it was a good walk. When I got home, I curled up with a book, intending to read for just a little while, but I ended up dozing off and napping until about 9:30. I opted to head down to Elwoods where The Daisy Anthesis (the main band the Boys play in) were rocking out. I'm not a big fan of thrash metal, but I can appreciate the skill that they've got. I headed out with Skot about 1:30 am (I didn't want to walk home alone so he gave me a lift) after promising that we'd all rock out before I left. It was good to see them - it's been a couple of weeks since I saw Skot and about a month since I saw Andrew and Scott.

Yesterday was delightfully relaxing. I was awake early-ish, but read for a bit. Sarah picked me up about noon and took me to the grocery store to grab a few snacky things for book club. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching episodes of 'Veronica Mars' season 2. I had supper about 6, got food ready and people started showing up at 7. Sabine also gave me a belated Christmas present - a German book she'd ordered that took 3 months to arrive. Thanks again Sabine - I'm really excited to read it! The gals all left about 11 pm. In all, it was a good weekend.

Today I've another dentist appointment. This one is to replace a filling I got in junior high that's gone soft. Sigh. I'd forgotten about it, which means I probably won't be able to do a repeat viewing of 'Iron Man' because it's so expensive to cab over and back. Oh well, maybe when I move...

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, TV

posted by Lisa at 9:04 AM |

 
Seriously Cold, Time to Go

Being sick really sucks. I'm stuffy, congested, my head hurts and last night I was feeling a bit queasy.

I got home, had my slighly overcooked chicken (and rice) for supper, and crashed for a couple of hours. I watched "It's All About Love" with Claire Danes and Joaquin Phoenix, which is a really strange movie. I actually didn't really get it. I'm sure there is some deep hidden meaning, but it was a little too well hidden. I then spent some time cleaning my apartment. Not what I wanted to be doing considering I was feeling absolutely miserable, but Hazen is showing my apartment today (yes, already!) and I wanted it to look nice. Luckily I didn't have too much to do. It was mostly just a matter of sweeping, running the swiffer over the floor, and straightening up my bedroom. I still ended up being up later than I wanted, and didn't really sleep great.

I think tonight I'll be skipping out on beer o'clock and just taking it easy. Maybe rent a movie or two from Quality, and chill. Melissa said she may come over, depending on how work goes - she's been swamped and I haven't seen her all week. Actually, that's kind of true for most everyone. Everyone seems to be busy with work or Mockingbird. :) I'm also hoping to hear from Al tonight. At any rate, if anyone feels like watching movies with me, let me know. If you don't mind the sniffling and coughing that is.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Movies

posted by Lisa at 10:01 AM |

 
Happy May Day!

I can't believe it's May already! Seriously, where has the time gone?! :)

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I emailed my manager my resignation letter to proof, just to make sure I got everything, and she got all teary! She also offered to take the few of us on this pilot out to lunch tomorrow as well. I'm really going to miss the people I work with... After work, I walked down to the Superstore to get groceries. I was pretty much out of everything. Luckily it wasn't too busy and I was able to get done in about 35 minutes.

When I got home, I called to check on Dre (who was starting to feel better) and we chatted while I put my groceries away. I then did the pile o' dishes in my sink - seriously, I *hate* doing the dishes - before Brian came over to watch "Batman Begins" with me. He hadn't seen it, and I'd told him it was a must see, especially with "Dark Knight" rapidly approaching. It was nice to have the company, and he didn't mind that I was in my bummy clothes since I wasn't feeling well. :) He left about 10:30, and I self-medicated and crashed.

I didn't sleep great - I kept waking up with coughing fits and an epic runny nose. I'm feeling pretty miserable today - I wish I could have just stayed in bed. I may try to sneak out a bit early.

I am trying out my slow cooker finally. Izy went on and on about hers, so I thought, what the heck! :) I'm cooking chicken in a balsamic vinegar and fig sauce. The sauce smelled great, so I'm optimistic.

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends, Health, Movies

posted by Lisa at 9:07 AM |

 
Boo-Urns Cold!

So that tickle in my chest (that I've had forever) has again developed into a full blown cough over the course of last night, and now I'll all stuffy and headachy as well. :( Boo-frigging-urns. I'm all self-medicated, which is helping a bit, but sheesh, enough is enough all ready.

Suzy picked me up last night and we checked out the early show of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with Ann. It was really cute. Jason Segel is just charming, and there are some great laughs in it. I particularly got a kick out of the guy who plays Sarah's new boyfriend.

I talked to Penny last night. The apartment is definitely mine - they're mailing down the lease for me to sign. :) She may stay for June 1st depending on 1. if she can find a place or not and 2. if I find a roommate. She's rather not stay if she doesn't have to - they actually broke up and that is why they are moving :(

I also talked to Al last night, and he seems pretty keen on the idea of moving. He's going to talk to his instructor who has contacts in Montreal to see if he can get hooked up with some possible studios who may be hiring. He's going to let me know Friday or Saturday if he's in for July 1st. I can manage rent for one month on my own if I have to.

I also rec'd a note from a guy named Scott from Vancouver who is planning to move to Montreal June 1st as well. He's not bringing any furniture as he's coming from Victoria, BC, so furnished is ideal (he'd have to buy a bed and dresser of course). He gave me his number so we'll chat.

I'd rather move in with someone I know, of course, but beggars can't be choosers. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Movies, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 10:03 AM |

 
Don't Panic

I had a good walk home last night. I called Jay M immediately after work and talked to him for most of the walk (thanks Jay - you're a good friend). He, as usual, gave some good advice, mainly 'Don't panic.' I'm doing my best not to. I stopped at Quality and got some comfort Phad Thai, and after dinner, sent out a few emails to people seeking roommates on craigslist. Adriano called to say that the lease was ready to sign - he was also a bit upset to hear that Izy bailed because he and Penny were kind of banking on us to take over their lease for June. He said he'd talk to the landlord and see if I could sign it on my own. With luck, I'll get the apartment - it really is a nice apartment, very homey, and in a great location - and find a roomie.

I walked down to Scott and Mare's to watch HIMYM, and had a good chat with Mom while I walked. I found the ending a bit weak, but it was otherwise a great episode. It also introduced the 'Hot Diggity Dogger.' I think everyone needs one - don't you? :P

Labels: Daily Life, Family, Friends, Stuff, TV

posted by Lisa at 8:36 AM |

 
Sunny Disposition

It's a lovely day today! I'm totally going to walk home and enjoy the sunshine.

It was a good weekend - very relaxing. I met Sarah at Churchill's for beer o'clock after work on Friday. We didn't stay too late - we ended up going to Quality and renting 'Once.' What a great movie. So sweet, and I've had the soundtrack for months. I highly recommend it. :) We chatted for a bit after the movie, and Sarah left around 11:30 to check on a sick Matt.

Saturday I didn't do very much. I read until about noon, put my hair into rollers and watched a movie. About 4:45, I headed to Rob Roy's studio to take part in the photo shoot for the banners for SJTC's next season. It was Kizzy, Suzy, myself and a whole lot of cake. It was a lot of fun. :) Afterwards, I headed to Dre's to hang out before going to see Improv Corp down at Akhord. It was a good show, if a little long. It's the first time I've been in the position to just watch them perform since I was asked to leave the group. The long form was really tight, but I realized that performing a Harold is a lot more fun than watching it. It made the show a bit too long.

I hung out at Akhord for a while, but everyone was heading out to Scott and Alison's (it seemed to be a cast only thing) so Brian and I went to Elwoods to see who was playing. It was some industrial goth band, so we skipped it and popped into Taco Pico to hang with Colleen and Doug for a bit. They have salsa night on Saturday nights, which I somehow did not know. :)

I couldn't sleep when I got home, so I was up until about 3 am. I ended up sleeping fitfully thanks to a budding cough and didn't get out of bed until about 11. Sarah and I were supposed to check out 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' but she was stuck in Freddy so we rainchecked. I didn't really mind - I'm super broke - so we'll go Wednesday or something (after I get paid :P). I went for a short walk mid-afternoon, and watched a movie. Dre picked up Brian and myself at 5:35 to head out to Jay and Lisa's for D&D. It was a great session - lots of fighting and a surprise ending. :) I'm hoping we can figure out a way to conference me in to session after I move. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:46 AM |

 
Friday's Tuesday

The problem with a two day work week is that Friday becomes one's Tuesday, and we all know how I feel about Tuesdays.

Last night I headed down to Scott and Mare's for a 'Serenity' session. It was great! I got to threaten and intimidate people, get into a bar fight/shoot out, and show a bit of Mel's deeply hidden soft side. We finished up a little after 11. I read for a bit (I'm really enjoying 'American Gods,' as a pagan, I'm finding some of the concepts fascinating) and then went to bed.

Today I had a bit of a hard time getting out of bed. That tickle in my chest that has been there since February and I thought culminated in that terrible sickness last month seems to be making a comeback and I'm not feeling great. I have a feeling I'll be taking it kind of easy this weekend.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Health

posted by Lisa at 9:14 AM |

 
Boo-urns!

Being back at work after a whole week off really, really sucks. Especially when it is also cold and wet and gloomy. Again I say boo-urns. :(

The rest of my day yesterday was relaxing. I totally crashed out around 6 and power napped for a hour and a half. Em texted me at 7:30, and I headed over to spend a couple hours with her catching up. I ran to the store to get soup afterwards because I was hungry, but they didn't have the kind I wanted left. I practically ran home because the rain started and there was some lightning and thunder. I ate a frozen thing that I had in the freezer, read for a bit and then hit the hay.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:53 AM |

 
Home Again

Yesterday was a good day. I ended up spending the afternoon with Victor, who I had met Saturday night at the Buck 65 show. We hung out at Mont Royal for a bit and then made our way down Parc to Bernard to check out Bilbouquet. Bilbouquet is an ice cream parlor that makes all their ice cream and it is excellent. Victor recommended the pistachio so I got a scoop of that and a scoop of pear sorbet. Both were extremely tasty and worth the walk. It was a *very* warm day - think Saint John in July - so the ice cream was just what the doctor ordered.

After ice cream, we walked for a bit, and then decided to head downtown so I could switch my opera tickets for another night as Alex is in a show that is running on Saturday nights for 6 weeks (I think) starting May 10 (or so). On route, I realized that I'd lost my phone somewhere. Victor called it and luckily someone had picked it up and taken it to the Re/Max across the street from the ice cream parlor. As it was getting late, we parted ways after exchanging additional contact info (emails, etc) and I sprinted a block in order to catch a bus back to Bernard.

I picked up my phone (phew!) and made my way to the Outremont metro to look at a place by St. Henri. It was quite nice and it's a definite possibility. I chatted with the guy showing it for a bit, and then headed back downtown to try to find a place to get my ticket changed. Which I was unable to do. I know, I shouldn't have left it until my last day in town, but I was busy! :) I went home, stopping for some tasty take out from the Szchewan place, chatted with Sean a bit and finished watching 'Ratatouille.' In need for a familiar voice, I called Dre and talked to her for a bit. Alex got home while I was on the phone with Dre (I'm going to need a really good long distance plan :P), and we hung out for a bit before I rearranged my suitcase so it would close and went to bed.

I didn't sleep well - which is not unusual before a trip - and woke up around 5 am. I dozed for the next hour and was up and ready to go by 6:30. It took less time to get to the airport than I'd expected, which was good because it took *forever* to get checked in. Staff kept getting pulled away so check in was slowed to a crawl. I finally got to my gate a little after 8 am, had a quick bite to eat and settled in to wait until boarding (which was 20 minutes late).

The flight was, for the most part, very good. I didn't have anyone sitting next to me, so I was able to get good and comfy. I read most of the trip. The last 15 minutes was a little rough, with some turbulence and it seemed that the plane powered down a bit and slowed down. The flight attendant got called into the cockpit and she returned looking a bit nervous, but smiled at everyone before strapping into her seat. The landing was kind of shaky, but I was glad to land in one piece.

Scott picked me up (thanks Scott!) and now I'm home. It's good to see the kitties, but feels a little weird to be back. The past week was a good opportunity to get comfortable with Montreal and really reiterated how much I love the city. I can't wait to get back.

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 11:46 AM |

 
Go Habs Go!

I'm thinking of heading to one of the local pubs to check out the end of the hockey game. I'm not normally a hockey fan, but I'm willing to bet Montreal will go *crazy* if the Habs win tonight. :)

Today was a pretty relaxing day. I got up around 10:30, poked around the apartment for a bit before heading out to buy a pot. I came back and made some veggie chili as promised. It turned out really really good - I don't think I can get the ground soy I used at home and I like it better than the BM soy. Oh well, I'll be able to get it regularly soon enough. :P

Once the chili was done, I had a small bowl and then went to Parc Jeanne Mance to chill out. I had brought a towel with me, so I just sat out in the sun for a couple of hours before heading downtown to have dinner with Alain. We ate at this crazy Arab/crepe place on Maisonneuve, and chatted for a couple of hours before parting ways. He offered to help with the move, and offered to take my resume into the place where he works - apparently they love former Xeroids.

Now I'm just enjoying a beer and as I said, thinking of heading to a pub. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:07 PM |

 
Weekend Walking

Saturday morning I was up early and out by quarter after ten as my Concordia audition was at 11 am. I had my interview, did my two pieces, took some direction and did the pieces again. I think I did well, but it's hard to tell at these things. Then it was off to meet Izy to look at apartments.

Again, we were all over town. We did a little less walking as we were bouncing around all over town, but by supper time, I was beat! The last place we looked at for the day was in Mile End, so we had dinner at a Mexican place in Mile End and parted ways for the night.

I got home a little after 7:30 or so to find Sean and Kelly hanging out. We chatted for a bit, Alex got home a little after 8, and we all hung out until after 9. Alex, Sean and I headed into town for Buck 65 at Le National, which was a great show, and it's a cool venue. After the show, Alex and I hit the karaoke bar next to Le National and rocked the mic until close.

It was about 4 am by the time we got home. I crashed out hard, and let me tell you, getting up at 9:30 wasn't fun. :P I was out the door by 10:30 to meet Izy downtown for our first appointment at 11. I got on the Parc bus and was treated to a screaming match between the bus driver and a passenger because the lady brought her child's tiny bike on the bus with her. The two argued until the next bus came along at which point the bus driver kicked everyone off the bus. When the next bus pulled away, they were still yelling at each other. It was nuts! :)

The day was spent looking at places, but we really liked the second one of the day, and actually filled out the paperwork to see if we could take it. It's on the corner of Sherbrooke and Papineau, close to two Metro stops, on a main bus route and next to the beautiful Parc La Fontaine. The people living there, Penny and Adriano were awesome, and we actually ended up hanging out with them and chatting for an hour before we had to rush off for our next appointment. There was another one that we liked a lot and we may take it if we can't get Penny and Adriano's.

Izy and I were beat come supper time and we parted ways about 5:30. I met Sean and Alex on Mont Royal because the Tam Tams were still going on. The tam tams are crazy cool. On Sundays in the spring, summer and into the fall, all the hippies gather on the mountain and just bang on drums for hours. People come from all over the city to hang, listen to the drums, dance, drink beer or get high (or both) and enjoy the sun. We also took some time to watch what either Sean or Alex referred to as 'the duct tape wars.' There are dozens of boys and men, from age 8 or 10 and up, who do these mock battles with foam swords, axes, maces, etc. It's pretty entertaining to watch. :) Emily met us around 7 or so, and we all walked home, ordered pizza from this place around the corner and just hung out for the evening.

Again, I crashed pretty hard. I've got to find a cheap pot to make chili this afternoon, and then I'll probably head up to Parc Jeanne Mance or something with my book to just chill for the afternoon. I'm meeting Alain for dinner when he gets off work, and Izy and I may take a look at a few places when she gets off work at 6.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music

posted by Lisa at 11:57 AM |

 
Can I Sit Now?

I think Izy and I have walked most of Montreal in the past two days. Seriously. :P

I met Izy at the Lionel Grioux stop at 1 pm and we walked around the area for an hour before determining it wasn't the spot for us, so we hoped on the Metro and made our way back to the Plateau. We wandered around, made a few calls and finally stopped for a very late lunch (or early supper) at this crazy poutine restaurant (I think it was on Mont Royal). I got the Poutine Mexicaine, which was poutine with tomatoes, black olives and banana peppers. It was surprisingly good. Also, because it was like 20 degrees and we were on the patio, I enjoyed a frosty beer as well.

Oh, and might I add - ALDO OUTLET STORE!!! I got some cute little plaid sneaker shoes for $8. $8! After taxes!

We made our way, on foot, deeper into the Plateau, and finally into Mile End. We made it home around 7:30, and with sore feet and legs, dropped on to the couch and spent an hour on Craigslist, trying to make appointments etc. Finally, about 8:45, we headed down the street, literally half a block up, and had a very late supper at a Brazilian restaurant called Sen Zala. It was excellent. I had fajitas, and we shared a litre of the strongest Sangria ever.

We parted ways around 11:30, and I chatted with a friend on the short walk home. I checked my emails, and now I'm off to bed. I've a very busy couple of days ahead of me. Woot!

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends

posted by Lisa at 11:54 PM |

 
I Love This Town

Yesterday I was up early. I won't say bright because it was 4:30 am and still very dark. Em picked me up at 5, and we were off to the airport (thanks again Em - you're the bestest!). The flight was, for the most part, good, and 10 minutes shorter than originally scheduled. This was kind of a blessing, as I had the window seat and was squeezed in next to a rather hefty gentleman in a suit who did a whole lot in the way of sweating. He also was rather mean looking and made me feel bad when I asked to get out to use the loo.

I got my baggage in record time and then set out in search of the shuttle, or l'aerobus as it is called. I was able to find it (Ou est le guichet, svp?) but arrived just in time to see it pulling away. I had to wait until the next one, which was, luckily, only 25 minutes. This took me right downtown to the bus station at Berri & UQAM. The UQAM metro is kind of the hub, so I was able to purchase my pass there (Est ce je peux achete un passe pour le semaine ici? Oui? Woot!). I got on the Metro and arrived at Alex's place about 9 am. I'd hardly slept, so I was tres fatigue! I fell into bed and napped until about 11.

I went out and visited 'Frere's,' a tiny Market about 4 blocks away on avenue Parc. I picked up stuff for chili, some yogurt, soup for lunch, and a few other things to tide me over while I'm here. I went home (Alex's place will be henceforth referred to as home during the duration of my stay), made my soup, read for a bit, and then dug into Craigslist to find possible apartment options.

Around 3, I got a call from Carlo, who I'd been chatting a bit with since March, and he invited me to come see his place and have tea. "I'll see you in 10 or 15!" So, after checking google maps, I determined what I thought would be the fastest route, and headed out to catch the Van Horne bus to Rosemont Metro. I got off at Mont Royal, went the wrong way, walked 15 minutes before I realized I went the wrong way, went back to Mont Royal, a man who saw I was lost gave me directions and I struck out for Cartier. I should have got off one stop sooner because I ended up walking a very long time. It was beautiful out though, about 17 degrees, and rue Rachel is lovely and right on Parc La Fontaine. Finally, an hour later, Carlo called. "Where are you?!" "I have no idea!" Turned out I was only a couple blocks away.

I hung out with him until about 5:30. Cool guy, but I don't think I could live with him. He seems to want someone to rent the room, not be a roommate. I promised to call before I leave for home, and agreed that we'd do something for sure once I get settled in come June.

Carlo gave me details directions and I headed out to meet Alex. I walked up Duluth, which is a great street, to St. Urbain, and we had supper again at "Santropol," that awesome sandwich place. I tried something new - the Duluth Avenue, which was blue cheese, brie, tomatoes and romaine on thick brown bread - while Alex had the Killer Tomato again. We also had tasty homemade milkshakes. :)

We wandered around St. Urbain and St. Laurent for a while after supper before heading home to have a beer and to catch up.

Today I was up early-ish, and read for a bit. I headed out at around 12:30, bought a pair of cheap sunglasses because it was 20 degrees and sunny, and headed to Cote des Neiges to meet Izy for lunch. We immediately hit it off, and enjoyed some great 'getting to know you' conversation over a tasty lunch at Talay Thai. I had deep friend tofu in peanut sauce, green curry over rice and mango salad. Yum! :d Afterwards, we spent the afternoon together, wandering around town, chatting, calling any place that had a sign that said 'a louer' and indicated it was a 4 1/2 or bigger. We looked at a couple of places, made appointments to see more, and parted ways around 6:45.

She's great! I already feel like I've known her for years. I immediately felt comfortable with her, and we had a lot of laughs and good conversation over the course of the afternoon. The clincher was when we both responded to a guy in stereo :) I got home around 7:15, and gratefully sat down with a mug of beer. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 8:13 PM |

 
1/2 a Sleep!

Or, considering my regular sleep pattern usually results in me just getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep, if I get to bed at midnight, then it will almost be a full sleep when my alarm goes off at 4:30 am. :P

I walked home from work last night. I love this time of year - it's perfect walking/running weather. It took me about 45 minutes to get uptown and then I stopped in at Scott and Mare's to drop off my spare set of keys as Mare has generously said she'd look after Zedd and Kaylee while I'm gone (thanks again!). I ran into Em on the street, and we chatted for a few minutes. I popped a lasagna in the oven to cook. Skot couldn't make it over after all so I actually ended up hanging with Melissa. We just watched a movie but it was good to see her.

I chatted with Alex a bit after she left to discuss visit details. Visit details just ended up him confirming that I was arriving tomorrow and that I'd see him when he got off work. Ha ha! We chatted a bit, and then I curled up with "House of Leaves." I really shouldn't pick it up when I don't have a lot of time - again I got completely lost in it and before you know it, it was quarter after 1.

It's absolutely fascinating to read - like the people who get lost in the house, you get lost in the book. The formatting is at times wacky, so you're turning it upside down or sideways at times, there are footnotes and the footnotes have footnotes, so you'll flip ahead two, three, sometimes four pages reading footnotes and then have to double back to pick up the story again. It's written in such a way that it seems like you're reading a true story and I get completely caught up in it.

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:24 AM |

 
1 1/2 Sleeps!

I can hardly believe it's almost time to head back to Montreal! The last 7 weeks seemed to drag on and now it's in sight! Woot! I'm excited, and hoping everything will go smoothly in terms of finding a new home.

The weekend was very busy, but lots of fun. Friday night I met Jason at Churchills and we had a couple drinks before he had to head to band practice at 7:30. I dropped into Brunswick Square to run an errand and I also picked up 'House of Leaves.' I was in the mood to rock out, so I made some calls and sent some texts. Eric was working at Elwoods but he suggested that I come down to see Slowcoaster. I ended up hanging out with Al for the evening, and we went to Elwoods around midnight. The place was packed, but the band was great! I also think I should have some sort of thing that pops up on my phone if I try to text while drunk. :P

Saturday I woke up with a bit of a headache from a wee too much beer, but it was nothing a hot shower and extra strength Advil couldn't fix. I went down to Jave Moose around 3:30 with my book, curled up in one of the leather chairs in the window and before you know it, the girl was telling me that they closed in 15 minutes. I got completely wrapped up in the book! I got home a little after 5, and made a light supper. Jason texted at 6 to ask if I was up for a drink before 'Script Happens.' We went to Churchills, where we got in the wrong section. It was the young guy serving us - he brought our beer and then we didn't see him again for an hour, at which point it was way too late to get food. Jason walked me down to the museum and I chatted with folks before the show got started.

I really enjoyed the first two shows of the evening. Again, I've got to give Keith props for committing to the chair humping. :) I had tears in my eyes by the time he finished. The last script I thought still needed a lot of work. I had expressed concern about the playwrites directing their own scripts, and this one was an example of a script that would have benefited from the eye of someone not so close to the material. I headed back to Churchills with Brian but it was packed, so I called Matt, who was on route to meet us, and we went to Thandi instead. I got a really good bowl of seafood chowder (only $5 - my beer was $7) that really hit the spot.

We got to Elwoods a little after 11, just in time for the Penny Blacks set to start. I was so happy that they were able to play 3 of the 4 songs from the EP. I love 'Our Old Rooms' and enjoyed it with the full band. The Tom Fun Orchestra took the stage a little after midnight, and they were excellent. I danced pretty much the entire show. Afterwards, I chatted with the lead singer for a bit, and was pleased to hear that they'll be in Montreal this summer. If you haven't seen them play, you really should. :)

I was wired when I got home, and ended up until about 3:30, woke up at 4:45-ish, read for a bit, and then slept from 7 to 10. Tired and restless, I went to Tim's for an iced capp and again got wrapped up in my book and ended up there for about an hour and a half. When I got home, I curled up on the couch, only putting my book down long enough to eat quickly around 4. I got completely absorbed and was startled when Dre called at 5:30 to say she'd be there soon to pick me up for D&D. It was a good gaming session, plus Lisa had made some of her famous chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Dre dropped me off around 11:30, and I chatted with Skot until about midnight. I again made the mistake of picking up my book, and it was 1 am when I next looked at the clock.

I'm very tired today. I woke up again at around 4:45 and laid awake until about 6:30/6:45. I was particularly thrilled when my alarm went off at 7:45. *sigh*

Labels: Books, Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:19 AM |

 
I Was Shocked My Own Self

I ate quickly after work and headed out around 6:50 to Scott and Mare's. I ran into Brian on his way through the Square and we walked up together for our 'Serenity' session. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but there were a ton of adventures, including a saloon brawl and Melinda managed to not be involved in any of them! Dre and Jay also surprised us with a cliff hanger ending that involved Dre's character getting shot and killed. It was late when we finished, but in all, a good game.

I called Sarah when I got home to chat briefly. She left for Cuba at 10 am this morning. We're calling this our 'trial separation.' :P Except, you know, after I move, I'll still be able to text and email her regularly. ^_^

Anyone up for beer o'clock tonight?

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 9:29 AM |

 
Pfftt! Who Needs Sleep?

So yesterday afternoon I bit into something hard. Afterwards, one of my teeth on the upper right side of my mouth was feeling funny, like I had something stuck between it and the one next to it. I tried flossing whatever it was out, but it still felt weird. I was walking home, about 15 minutes or so into the walk, when I ran my tongue over the tooth and a small piece came off.

The weird feeling was apparently caused by the fact that I'd broken it. >_< I popped into the Zellers to find a mirror and survey the damage. It's not a big piece, luckily, and far enough back that it's not very noticeable. I immediately called my dentist and was able to get an appointment for the 29th and got a promise that if anyone cancels between now and the end of the day next Tuesday, she'll call.

As I said, its not very noticeable, I'm just extremely aware of it. I've got coverage, thankfully, but it only covers 80%. I'm not sure how much a repair costs, but I'm probably looking at the very least $100 out of my pocket - an expense I can't really afford. :(

I got home about 6:30, enough time to make a quick bite to eat and change before heading to Tim's to meet Anthony for coffee. We hung out until about 8:30, and it was good. I think we may actually be friends, which I'm happy about. He was my best friend for a very long time, and I'm glad that he's still going to be in my life in some way.

I headed home, and Em came over. We chatted until about 9:25, at which point we turned on "Pride & Prejudice," the new one, and my buzzer rang. It was Sarah. I really enjoyed it! It was extremely well cast all around. The guy who was cast as Mr. Collins was just delightful! Every time I saw him, I grinned. Em hit the wall around 11 pm, and headed home. Sarah and I ended up getting caught up in conversation, and didn't turn the movie back on until midnight, so it was a late night for both of us.

I couldn't sleep, and ended up awake until about 2 am, and was up again at 4:30, wide awake. *sigh* Some day I'll sleep through the night. Maybe. I hope. I was able to get back to sleep around 5:30 at least, and slept until about 8.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Movies

posted by Lisa at 8:24 AM |

 
Monday Yawns

Ah, there is nothing like starting your work week with about 4 hours of sleep.

*sigh*

Friday had some very stressful moments so I was very glad to get to Churchills for beer o'clock with the gang. I ended up going to Alanna and Sarah Price's with Sarah and Matt, which was interesting. We ended up spending some time looking at 100+ year old books and coins that Sarah P had got from her grandmother. I ended up heading home around midnight, wired for sound, and ended up awake until about 2 am.

I woke up at 10 am, read for a bit, and hung around my apartment for the afternoon. I did venture out to go the liquor store around 4:30 or so. Man, does it ever suck that the King Street store is closed. Prince Edward Square is a fair walk away, and it's a sketchy area. I then headed down to Suzy's for dinner at 7. It was great to hang out with the girls, for what is quite possibley going to be one of the last times. Suzy made a wonderful dinner and desserts - it was excellent! I ended up staying until 2 am, chatting with Suzy.

I was up until about 4 am thanks to being a bit tipsy when I got home, but I was still awake around 10:30 yesterday. I lounged about, and went for a walk about 2:30 as it was absolutely beautiful out. I ran into Dre, or rather, she ran into me (as she was actually out for a run) on Harbour Passage, and we walked back to her place together. She took a quick shower and we hit Studio 10 to see "Nim's Island," which is super cute. Plus, Gerard Butler. (And for you gals who scoffed when I said he would be shirtless and wet at one point, I would like to point out that I was right. He wasn't shirtless as much as I would have liked, but... :P). I made a tasty supper of indian curry and rice. I didn't feel like watching any of my movies so I walked down to Quality and ended up renting "Southland Tales," which was quite interesting. I rather enjoyed it.

And now it's Monday. On the up side, only 9 more days until my next trip up to Montreal. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 8:38 AM |

 
But I'm A Good Guy

After work yesterday I did the responsible thing and went and got groceries. I kind of just wanted to go home and nap, but I do have to feed myself and my cats. :) I ate quickly when I got home and headed down to John's for my first TMNT session in well over a month. It was a lot of fun - we were engaged in a DOA style tournament. It's down to Nicole's character, Lee, and my character, Zora. Next week should be interesting. :)

I got home a little after 10 and ended up playing "My French Tutor" until about midnight. I'm on lesson 40 of 977. My next lesson is random vocabulary words - the first 40 were the basics. It's actually a really great tool, I've been learning a lot. Can I carry on a conversation yet? I don't know, we'll find out tonight. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 8:10 AM |

 
Solved!

The sunglasses are Skot's. Whew! I don't remember him wearing them the last time he was over, but Kaylee must have knocked them off of whatever he set them on. I'm glad that I didn't have an inept burglar. :)

I didn't quite make it through the day yesterday. I went to the doctor in the morning, and ended up going home on the 3:25 bus. I picked up a prescription, grabbed a wrap from the Market for my supper, went home and went to bed for a few hours. It was a pretty quiet evening. I dropped into Dre's to do some D&D 'house keeping' and then went home, chatted with Sarah a bit, and then went to bed.

I woke up in the middle of the night, as usual, and this time I'm glad I did. There was a power outage or surge or something at some point around 4 am and my alarm clock was flashing. This morning, I set up mobile alerts on FB. I'm sure I'll regret being able to get my wall posts and messages on my phone, but hey, if it gets too crazy, I'll just turn it off. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Health, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 9:45 AM |

 
Je me sens mieux

Not great, but better. That little tickle and sore throat ended up being that terrible infection that's been going around. I've spent the last 5 days, for the most part, in bed. I'm feeling about 65% now, which, you know, still isn't wonderful, but I can breathe without pain.

Congrats!

I'd also like to congratulate Suzy on getting into the Actor's Studio and John for getting into Humber College! How exciting! It's nice to have another excuse to visit NYC and TO. :) Not, you know, any time soon since I'll probably be very poor for a while, but you'll both be in your respective programs for a few years at least. :) Yay!

Labels: Friends, Health

posted by Lisa at 8:22 AM |

 
Je suis un peu malade

Just how I like to start a Bluesday. :(

Not that yesterday was wonderful. I was still feeling low yesterday - likely due to the fact that I was so overtired. Jay M took me uptown to have lunch with he and Dre which helped.

D&D last night was a lot of fun, and just what was needed after a long day. We had what could have been a scary battle if not for some lucky rolls - it was the 'end of the day' and I was almost completely out of spells.

Unfortunately, as the evening went on, my throat started feeling a bit scratchy. When I got home, I took a couple of Advil, and went to bed. I then laid awake, tossing and turning, feeling my heart pound. I got up around 1 am, Facebooked, started reading 'Pride & Prejudice,' this month's bookclub selection, and finally, around 2:30, my eyes felt heavy enough to turn my light off. It was a fitful sleep at best - I woke up a few times.

My throat is definitely raw, and that tickle that I've had in my lungs for the past month is feeling less ticklish and more congested. Boo-urns.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 7:52 AM |

 
Sigh

If the last 2 hours are any indication of how my day is going to be, it's going to be a long one.

After an uber long work day on Friday, Sarah picked me up and we met Matt at Churchills for a brief beer o'clock before heading to Liz's for her annual JCS viewing. I have to admit, it's not my favorite musical ever, but the company was great!

I had stayed up late, of course, and didn't end up getting up until late. I poked around the apartment, had a light lunch and then met Sarah and Matt at the Imperial to see "Tuesdays with Morrie." What an excellent show - Bob and Jeff were wonderful in it. Me being the sap that I am, cried pretty much the last 15/20 minutes. :P Good thing I brought tissue!

I had to rush off afterwards as Skot was picking me up for their gig is Sussex. It was a good time, despite the fact that it was all metal. :) The guys are actually very good. Skot is super entertaining to watch play - I've never seen a bass player get into it like he does.

After the gig, Skot and I had a drink at the Alehouse, then I made a pitstop at home to get my wine and throw some danceable tunes on my iPod for the 'Morrie' cast party. I'd been unsure if I wanted to go, and once I got there, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to stay. I did though, and ended up having an awesome time.

I didn't end up in bed until 7 am - nobody went for breakfast - but I got up at noon. I didn't want to sleep all day and then end up awake all night. I probably should have just stayed in bed though - I was exhausted, a bit hung over, and feeling way down because of it. I went had breakfast at Churchills (Reggie's was closed - wtf!), and spent the rest of the afternoon hiding out in my apartment.

For supper, I got some Phad Thai from the Thai Hut (yum!) and rented a couple of movies. I watched "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," which is just delightful, while I ate. Skot came over and we watched "Hitman," which was okay, and "DOA" because I love it (it's my 'Roadhouse') and Skot had never seen it.

Labels: Friends, Movies, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:34 AM |

 
Collapsed in the Act of Just Being Here

Yesterday was a very long day. I was very nervous - more than I usually am before a show - so the day seemed to drag on. Jay M came and took me to lunch, which was nice, and helped me ignore the nerves for an hour at least. I was able to pick up my Gunslinger and Serenity comics too, which was another nice treat.

Curtain seemed to creep up on us. I chatted with Sabine for a bit before getting ready, and ran into the improv folks on my way to get into costume, which was a nice treat. I have to admit to not really missing the improv, but I do miss the gang.

I also had a brief chat with Anthony, which was kind of nice. It was still a little awkward, but it was surprisingly good to see him. I felt nothing but that warmth that you get when you see a friend you haven't seen in a long time. I'd been wanting to talk to him - I didn't want to move with him thinking I hated him.

The show went really well. We had a great pace, there were only a few minor line issues, but nothing really major and we were able to pick them up. I had one kind of scary blank out, but I found it after a moment. :) We had audience members land on either side of the fence and a couple who were torn right down the middle. So yay! :)

We popped into Churchills after the show to meet Mare for a drink. Graham, Kizzy, Stephen, Tim and Dre were also there. I had a great chat with Graham, and he gave me a few names of possible contacts in Montreal when I move. I was still wired when I got home, and ended up being up until about 1. Which I guess isn't really that different than any other night... :P

So two more to go. The discussion panel is after tonight's performance, so if you're coming to see tonight's show, I hope you'll stick around to discuss the show.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:48 AM |

 
Shut Up Girly Brain

Seriously, I don't know why I can't just accept things at face value and not over-analyze. :P I'm sure it was meant, so why am I worried? Because I've a stupid girly brain.

I didn't sleep well at all Sunday night. Between the time change and my over-active brain, I think it was after 2 am before I fell asleep. When my alarm went off, I simply could not muster the will to get out of bed. I called in a floater and crashed out for a couple of hours and woke feeling refreshed. I bummed around in my pj's until around 1, and then headed out of the apartment at 2. I went down to the Prince William Street Java Moose for a mega-sized latté and sat down to just read my script.

When I finished, I was struck my the need to go price out the tattoos on my back. I'd told Alex that the next time I visited, I would probably have them, so it had been in the back of my mind for the last couple of weeks. So I went up to Pins & Needles and the guys there had come highly recommended and chatted with them for a bit. I ended up booking an appointment for 5:30, and got Goddess and God symbols, one on either side of my lower back.

It hurt like a bastard! WAY more than the first one did. I know the lower back is more sensative, but holy gods, I wasn't expecting it to hurt *that* much. It's a good thing he started with Goddess on my left side because God on the right hurt twice as much and I don't know if I would have the courage to let him continue. :P Luckily it only took about 30 minutes to do both, and it wasn't expensive. They look pretty good, although it's a bit hard to tell at the moment since they're red rimmed and a bit swollen, and you know, on my back. :P

Rehearsal was cancelled, partly because of the venue change, so Scott and I got together at his place at 7:30-ish to run an Italian. It went well. There were only a couple of spots where we lost lines, but they are certainly much fewer and farther between than before. ^_^ I got home around 10:30-ish maybe, and discovered that my DVD player isn't working. It's causing every disc to skip. I'm hoping it just needs to be cleaned because I so cannot afford to by a new DVD player.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Religion, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:42 AM |

 
Just Words

It was a good weekend, for the most part. Friday I went to beer o'clock with Kizzy and the gang, and stayed there until about 8-ish before Scott and I went to his place to run lines. It was rough - I think we were just tired, but there were a lot of sketchy parts. I got home around 10:30 or so, but ended up being awake until around 1:30.

Saturday I was up bright and early for rehearsal. The run went pretty good. There were a few shaky parts, but for the most part, it went well. We finished up around 2, and I relaxed for a couple of hours. Scott and Mare picked me up around 4, and we headed out to Jay and Lisa's to test his convention game. It ended up being a late night, but lots of fun. We finished up after midnight. I was a bit tipsy by the time I got home and ended up getting changed and spent 45 minutes or so running around in the rain. I was completely soaked, but felt completely rejuvenated afterwards. ^_^ Of course, it was (with the time change) 4 am by the time I got to bed.

I woke up at 10 am (much to my dismay). Rehearsal was at 1, and also went very well. Again, a few shaky parts, but less than Saturday. It's certainly coming together. Pippa was there, and she laughed quite loudly at a few parts - I guess we've become so close to the material that we forget there are a few moments of humor in the show to break the tension. It threw us a bit, but in a good way. ^_^ We finished about 4:30, and I spent the evening hibernating since it was my last free night for the next week. I turned my phone off, turned up the TV and just vegged. It was kind of nice (although I think my DVD player may be dying. :( It was acting wonky and all of my discs were skipping).

I didn't sleep well though. I was up until about 2:30 - I just could not relax. I think I got up about once every hour after that. My mind was racing - still is actually - and I have such a bad habit of over-thinking everything.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:49 AM |

 
"You've Got My Heart Blinking Like An Old Nintendo

It's never gonna work again. It's never gonna work again.
And MegaMan 2 says "BA, what's wrong with you?
You've got a bad attitude
She's gotcha pretty screwed."
- BA Johnston

Yesterday was a good day. I woke up a little distracted, was a brat and shared my distraction with others. :) After work I ploughed into my lines. I realize I pretty much know all of my lines, just not the order they come in. As long as I get the correct cues, I should be fine. (No pressure Scott :P).

Scott swung by around 9 and we walked down to Elwoods. I was mostly there for BA, and he didn't disappoint. He is so much fun to watch, and his songs are equally entertaining. We didn't stay for all of Wax Mannequin's set though - by 12:40 I was fading. Thanks for lift home Scott and Mare! :)

I'm beat today though - I couldn't relax when I got home. Mare and Scott had given me their plan for the move to Montreal and it was on my mind. It was 1:45 am the last time I looked at my clock. But, it's Friday, so YAY! I'm going to try to get home tonight at a reasonable hour since we've got rehearsal tomorrow morning at 10 am.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:39 AM |

 
Powerlines in the Bloodlines

"I am a writer, a writer of fictions
I am the heart that you call home
And I've written pages upon pages
Trying to rid you from my bones
My bones.
My bones."

- The Engine Driver - The Decemberists

I've had the Decemberists on repeat on my iPod for the last couple of days (this song always gets played at least twice in a row). It's some of the music Alex sent me home with and it's my current musical obsession. Every song is a story and I'm loving it.

Rehearsal last night was very productive. I didn't call for line as much as I had worried I was going to (although the last few pages of Act 3 I didn't really get to Sunday and that was kind of a rough part to get through :P). It's the first rehearsal in a while that I've left feeling pretty good about. I don't like feeling unprepared and now that I've got the majority of my lines, I'm feeling much better about it.

I took an uber long shower last night to unwind (seriously, I love my apartment. Tons of hot water and great water pressure) and went to bed kind of early-ish. Unfortunately I was up a number of times through the night and am pretty tired today. The fog and gloom isn't helping lift the Tuesday blues I'm feeling. I'm so ready for winter to be over...

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:19 AM |

 
Lundi, Lundi

It was a very, very busy weekend. :) Friday I met Sarah et al. at Churchills for beer o'clock. I had a salad and a couple of beer before Scott picked me up for rehearsal. It was a very productive rehearsal if a little stressful. :) We finished up around 10. I texted Sarah to see what she was up to, but ended up deciding to just go home.

Saturday I was up bright and early for rehearsal. I didn't feel great about the rehearsal - I was woefully unprepared and I hate that feeling. We finished up around 1. Scott dropped me at the grocery store. I was out of pretty much everything as I hadn't bought any groceries before going away. :P I spent the afternoon chilling before Scott Miller picked me up around 6-ish to go jam. We hung out for a bit before getting started. We went through the song that I learned our last session a couple of times, and nailed down the melody for the one we'd written. I've got about half the lyrics - ish - and it felt like a pretty productive evening. I headed over to Dre's around 11, and stayed there until 1 or so. Despite being tired, I was tipsy and my brain would not shut off. I ended up being up until about 3:30.

I slept in a bit Sunday, made lunch and then headed out to cram. I spent some time at Tim's (while lamenting the lack of real coffee shops in Saint John. Seriously.) and then moved to Churchills. I managed to cram all of act 2, and 95% of act 3 into my head before going to book club at 7. Book club was lots of fun. It's great to have an excuse to get together with the girls and chat. :) I left a little after 10, chatted on the phone for an hour or so, and then read my script for an hour because my brain, again, would not turn off.

Today has been weirdly busy. I haven't really been able to be productive at all because everything is in conflict with everything else. Boo-urns to Mondays. I did book my flight for April though, so that's something else to look forward to. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 2:13 PM |

 
Lisa travaille sur sa liste

Yesterday was as long as I had thought it would be. :P I have a few highlights though - I spent the day emailing with Mare in French. Sure it took me forever to read each email and make sense of it, and even longer to respond, but I definitely feel I learned a lot and am making progress. I also had a friend running lines with me via email. It was very helpful!

I treated myself to supper at the Thai Hut, and when Scott came to pick me up for rehearsal, Mare gifted me with "Learn French" game for the DS and headset! Thanks Mare - you're awesome!! ^_^ She also gave me a suit that is a bit too big for her but fits me perfectly. Yay presents! Rehearsal was very productive. I'm not nearly as off book as I should be, but I did know more of act 1 than I thought I did. I was very stressed out about it as I dislike being unprepared, but it certainly could have gone worse.

I didn't get home until a little after 10, took a shower, and spent an hour chatting on the phone. Instead of going to bed like a normal person, I turned on the new game to give it a try. It's very fun! I'll be bilingual before you know it! ^_^ By the time I actually ended up turning off my light, it was about 1 am. I woke up again around 3:30 and poked around the apartment for a bit before going back to bed for a couple of hours.

I'm drinking an energy drink right now. I rarely have them - I can already feel the caffeine buzz. It's a tastier delivery method than coffee - it's Red Rain and tastes vaguely like fruit juice.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 8:03 AM |

 
Restless

I spent most of last night cramming lines. I was having a really difficult time. I just wasn't feeling the script and was suffering a major case of the blahs. My trip was like a high and I kind of crashed yesterday. I was feeling anxious, stressed and very, very restless. I texted a bit with Sarah and Alex through the evening, each being a welcome distraction. I was having such a hard time concentrating that I was almost resenting the fact that I had to study.

Em called around 9-ish and we ended up going for a coffee because I needed a break. Her timing was great because I really needed it. Afterwards I downloaded some free 'Learn to Speak French' podcasts from iTunes and plugged them on my iPod (I'll make an effort to listen to them at least 3 times today). I ended up staying up until 12:30 studying, and feel like I've hardly made a dent in it. *sigh*

Today I'm still feeling that restlessness. I don't want to be here at all, I can't focus, and I don't really care to. It's going to be a long day...

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 9:16 AM |

 
Hello Real World

Being back in the city has been feeling kind of surreal. It's very weird. I loved being in Montreal so much that it almost feels like I'm just here for a visit. I was considering making the move before I went, but now I seriously think it may be something I need to do. Mare has offered to help me with my French, so between her, various podcasts etc., who knows, maybe I'll be ready to make a move within the next 3 to 6 months.

Work was, well, work. I had a hard time maintaining my focus... My luggage arrived at least. Afterwards, I ran down to Princess and Dre gave me a black eye for a promo shoot for "Oleanna" that Dan so generously did for us. It looked pretty bad. ^_^ After grabbing some take out, we went back to Scott and Mare's to do a read through of the script (We're supposed to be off book today... I'm not, so I'll be cramming between work and rehearsal to get Act 1 as close to off book as possible). I finished unpacking, took a shower and uploaded photos to Facebook from my trip.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:54 AM |

 
Au Revoir Montreal

So Montreal is freaking awesome. I seriously think I need to move there - it turns out that I love that city!

Let's see, Scott picked me up Thursday at 5 am to take me to the airport (thanks again Scott!). I got checked in and didn't have too long to wait before they made the pre-boarding call. While waiting for boarding to start, I chatted with Jeff Smith who was on route to Boston and going to be on the same flight. I had a window seat, which is good, but which also meant I was trapped next to a man who was reading a book called "Abortion - The Lie" that had been distributed by the Christian Colition or something. Kind of scary...

I arrived at 7:20 and ended up waiting forever for my baggage. It turns out that they couldn't have two baggage carosels running at the same time. :P I was there until about 8 before I was able to go find a cab. I got to Alex's about 8:50. He had left a ton of hilarious post it notes all over his apartment giving helpful instructions regarding where to put the key, and how to use the light switch. ^_^ I promptly went to bed for a couple hours, and when I got up, Shawn was out of bed so I finally got to meet him. I then found my way to the nearest Metro, got lectured by a Portuguese Metro attendant for not being bilingual before he advised me to go to the Bonaventure terminal get a tourist pass for the Metro. The tourist pass is great - 3 days unlimited use for $17. I got lost a couple of times, whichs is both kind of scary and fun and finally found my way to the Eaton Centre. I spent way too much, but I did get a pair of great shoes, an awesome skirt and a couple of sweet blouses. I went to the Basilica Notre Dame as recommended by Dre, and spent a good hour there.

I met Alex at Place d'armes Metro as it was just two blocks from the Basilica and we headed home so he could change and I could drop off my purchases. We then went to dinner at the best sandwich place in the world - I'd been there my last trip to Montreal. I got the Northern Lights (herbed cream cheese, romaine lettuce and olives on huge brown bread) and he got the Killer Tomato (tomatoes, some sort of spices and cream cheese, and lettuce) and we shared. So good! It's on St. Urbain, if you are ever in Montreal. We then went to a bar to check out music but didn't end up staying too long because we were both pretty tired.

Friday I got up at 6 to have breakfast (Eggs Marshall :P) with Alex before he went to work. I went back to bed for a couple of hours before hitting the town. The bus driver made fun of my tourist pass (I think - he was speaking very rapid French while laughing uproariously), but it was okay because I made a friend because of it. A girl came and sat next to me and asked if she could see the pass. We chatted all the way to Metro depot and on the train, and we had a coffee before she had to go to class. She was super cool - studying photo-journalism - and gave me her card. Which reminds me, I'll have to facebook her... :) I spent the afternoon wandering around town getting off at random stops and then just walking. I found super cool stores and restaurants, including this great little Korean place that I'll probably never find again and a crazy store that sold wigs (so I bought two :P).

I met Alex at home, we had a couple of beer before going to this great Thai place for supper. I got a red curry called Kang Pai Pek (I think), and he got Tofu in a peanut sauce with crispy spinach. We shared again - seriously one of the best meals I've ever had. The tofu was beyond delicious, and who would have thought deep fried spinach would be so awesome?! We also got some green tea ice cream, which Alex had never had before, to cleanse our palate before heading out on the town. We made our way to this super cool bar/coffee shop called KGB where they had - wait for it - hip hop karaoke. It was wild - they had an actual DJ who was spinning the beats and people would just go up with the lyric sheet and kind of freestyle it. It was wicked cool. We stayed for a couple of hours before heading home.

Saturday we wandered around his neighbourhood before heading into town. He had a play reading for a show he's been cast in, so I hit old Montreal for a couple of hours. I went home around 5:30 because things close in downtown Montreal at 5 pm on Saturdays (wtf?!) and my phone was dying. I got changed and tried out one of my wigs, and then met Alex at the Sherbrooke Metro. He had reserved tickets to a play called "The Elusive." It was a great - very "Closer" esque. By the time it was over, it was 10:30, and we hadn't eaten, so we headed closer to his place in the hopes of finding some place we could get some take out. Unfortunately, many places were closed, so we ended up going to a little super market, and getting olive pizza, weird cheeses and hummus, and just hung out.

Yesterday we ran around his neighbourhood again (it's a great area - very cool and lots of Anglos), had a latte at this cool coffee shop that looks like a bar and is famous for its lattes. We walked around, stopping for a bagel hot out of the wood stove, and checked out some cool shops. There was this awesome little boutique where the girl working actually was sewing the clothing. Every piece was an original, hand sewn item and was cool. Unfortunately, hand made means expensive and I couldn't afford anything in there. We headed back home at 4:30 so I could finish packing, etc. I called a cab around 6 to go to the airport.

Of course, my flight was delayed, and my luggage didn't make it on the plane some how. :P They tell me there was no room for it. I'm not sure how they didn't have room for the people and not the luggage when the plane wasn't even full... The next flight from Montreal should be coming in any time, so hopefully my bag is on it. All of my new stuff is in it, as is my hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, etc. All the things that one needs but cannot take in your carry on any longer. Grr! :)

Sarah picked me up (Thanks Sarah!!) and we headed into town. We went to Chris and Suzy's to watch the end of the Oscars. I got home around 1, and have never wanted to be anywhere less - the weekend went by way too quickly.

So now it's back to the real world. I've got a photo shoot this evening for Oleanna posters, and then I've got to line cram as we're supposed to be off book tomorrow. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Food, Friends, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:42 AM |

 
Happy Friday!

I'm so glad it's Friday! I was ready for it to be Friday on Tuesday. :P

After work, I stopped in the drug store to get some Advil Cold & Sinus (only to realize this morning, that I actually need a decongestant. *sigh*) and then got Phad Thai for supper. I got it spicy and it was awesome! I cracked open some red wine, turned up the tunes, and got ready to go out.

I did end up in the red dress because it was Valentine's day and it's the last opportunity to wear it this year - it's too festive for regular wear. I headed to Em's around 8, stopping to chat with one of our neighbours (Colin - he's a cutie) for a few minutes on the way. Kizzy arrived about quarter to nine, and we hung out there until about 9:20 or so. We piled into Kizzy's car, stopped in at Churchills to pick up a tipsy Sarah, and headed to Elwoods.

When we arrived, there were only a handful of people there. By the time the show got started, there were a good number of folks there. It was a fun show. Jason's a great singer, and Adam is just plain fun to watch. Sarah and I stayed to the end, I picked up copies of the Penny Blacks cd for Alex and myself, and then headed home (thanks for the lift Sarah - it was cold!). I was wired when I got home, so I uploaded the cd to my iTunes, and the photos from my camera and posted them to Facebook. It was about 2 am by the time I got to bed.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Music

posted by Lisa at 11:26 AM |

 
Hit me from the back side. I am on the white side. You are on the black side.

We were sent home early due to the crazy weather yesterday, which included some crazy flooding in areas not prone to flooding (like in front of my apartment - I live on a hill!). Jay cancelled rehearsal because the roads were so bad, and there was literally 2 inches of water on the street at any given time.

I'd had plans to meet Suzy after rehearsal, so I called her, and she invited me to come down for supper. I bundled up and splashed my way down Duke. We had a tasty supper (thanks again friends!), caught up as it had been weeks since we last hung out, and watched "Superbad." Why don't I have a copy of that movie yet?

Despite the rain, the walk home was kind of nice. It was warm, and I totally wanted to go puddle jumping. If it hadn't been so late, I think I would have. ^_^ Instead, I spent some time chatting with friends on and offline, downloaded some new tunes (seriously, I think I need a new Nano - 2 gigs is not cutting it anymore!), and went to bed early because I was feeling cold-like symptoms.

Today I'm definitely stuffy, and I'm a bit congested. I'm hoping to skip out early to get to the drugstore to get some medication, and maybe take a nap before meeting the girls before Elwoods. I'm hoping this cold will run its course so that I'm not sick when I'm out of town next week. Thanks cold gods, your timing is impeccable. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Movies, Music

posted by Lisa at 11:48 AM |

 
Ted-ing

There is a great episode of "How I Met Your Mother" in season one called "The Pineapple Incident." The whole thing starts with the gang making fun of Ted for over-thinking every situation. Ted gets drunk and stops thinking and embarks on a series of adventures.

I've been thinking about a certain situation to constantly. And talking it to death. (Thank you to my very understanding friends for humoring me :P). I *know* I'm over analyzing, but I can't seem to stop! I've been telling myself to just park it - it's not really the kind of thing that requires a lot of over thinking. I know that its going to work out - life has a way of doing that - but my brain, like Ted's, isn't willing to just let life do its thing.

So I'll keep thinking about and I'll probably keep talking about it. Just bear with me - I'm hoping it will resolve itself soon.

Tuesday's Girl

Yesteday Jay came over to get me and we had lunch at the Market. We had been in the habit of having lunch at least once a week, and haven't been able to in a while between our various schedules. It was nice to hang out and catch up (thanks Jay!).

After work, I reheated some leftovers, and then headed down to the Jay's for rehearsal. We're doing text analysis this week. It was good to start delving into the text - Carol is very different from me and I'm already relating to her a bit more than I did before. After rehearsal, Em came over (cause what's a Tuesday without Em? ^_^) and we chatted for a good hour before watching a couple episodes of HIMYM.

And why is texting so addictive? I mean really? I like feeling connected to people, and the people I text the most tend to be just as bad as me - it's almost like IM-ing. But someone made a teasing comment yesterday and I realized that I may be texting some folks too much. So, if I'm sending you too many, please just let me know, and I'll try to cut back.

Oh, and I'm definitely getting a cold. I keep sneezing and my nose is runny. *sigh* The timing is impeccable, really. I'm going to have to take it easy for the next week so I can get it through my system before I go away.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Theatre, TV

posted by Lisa at 10:50 AM |

 
Working on the List

Friday I met Jason at Churchills for a drink. We'd both had a long week, and before you know it, we'd each enough beer that driving to the Blue Olive was out. We ended up popping into Elwoods so Jason could drop off some posters, picked up a 6 pack and went to his place to hang out before heading to karaoke. We actually didn't leave his place until about midnight. Sarah and Jay met us there, and we were able to get in a few songs before the bar closed at 2.

Needless to say, after about 10 beer and staying up until 3:30-ish, getting up for 8:30 for our first reading of 'Oleanna' was less than pleasant. :P The reading went very well though. It took a bit to find the rhythm, one of the best and worst things about Mamet is the way he writes dialogue, broken with half expressed thoughts and sentences. After the reading, I went to meet Dre, and we made our way out to the mall for Starbucks, and so she could run a few errands. Keith met us at her place when we finished, and we ended up hanging out for the afternoon before having dinner at Swiss Chalet. I hadn't been in ages - so tasty! ^_^ The evening was spent watching movies. We watched "The Nines" with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy, which was just excellent. I can't really tell you what it's about without ruining it for you except to say it's 3 interwoven stories where the characters are all played by the same actors. We also watched 'Blade' because Dre hadn't seen it. The evening was also punctuated with some hilarious texts from Matt. :-P

Yesterday was pretty quiet. I'd been up late, of course, and we had our second 'Oleanna' reading at 12:30. I did get out to pick up the latest Buffy issue, had coffee with Al around 8, and arranged to meet a guy this evening about the possibility of me fronting his band. ^_^ It was good to have a quiet night to myself because the next two weeks are going to be jam packed.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 11:44 AM |

 
Dirt and Drama

It has been a really long week, and I'm glad it's almost over. I don't really have time to be posting, but I need a break! Actually, I think I need a break in general. My upcoming trip is proving to be very timely (13 more sleeps! ^_^).

Tuesday night was my regular date with Em - we watched "Eastern Promises." It was really good, and man, you've got to give props to Viggo for the completely nude fight scene. It takes guts to have your junk flopping around on screen!

I woke up Wednesday feeling very flu-ish. I was pretty miserable actually, and spent the day alternating between the couch and my bed. It was a long and horrible day and surprisingly stressful.

I was back to work yesterday, even though I wasn't feeling my best. I was greeted with a stack of work, literally, and spent the day with my nose to the grindstone. I barely dented the pile. The Serenity game last night was a welcome distraction - killing things always makes me feel less stressed. :P I got to do an old fashioned fast draw gun fight, and we did a couple of neat flashbacks. I got home around 11, chatted with a few folks via text messages and Facebook, and went to bed.

Sarah has been my Friday night date these past couple of weeks, but she has a work function. I'm hoping someone is up for a drink after work with the possibility of checking out the Blue Olive later?

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Health, Movies

posted by Lisa at 10:06 AM |

 
I'm Pulling a Ted - I Need 5 Shots!

Friday night I met up with Sarah, Em, Kizzy, and Jason at Churchills for beer o'clock. Sarah's co-worker was there as well, and we all squeezed into a booth for a couple of hours of chatting. At 9-ish, Sarah and I headed to Prince Edward Square to meet Jay for karaoke. Of course, it didn't start until 10:30. :P It was a good time regardless, and between Sarah and Jay, we won 5 free drinks. I hit the wall around 12:30, but we stayed until 1:30 to get the most out of our free drinks. The roads were terrible, so Sarah crashed at my place.

We slept in until 11. She had to rush home because her other book club was meeting at noon. I poked around the apartment until 1:30-ish. I dropped off some mail and my laundry before heading to the SJTC building to check out the progress and offer feedback. It's looking pretty amazing so far - they've done so much! I can't wait for it to be finished! ^_^ Sarah, Dre and I then piled into the car with Jay and Lisa and we hit the mall for Starbucks. Yum! I ended up hanging out with Jay and Lisa watching movies for the evening.

I was tired when I left their place, but when I got home, I could not relax. I was so wired from getting a full 8 hours of sleep. :P I was up until 6 am, and woke up at 9:30. I lounged in bed for about an hour, day dreaming (and hoping to doze off again) before giving up and just getting up. Mom picked me up at 1:45 and we went to meet Sarah, Chris and Suzy at the cineplex to see "There Will Be Blood." Stellar movie - Daniel Day Lewis should win the Oscar. I'm still rooting for "No Country-" for best picture, but it's a tough race this year.

I got home just in time to pick up my laundry and head to Jay and Lisa's with Dre for D&D. It was a good session. Lots of action and some fun story developments. It was 11 when I got home. Despite being tired, I was up until 1 am. *sigh*

I woke up yesterday at 5:30 and could not fall back to sleep. I finally gave up at 7 and hopped in the shower to wake myself up completely. My day was redonkulously busy, which was good. I'd much rather be busy. ^_^ I ran a few errands after supper and Sarah came over to watch the first two episodes of 'The Tudors." Mmmm... Jonathan Rhys Myers = hotness. :d

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, TV

posted by Lisa at 7:55 AM |

 
Happy Friday!

It's been a long and busy week at work - I am glad its Friday! Sarah and I are going to celebrate Friday at beer o'clock this evening if anyone wishes to join us. ^_^

Last night Sarah picked me up at the Superstore, we dropped off some groceries and then went to Sebastian to have a celebratory drink. She got a bonus for all her hard work yesterday, and I - after swearing I needed a break from theatre - was offered the role of 'Carol' in "Oleanna." Seeing as I love Mamet, and this kind of role doesn't come up very often, I couldn't say no. I'm not entirely sure when the show is going up except that it's in March some time, nor do I know when rehearsals start, or where exactly it will be performed (although I think it will be on campus somewhere). Once I read the script, I was hooked, and now I'm very excited!

So many good things to look forward to!

But I've digressed. ^_^ We hung out at Sebastian until a little after 9, and I spent the evening poking around the apartment - watched a bit of tv, entertained was entertained by the kitties, chatted with Dre, did my hair and then capped the evening off with a super long, super hot shower (One more reason to love my apartment - awesome water pressure and its always way hot).

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:54 AM |

 
Blog Five!

Tuesdays have become my Emily night, but since she got stuck this week, we rain-checked and she came over last night. We chatted for a bit, and then went on a mission to get HIMYM season 2 on DVD so we wouldn't have to watch it on my computer. Scott kindly brought over a season (thanks Scott-you're the best!), but it turned out to be season 1. We bundled up, and went on a (minor) adventure to his place to do a trade. ^_^

We watched 4 or 5 episodes, finishing with 'Slap Bet.' I think Em agreed that it is one of the best 22 minutes on tv in years. ^_^ The decision was also made that I am Lilly and she is Robyn (mostly because of the height difference I think :P).

I had a heck of a time sleeping last night though. First, my brain would not shut off. The last time I recall looking at my clock, it was 1:30 am. I slept fitfully - lots of dreams - and woke up at 5:30 am. I laid awake until about 7 am, crashed until 7:55, left a message for Jay to skip me this morning, crashed again until 8:30 and then ran around to get to work.

I is very tired today. :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, TV

posted by Lisa at 9:21 AM |

 
Living

I woke up today feeling conflicted and a little down. Then I got into to work and chatted with my former cubemate whose husband is terminally ill and immediately realized I've no reason - no right! - to be down. I have so many people in my life who I care about and who care about me, a good job, a hobby I'm passionate about, and so many things to look forward to. There are two things weighing on my mind, but they are not things I should allow to get me down.

I had a very busy weekend. Friday night I headed to my mom's for lobster dinner with her and Richard. One can't go wrong with lobster, and I hung out there until about 11 pm - it was a good time. I was pretty beat and went home, read for a bit, and then hit the hay relatively early (for me).

Saturday I lounged around in bed until about 11:30 am to get a start on "Pillars of the Earth," our book club selection. I had lunch, and then hit the mall. I didn't really have the extra money, but I really needed jeans. I tried on at least 45 pairs, and ended up with 2. I got home around 6:30, ran to the liquor store, had supper and then got ready for whatever the evening was to hold. Sarah arrived around 8-ish, and we hung out until about 10 before heading to Churchills for a drink. She wasn't feeling great and went home around 11:30/12, and I headed to A Khord to check out the Tom Fun Orchestra. They were excellent - they're this cool folk/rock combo - and I picked up a copy of the cd for myself and one for Jay for his b-day. Dan and Keith were there and I ended up hanging out with them and going to breakfast at the Colonial. I haven't been there in ages! When did it become a breakfast buffet?! Of course, it ended up being way too late when I went to bed. :-P

Sunday I didn't wake up until a little after 11. I grabbed my book, went to Tim's for soup and spent an hour and a half reading. That was pretty much my entirely afternoon - reading. I was able to get through about 400 pages by 7 pm. I didn't finish it, but at least I was able to discuss the book. ^_^ I probably could have finished it, but I'm easily distracted. :-P

Also, new musical obsession: Susie Suh. Beautiful.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 8:31 AM |

 
My Wall is Broken!

Jason came over last night to watch "The Holiday" with me. He said it was cute, but I think he may have exagerated his love of chick flicks. :P I've really been enjoying to get to know people better these past months, and having company is always good. ^_^ I actually kind of love having people over - I adore my apartment so much, that I like sharing it with others.

While he was there, I mentioned my wall-o-heat (tm). He touched it and it wasn't hot! I touched it and it wasn't hot! It wasn't even warm! It was like a normal wall! It still wasn't hot this morning. There was a note under my door when I got home last night indicating they were installing natural gas in my building and something about the water. I don't know if the wall just hadn't had time to reheat after being off all day, or if it won't ever be hot again because they've switched to the gas. I hope it's the former - the wall-o-heat (tm) is one of the charming quirks about my place!

Oh, and guess who slept a full 6 hours? Yup, it was me. Hells yeah! :P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 9:45 AM |

 
Song Bird

Tuesday night Em and Sarah came over. We enjoyed a tasty dinner of Phad Thai and then introduced Sarah to the glory that is "300." We even watched some of the behind the scenes stuff. No, the abs are not painted in. *happy sigh* Have I mentioned how much I love that movie? :-P

Yesterday was a busy day. We were in training until 11:15, broke for an early lunch and then headed out to KV for our kick off. I always enjoy those kind of events. Kizzy was part of the entertainment - she was showing off her kick ass vocal stylings for the whole building - which was added fun. ^_^ I got home about 6:30, chatted with Sarah for a bit, and then headed out to Turtles. We had an action packed adventure - Zora now has impaired vision in her left eye permanently (thanks John!) - and we left in the midst of a huge battle with some shapeshifting horror monster as a second monster arrived. I think he's trying to kill us all off. :P I got home just before 11, ended up on the phone again until a little after midnight. I've really got to try to go to bed earlier, especially since I rarely sleep the night through. ^_^ (I think that might be why I'm still losing weight - I've been keeping really busy, but not sleeping more than 5 hours.)

I've got about 4 songs in my head at the moment, all by Emiliana Torrini. I'm so glad I discovered her - I wonder if she'll be touring in Canada any time in the near furture, I'd love to see her live.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Movies

posted by Lisa at 10:09 AM |

 
Post Weekend Blahs

Friday night I met Sarah at Brunswick Square to run an errand before we went to Churchills. We arrived to discover Kizzy, Emily and Jason already there, so we joined them. Mike arrived not long after that, and we hung out there until about 8:30. By that point, the roads were terrible and neither Mike or I were comfortable with the thought of driving, so we opted to skip the movie and play Guitar Hero instead. ^_^

Saturday I didn't sleep in as long as I would have liked. I procrastinated and instead of going to the gym, we ended up going to see the 2 pm showing of "Cloverfield." I really enjoyed it - it's really well done. I'd kind of like to see it in the theatre again. I spent the remainder of the afternoon doing dishes (boo-urns!), and straightening up the apartment. Sarah arrived at a little after 8. We had so much fun! We hung out chatting and listening to music until about 11:45, and then went dancing at Studio 54 (which was an adventure all of its own). After the club closed, Sarah's friend Alana called and we headed down to a party. It was about 5 am by the time I got to bed.

The hangover yesterday was an acceptable price for the sheer volume of fun that was had Saturday night, I think. ^_^ I went to Reggie's for a greasy breakfast at noon, and then it was off to the Second Stage meeting at one. I'd managed to double book myself for Sunday evening, so I rearranged, and went for coffee with Andrew around 4, and Brian had invited me to hang out and have supper with him last week, so I went there around 6. By the time 9 pm rolled around, I was pretty wiped, so I headed home. I watched some tv before heading to bed.

I had crazy dreams all night, and ended up waking up about 4:45 this morning, and was pretty much up until 6:30. I was able to doze for an hour after that, but I'm a wee tired today. :-P Today should be a good day though - I've got training, I put in a vacation request, and once its approved, things should be good.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 7:41 AM |

 
TGIF!

Anyone up for a drink with me and Sarah after work? It's been a *long* week! ^_^

Last night was our 'Serenity' game. We got started a bit late, so it ended up being a late night, but it was a good session. It always takes me longer to get into my character because she's very different than me. Tough as nails and only in it for herself. She's fun to play, but it does take me a while to find the rhythm.

By the time I got home, it was a little after midnight, and I was wide awake. I surfed Facebook until about quarter to 1, read the latest 'Angel' (OMG! Talk about a shocker at the end of the issue!) and finally turned my light off at about 1:10 am. I'm a wee bit tired today, and I'm already counting down to 5:30.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 8:54 AM |

 
Tuckered Out

I am *very* tired today. Last night, I stopped at the grocery store to get, yes, you guessed it, groceries. I ran into Sarah there, and we chatted for a bit. We both ended up at the cash at the same and she generously offered me a lift home. And she helped me bring my groceries in! (Love my apartment - don't love lugging things up 3 stories. :-P) Thanks again Sarah!

I put my groceries away, ate quickly, and then dug into my books to study for my exam. By quarter to 9, my head was starting to hurt, so I stopped. Emily came over at 9 and we watched a couple of episodes of "How I Met Your Mother." (I should be getting commission for getting people addicted. :-P) I thought about doing a bit more studying, but I was so tired and feeling stressed, I tried to go to bed around 11:30. At quarter after 12, I was still awake, so I popped on Facebook, and Dre called to chat for a bit. I tried to sleep again at 1. I ended up half dozing, half reciting random info to myself until about 4 am. At that point, I got up, got on Facebook for a bit (Surprisingly, I wasn't the only one online at that ridiculous hour :-P). Around 4:30 I went back to bed and was able to sleep for a few hours.

My exam went well I think. I'm glad to have it over with. There were a couple of questions that kind of threw me, but I think I at least got those ones partially right. At any rate, I don't think I failed. Now to get through the demo. We had one of our OSSes do an example demo with us, and I feel a little more confident now that I know exactly what I'm supposed to do.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 10:09 AM |

 
I'm Right There With You

Rock Band with Al on Friday night was a blast. I got there a bit after 8, and left around 2 am. ^_^ I even managed to play a couple of songs on medium on the drums. Woot! I so want that game - if only I had room in my apartment for the drums. :-P

Saturday I slept in a bit, started doing some reading. Around 1-ish I was feeling cooped up and ended up going for a run since it was so nice out. It turns out I was a little overly ambitious - I ran 5k in about 38 minutes. I was running slow because I didn't want to over do it, not thinking that after not running for about 6 or 8 weeks that 5k in itself was probably over doing it. :-P It was a great run though, and I felt awesome afterwards. I showered etc. and then went back to my reading. Around 5 I had supper and then spent some time straightening up etc. for company. I had a great time with the girls Saturday night. Studio 54 had some prime people watching and I was able to get my boogie on. ^_^

Yesterday I didn't sleep as much as I would have liked, but I was feeling pretty stiff and my hips were sore from my run. I puttered around the apartment, did some homework for a few hours. Around 3, I went for a walk to loosen up and enjoy the nice weather. I spent about 45-50 minutes out and about. I took my camera, cranked the iPod and just walked about. I love walking when I don't have somewhere specific to go and the streets are quiet.

Dre picked me up about quarter to 5 and we headed out to Jay and Lisa's for D&D. It was the finale for the section of the campaign we were on. It had two pretty big battles, and one big surprise at the end. I'm looking forward to our next game - things are going to be different! When I got home, I watched episode 11, The Platinum Rule, of How I Met Your Mother, season 3 online (it's brilliant!) before heading to bed.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Health, TV

posted by Lisa at 8:21 AM |

 
Bits and Pieces

"You were on my mind at least nine tenths of yesterday
It seemed as if perhaps I'd gone insane.
What is it about you that has commandeered my brain?
Maybe it's your awesome songs or maybe it's the way
When I look at your face I can tell that you're not going to be stopping soon or even slowing down.

My rollercoaster's got the biggest ups and downs
as long as it keeps goin' round its unbelievable"
- From "My Rollercoaster" by Kimya Dawson

I had a lovely relaxing evening last night. We got let out of training a bit early again, so I was home by 5:30. I puttered around the apartment a bit and then headed to Brunswick Square to run a few errands. I also treated myself to two new tops at Suzy Shier (one was only $7 though, so it doesn't count. ^_^). On the way home, I met up with Scott who was heading down to improv. He helped me carry things home and gave me a spool of blank cd's that he realized he wasn't going to need (Thanks Scott!). I'm sure my neighbor must think I'm a hussy as there seems to have been a steady stream of guy friends in and out of my apartment in the past week. Ha ha! :-P I surfed on Facebook, burned a couple of cds for friends, and then curled up with Zedd and Kaylee to watch tv. I even got to bed before 12:30, which is kind of a record.

I'm pretty darn glad its Friday. I'm hanging out with Al tonight - we're playing Rock Band. I'm also pretty pumped to go dancing tomorrow night (I've a Facebook event created - I think I got all my girlfriends, but if you think you've been missed, message me, and I'll send you the details or add you to the invite list). I've had the boogie burn all week!

I'll probably have to spend Sunday afternoon doing training stuff - I've got about 6 e-learning courses that I need done by Wednesday and no access from work today, and limited time next week. *sigh* I wonder how well I can learn while drinking wine... ~_^

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Music

posted by Lisa at 9:46 AM |

 
Thanks for the Smile

I've been thinking about it all morning, and it makes me grin. You're awesome.

Yesterday we spent the entire day doing e-learning courses. My head was so full of information that I was experiencing a sensation that was not unlike having medicine head. ^_^ Our trainer was kind enough to let us go a little early, and I got a lift home from Rob. It was nice to have a bit of extra time - I was able to download the entire "Juno" soundtrack before Turtles. I'm totally in love with it.

Our Turtle adventure was, as usual, lots of fun. Hijinks ensued. ^_^ Afterwards, I walked down to the bank to make a deposit before heading home. It was windy and damp, but actually a pretty nice night. I love walking in the rain (when it's not cold). There is just something invigorating about having the wind whipping your hair around and rain on your face.

The rest of the evening was spent hunting down music. I'm not normally big into music, but I've been on a kick, and I've been finding lots of really fun and cool tunes by randomly clicking on friends' iLike music lists and various artists. I'm mad about a song called "Coin-Operated Boy" by 'The Dresden Dolls' (which apparently makes me Person of the Day ^_^), anything by The Dandy Warhols is making me happy, and how cool is Emilania Torrini?

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Music

posted by Lisa at 9:15 AM |

 
Happy Birthday Brock!

I hope you have a great day!

Light Heart

After another rather dull day of training, I was pretty happy to get home. I had a few hours to kill, so I made a light supper, spent some time with the kitties and doing some travel research online. I'm loving all this trip planning! ^_^

Sarah picked up Em and I around 10 to 9, and we headed over to the movie theatre to see "Juno." Nicole, Brock, Chris and Suzy met us there. It was a truly delightful movie, a real must see. After the movie, I dropped in at Dre's to pick up some mail she'd collected for me, and then Sarah and I popped into Em's to check out her new apartment.

I'm feeling the need to get my boogie on. If anyone is interested, I'd love to do some dancing Saturday night.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 8:17 AM |

 
Friends = Good

Last night I headed down to Quality to pick up Phad Thai. Mare had invited Dre and I over for phad thai and a movie. I ran into Mare at the store, and I got a lift to her place once the food was ready. We enjoyed our tasty meal, and watched 'Stardust.' What a cute movie that is! I've really been digging these sweet romantic movies lately. ^_^

I got home a little before 10, and spent the remainder of the evening downloading cool tunes. I also added the iLike app to my Facebook profile and found some great stuff on the profiles of some of my friends. I'm pretty keen on a tune called "Ballad for Dead Friends" by the Dashboard Prophets - I've had it in my head all morning!

Tonight I'm heading to the late show of "Juno" with Sarah. I'm really looking forward to it - I hear it's awesome!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 9:21 AM |

 
And Thanks!

Thanks Nicole for the very thoughtful birthday/Yule gift. I love it. *hugs*

I also look forward to our first "MOO" meeting. :-P

Labels: Friends

posted by Lisa at 2:06 PM |

 
Good News

So, I didn't get the job I interviewed for last week. I can't be disappointed though because the other manager who had sat in on the interview liked me so much that she decided she wanted me on her team! Yay! So I'm starting on one of the major accounts teams as sales support rep on January 2nd! I've had my eye on major accounts for a long time, and think it will be a great fit for me. Plus, I get a nice starting pay raise, I don't have to switch shifts, and it's commissionable! I am *very* excited!

Last night, Sarah picked up me, Em and Sabine, and we headed over to her place to watch Christmas movies. We did more chatting that watching, but it was a good time. ^_^ I got home a little after 11, chatted with Dre for a bit, and spent some quality play time with Zedd and Kaylee before going to bed.

My morning started out a little wonky, with a bit of an awkward situation that needed to be dealt with. It all worked out, or rather it will all work out, and of course, because I only have today and 4 more days in the office before I finish this job, it's been busy. Jay picked me up and we had a celebratory lunch at the Market, and I was able to pick up the latest issue of Angel. I'm looking forward to Turtles tonight

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 2:42 PM |

 
A Good Day

Today I am having a good day. A very good day. ^_^

Last night I dropped off Suzy's birthday gift before heading to grab Sabine. After an amusing run in with their door, we made our way down the slippery sidewalks of Germain to catch the bus. While waiting, we couldn't help but admire a man I'll dub "Dog Owner Hottie." He smiled at us as he tied his dog to the streetlamp before running into the Tim's. He came back out, again giving us another example of his beautiful smile, and then we saw the bus coming up the hill. And watched the bus drive right past us.

"Wow, I'm not feeling the love," said Dog Owner Hottie. "No kidding!" I replied. There was a moment where I kind of wished we didn't need to catch that particular bus before we ran up the hill in the hopes that the bus would still be there. Luckily, it was and we hopped on and headed east to go see "I Am Legend."

We met Jay and Mike at the theatre, and were in our seats and all comfy in time to enjoy the trailers. The "Dark Knight" trailer looks pretty sweet. ^_^ I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I thought Wil Smith had some wonderfully powerful moments where he's on the brink of completely losing it. After the movie, Mike kindly gave us a lift back uptown and I ended up hanging out and chatting with Sabine. The rest of the evening flew by, and before you know it, it was 11:40 and I had to run home to get to bed. :-P

I still spent some time playing with Zedd and Kaylee, but she was still up and rowdy at around 3:30. I don't know what is with her the last two nights, but she was thoroughly exhausted when I turned out the light, but she was completely nuts again. Foolish cat. :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 12:21 PM |

 
A Bad Case of the Mondays

I find myself feeling very down today. It's likely due to the fact that I didn't sleep well thanks to the hijinks of a certain cat who seems to have made her mission to drive me crazy. I think she had me up every 30 to 45 minutes. I almost locked her in the bathroom, I was getting so frustrated with her.

It was a busy weekend, which is just what I like. Friday night Dre had invited me, Jay, Lisa and Keith to come to her place and we played "Betrayal at House on the Hill." Man, I love that game. We chatted for a bit before and after and before you know it, it was midnight and time to head home.

Saturday was an early morning as we had to be at East Point to do our Dickens thing from 10 to 2. It was very cold, but it was fairly busy so the morning flew by. Dre dropped me off at the mall at 2:15 and I started my Christmas shopping. I was a lean, mean shopping machine! I got in. I got out. It was 4:30 when I got into the cab, completely finished my shopping. ^_^ Due to the move, money is tight, but thanks to the gift card I'd won, I was able to get a small something for everyone on my list. I was able to relax for a bit, wrap my Secret Santa gift, show some love to the kitties, and get ready before heading to Jenn and Stew's with Brian. The potluck, party and gift swap was a lot of fun. I got a $25 gift card and a book by Kevin Smith (I didn't even know he had a book!) from my awesome Secret Santa. I bailed with Matt at about midnight though - it had been a full day and I was beat.

Sunday I was up at 8:30 thanks to that certain kitty previously mentioned. I lounged about in bed reading until about 10-ish. I spent some time doing apartment stuff and then settled in to wrap presents. A little after 12 I dropped some stuff of at Anthony's that had accidentally been packed and moved, ran down to the Bargain Shoppe for some gift tags and tissue paper and headed home. I also did some laundry. I'd totally been spoiled with the washer and dryer in my apartment the last 3 years - I'd forgotten what a pain in the ass it is to take your laundry out. I think I may just do the old drop off thing at the Princess Street Laudromat in the future. It's only $2 more a load and I don't have to do it. I also had a very enlightening conversation with my stepdad in the evening - he'd called to see what I wanted for Christmas (and I thought I'd left my shopping until the last minute).

I have to admit to a moment of weakness around 10:30 or so. Maybe it was dropping the stuff off earlier, or may but I found myself feeling very down. I broke down and had a good cry, the first one in well over week. I'm am doing much better, but sometimes it all still gets to me. I ended up staying up too late, uploading photos etc. because I wasn't quite ready to go to bed alone.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 1:17 PM |

 
Happy Friday!

I am *so* glad its Friday. It's been a long and busy week! Also, there is a fancy flat screen tv being drawn today and I'm one of 15 people who has their name in for it. Keep your fingers crossed since my TV is near death! ^_^

Last night I resisted the urge to just have hummus and pita for supper (Dre warned me that would happen now that I'm on my own), and made a tasty szchewan stirfry and rice. I'm still not used to cooking for one, so I now have leftovers for tonight. ^_^

Dre arrived with Keith and the tree a little before 7. She's forgotten her cd's and movies, so she ran home to get them, advising me upon her return that it is only 500 paces from her place to mine. ^_^ She was all ready to decorate, decked out in a Santa hat, Christmas Troll Doll earrings, a red shirt and Santa socks. We dug into the tree and got it up and the branches fluffed pretty quickly.

"You may taste something bitter at the back of you mouth," she said at one point. "I sprayed it to keep the cats out, so just don't lick your hands before washing them."

"Why would I lick my hands?" I laughed.

Once the tree was up and looking oh so pretty, we grabbed some snacks and popped in "The Santa Clause". I got some cheese on my finger and licked it. Of course, I'd forgotten to wash my hands. Dre was still laughing when I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later after washing my hands and rinsing my mouth. :-P Well, I can now say with certainty that Zedd and Kaylee will not chew on the branches. ^_^

She left just before 11, and I got all my boxes put away. I finished my episode of "How I Met Your Mother" that I'd started while I ate, and then went to bed.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 10:06 AM |

 
I Can Hardly Stand the Wait, Please Friday Don't Be Late!

I am *so* ready for it to be the weekend.

I had an interview yesterday for another position within the company. I think it went well, but it's hard to tell. It was really busy all day, so I didn't have time to mentally prepare for it so I was a bit nervous. I'm hopeful. I *really* need the change though - I've been pretty bored with my job lately.

I got home, stared in my fridge for a bit, and then opted to go to Quality for curry for supper before TMNT. Sabine surprised me with some Austrian chocolates when I arrived and I tried one right away. Mmm.... So. Good. (Thanks again Sabine!) Turtles wasn't too bad, but we could have done with at least one battle! It was all post-apocalypse exposition, which is good, but again, no killing. ^_^

We finished early, about 9:30, so I was home by about quarter to. Of course, now that my internet is getting hooked up today, I had internet access last night for about an hour. I think someone in the building doesn't know how to password protect their wireless so they're turning off their router. I was able to update all of my Scrabulous games before it shut down again. :-P I spent some time playing with Zedd and Kaylee, which included Kaylee getting feathers caught in her teeth and me chasing her around so that I could get them out. They seem to be appreciating the extra attention. Zedd's been downright perky! I went in to bed about 11:15, tired, with the intention of reading for just a few minutes to unwind and then going to bed. When I looked at my clock next, it was 12:45. I'd totally been sucked in by the book. :-P

Tonight Dre is coming over and we're going to put up my new (to-me) tree. All of my holiday music is on Anthony's external hard drive, but we'll make do with just playing some Christmas movies.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming

posted by Lisa at 12:06 PM |

 
Nap Time?

Yesterday was pretty good day. It was busy at work, but not painfully insane, I had lunch uptown with Jay and Dre and picked up a spool of DVD-R's at "The Source." After work yesterday I had a quick bite and hung out with Zedd and Kaylee for bit before heading out to have a coffee with a friend. Sarah picked me up at 8:30 and we went out to see "No Country for Old Men." Nicole met us there, and Jay ended up coming as well.

I loved it. It's definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen. I was completely riveted, and so tense throughout the entire thing that my muscles actually were aching by the time we left. It's incredibly intense, everyone is amazing, including (and possibly especially) the supporting characters. At one point, Nicole and I were holding hands, other hands clapped to our mouths waiting for something. I'd like to see it again - I think I may have missed some of the sublties because I was so completely wrapped up in the suspense. If you have any free time this week, you should definitely check it out.

After I got home, I called Dre to chat (and unwind - I was still pretty tense :-P) and spent some time playing with Zedd and Kaylee. The toys were such a good idea. :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies

posted by Lisa at 10:48 AM |

 
Friend

–noun 1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: (ex: friends of the Boston Symphony)
3. a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile: "Who goes there? Friend or foe?"

Acquaintance

–noun 1. a person known to one, but usually not a close friend.
2. the state of being acquainted.
3. personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc. (ex: a good acquaintance with French wines.)
4. (used with a plural verb) the persons with whom one is acquainted.

Which do you think you are right now? It certainly doesn't feel like the former...

And even though you haven't asked, I'm doing better.

Labels: Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 9:40 AM |

 
Keeping Busy

I had a wonderfully busy weekend, which is exhausting, but still much needed.

Friday night I headed down with Dre to Happinez to share in some birthday celebrations with Ann. We hung out and chatted for a bit. Ann headed out for dinner at 8. Kristi, Dre, Sabine and myself hung out for a while after that, catching up. Dre and I then headed to Mike and Neil's for their Christmas party. It was a good time - we met a couple of really nice people. I got a kick out of their apartment though - total bachelor pad! ^_^ We left at midnight or so since we had to get up early. I was a bit tipsy from the wine, so it was actually 1-ish by the time I got to bed. :-P

7:30 am came very early. I was up and at Dre's by 8:40, and we got ready for our East Point gig at her place. We left at about quarter after and headed east. It was actually kind of fun. The customers seemed to get a kick out of us in our costumes, and it was so nice to be able to give away free turkeys and flowers. The kids especially seemed delighted. The only problem I had with the morning was leaking boots - my feet were soaked through and freezing cold. I was so glad to get them off! We finished just in time to head to Stephen and Sandra's for a reading with "Tuesdays with Morrie."

What a wonderful script! It's very sad, but uplifting at the same time. We hung out for a bit afterwards, but Dre and Mare had to get back into town, so we headed out around 5:30 or so. By this time I was exhausted and not feeling up to doing too much. Nicole came over and Jay picked us up a little while later. We watched "DoA," which is so bad it's awesome!

Yesterday I tried to sleep in, but Kaylee was having none of it. I just stayed curled up in bed reading until about 11:30 or so, because I was still tired and couldn't be bothered to finish unpacking. Dre and I went to see The Golden Compass - Sarah and Chris met us there - and it was really quite fun. It's been about 5 years since I read the books so I didn't remember anything, but I liked it a lot. The little girl in it is excellent! We stopped in at Pets Unlimited after the movie and I picked up some cat toys. Sarah dropped in to pick up her totes and hung out for a bit.

Kaylee was afraid of every toy I'd bought, which is pretty funny since she's usually so fearless. Zedd, on the other hand, went completely wild for everything, especially the cat nip mouse. He batted and chased it around, pouced on it, chewed it, cuddled it and chased it some more. When I left at 5 to go to Scott and Mare's, he'd completely exhausted himself and was lying on his back, legs spread, with the mouse on his belly. ^_^

Dinner at Scott and Mare's was excellent. The food was great, the company excellent. Thanks again Scott and Mare for your hospitality! I got home a little after 10, finished a movie I'd started, and played with Zedd and Kaylee to wear them out before going to bed.

Tonight is D&D, which should be fun. I still have to find time to get some groceries, buy some blank DVDs, and do my Christmas shopping. Maybe Thursday... ^_^

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:50 AM |

 
Getting By

This has been a very long week. Work has been crazy busy, I've been working my butt off trying to get unpacked and trying to adjust to my new home. I've been feeling kind of lonely and missing him like mad but I've been trying to keep my friends close. I have actually been doing okay. I've had whole blocks of minutes where I didn't feel completely miserable. Wednesday, I don't think I cried at all and I guess that is something.

Last night I headed down to John's temp apartment for a super fun TMNT adventure. It was action packed, and we had a lot of laughs and really great moments. It was full of suspense and hijinks. At one point, John announced that nuclear warheads had been fired and the bombs would go off at some point between 9:40 and 10:20 pm and from then on, we were playing in real time. Every time we would get into discussions, he would look at his watch pointedly. :-P

We finished up a little after 10, and Doug and Colleen swung by about 10:35 to take us out to the airport to meet Sabine's flight. She seemed pleasantly surprised to have such an exhuberant welcome. ^_^ She looked tired, understandably, so we didn't stick around long. I'm so glad she's back!

By the time I got home it was 11:45 and there was a note on the door that they would be changing my locks and installing my shelves etc. today. So I got everything ready, wrote out the instructions regarding what was to go where, and made sure everything was handy. It was one by the time I turned out the light.

I'm a bit tired today, but at least its Friday.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Gaming, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 10:44 AM |

 
So. Busy. :-(

It is so busy today, I really shouldn't even be taking time to post.

So, I called yesterday to cancel getting my internet hooked up since I had access to someone's wireless. Well, I guess when I called Rogers they must have noticed an open connection because when I got home yesterday, no internet. So I called Rogers again, and the next available appointment in December 13th. *sigh* That's what I get for not being honest.

After talking to Rogers and eating supper, I started unpacking my room. Around 7:30 or so, I began to feel kind of down and lonely, so I called up Chris and Suzy to see if they would be willing to come hang out. They were free (Yay!) so they hung out while I worked around them, providing lovely conversation (and lemon souffle :-d). I managed to get all of my bedroom unpacked with the exception of 2 small boxes.

All together, I think I've got 80% of my apartment unpacked and 75% put away. :-P

A little after 9, I popped in an episode of Ab Fab, which Suzy had brought over. I haven't seen the show in years - I forgot how much I love it! They left after the show, and I watched half a movie before going to bed.

I think my TV is on the verge of death. *sigh* I'm not sure how I'm going to swing a new one, but Chris made a suggestion last night I'm going to look into, as did Anthony today. I should have taken the big tv. ~_^

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 2:28 PM |

 
Post Move Monday

Friday night I spent the evening finishing up the remainder of my packing. I did laundry, cramped stuff into book bags and suitcases and stacked boxes for ease of moving. By the time I finished everything, it was 1 am. I feel bad that I missed 'Little Shop of Horrors' at SJHS, but considering how late I was up, it's for the best.

I was up at 8:30 on Saturday morning. I got dressed and packed everything that was left. That hour and a half was pretty long - even though I knew he wouldn't, a part of mew as hoping he'd call and tell me not to move. :-( Help started arriving at 10 am. With 4 hatchbacks, 2 sedans, 1 van and 1 truck and lots of help, it was the smoothest move ever. We had everything into the new apartment by 12:30. A bunch of us had lunch in the Market, and then went our separate ways.

Again, I cannot thank everyone enough for all the help. So thank you Dre, Keith, Jay, Lisa, Scott T, Alison, Kizzy, Kristi, Brian, John, Val, Moyle, Sarah, Scott M, Mare, Nicole and Colleen - I could not have done it without each and every one of you. *big hugs*

Dre and Nicole came back to the new place to help me start getting things together, and Colleen showed a bit after that. We managed to get the furniture placed and some stuff unpacked before it was time to head to Dre's to get showered and ready for my work party. We headed out a little after 6 looking very sassy. We met up at our hotel room, hung out for a bit, and then went down to enjoy dinner.

In all, it was a really good time. The meal was very tasty, the company was excellent, I had a hot date, and to top it all off, I won the grand prize - a $500 gift certificate for McAlister Place! After the month I've had, it was nice to have something go my way. ^_^ We ended up bailing at 11:30 - we were exhausted!

I slept in on Sunday, had a light breakfast, and did some unpacking. Dre picked me up a little after 12 and we headed to the mall. I used my gift certificate to buy an ottoman, which opens to provide some extra storage, a nice curtain rod for my living room, and tie back hook things for both rooms. The rest will go towards Christmas present. ^_^ We also stopped in Wicker Emporium, and I got two nice trays to provide a nice hard service for my new ottoman (on sale for $5.99 I must add), 4 throw pillows, and a really nice wooden coat hook thing for behind my door (that heart shaped thing has gotta go!). We made one last stop at Kents and I picked up two shelves for the kitchen, a wooden 'B' for my bathroom key (:-P) and a stud finder.

Dre and I spent the remainder of the afternoon putting together my new bookshelves, and sorting my books. We hit Quality for dinner and then it was off to Brenda's to do a costume fitting. Our costumes are very fun! The evening was spent quietly. I found my work clothes - very important - uploaded pictures and watched a movie while curled up with the cats. I got really down around 10:30 or so - it's going to take some time getting used to being on my own - and I'm still hurting quite a bit. I feel better than I did, but it's still a little hard to beleive that he's okay just throwing away 6 years together.

Tonight I'm going to try to plough through the rest of my stuff. I've got to get the shelves up in the kitchen before I can get everything away, but I'm optimistic.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 11:14 AM |

 
Somebody save me
Let your waters break right through
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it
Just save, save me
-Remy Zero

From myself. Please. I don't know what's wrong with me. I vow that I'm going to be tough and then the next thing you know, I go and do something stupid and end up feeling like a complete ass.

Today, I'm going to try harder. I'll try to stay strong, resist those impulses that just result in me hurting more and feeling stupid, and get through the day. If I can do it just once, then tomorrow won't be so hard, right?

Please Week, Just End

How is it possible that the week can be dragging and speeding by all at the same time? It's Thursday, I wish it was Friday. I don't want to move. I can't wait to move. I've been here an hour and I just want to leave. I don't want to go home to that empty apartment again. *sigh*

Last night I went to Dre's after work. We packed up all of my dishes, dried goods etc. on Tuesday, so she'd offered to feed me for the rest of the week. She's awesome. ^_^ We popped in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" for some entertainment while we ate. She also started to paint above her mantel, but we were interupted by the arrival of Richard McQueen (I think that's his last name anyway) and his friend. He's brought a copy of two of his short pieces for Dre because she had a small part in one as well as did hair/make up/wardrobe.

One was the short film "My Immortalit" starring Alex. He actually won best actor at the Silver Wave festival for it, and it really is well deserved. He was, of course, excellent in it.

After they left, Dre finished applying the first coat of paint and we finished the movie. It had been years and years since I'd seen it - I'd forgotten how fun it is. I headed home around quarter after 10. I should have done that last bit of packing, but I couldn't bear to. Tonight and tomorrow will be soon enough I guess.

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Music, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 8:58 AM |

 
One Month Down

And I wish I could says all was well. I'm still having a really hard time with all of this. As much as I'm trying to deal, it's tough. My heart isn't as smart as my brain. :-( I am trying, I really am, but there are still moments that are brutally difficult. I feel a lot of it is my fault...

Last night Dre came over around 7 to help pack. Suzy and Jay M. came over around 8-ish (Suzy with an awesome early birthday present in the form of black clutch. Thanks Suzy!). Between the three of us, we managed to get 85-90% of my stuff packed. I realized that without me, it's just going to be an apartment. Turns out I was the one that made it a home. I've got to figure out what I'll wear the next couple of days, and get the rest of my clothes packed, along with the odds and ends left over.

I also had a panic attack when Brock called around 7:30 to say that he got called in to work on Saturday and could not get out of it. Since he was the one with the truck, I was pretty worried. I ended up calling Anthony's parents because I couldn't think of anyone else with a truck, and they are more than happy to come in and help. I was literally in tears, I was so grateful. Brock felt really bad - he offered to take me out to dinner or something next week to make it up to me. He's a doll.

I went to bed a little after midnight, but could not get my brain to shut off. I tossed and turned until about one, turned on my light and read for about 40 minutes before my eyes were so heavy I thought I could actually get some sleep. Anthony loaned me 'The Kite Runner' so I started that. So far so good!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 9:17 AM |

 
Stress Belly

My stomach is so upset right now I feel like I'm on the verge of vomiting. I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm overtired, upset and queasy. *sigh* I didn't get to bed until about 2 am, woke up around 5:00 and then dozed off and on until my alarm went off. All told, if I got 4 hours sleep, I'd count myself lucky.

The weekend, for the most part, was pretty good. Only a couple of really tough moments - thank the gods for shoulders to cry on. Friday night I bought some awesome curtains for my new place, leveled up my D&D character and then went to karaoke with Jay and Lisa M. I had thought of also popping in to see Kizzy sing, but I was in serious need of karaoke therapy. ^_^

Saturday was a busy day. Dre and I spent the afternoon shopping. I did find an awesome red dress for my work party and that was the whole point of the shopping trip. It's sassy and classy (It also provides a bit of glue for my tattered ego. It's been kind of hard to feel special, attracive or desirable after being dumped, no matter how easy he tried to let you down. :-(). We also took a peek in Winners and Pier 1 to see if I could spot any coffee table type things but I had no luck at all. We ran into Colleen on the way into Winners and she invited us to have dinner and watch movies with her and Doug. It was a good evening - wine, good food and we watched "Mannequin." Awesomely bad. ^_^

Yesterday I went with Dre, Nicole, Holly and Holly's friend to see 'Enchanted.' It was super fun - really cute and witty. There were a number of 'laugh out loud moments.' The movie finished just in time for us to head over to Sarah's for our book club meeting, which was a good time. I got home around 10, ended up having a meltdown around 10:30, called Dre, and she came over and took care of me until 1 am.

I'm trying, I am. This past week felt a lot like the first week all over again, and I'm having a hard time. I'm dreading moving and looking forward to it at the same time. He's been gone four weeks, but it feels like it just happened yesterday and moving means it really is over. I mean, I know that it is, but to quote Albee, believing what you know to be true, that's the hard part. My heart doesn't want to listen to what my brain is telling it. :'-(

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 10:14 AM |

 
Turkey Goodness

Liz and John generously invited me to share (US) Thanksgiving dinner with them yesterday. Jay and I headed over after work and dug into a delicious turkey dinner. After dinner, we played a round of "80's Name That Tune." We put Jay and Liz on opposite teams and then the rest of kind of rode on their coat tails. :-P It's probably a much harder game if you are not either of them. Ha ha! We headed out about 9:30 (I was beat!). Thank you very much Liz and John - the company and hospitality was much appreciated.

I got home and tried to relax, but couldn't. I ended up surfing around on Facebook and watching the first episode of "How I Met Your Mother" (season 3) and half of the second episode (it was loading super slow). I love how the first episode ends with Marshall calling Barney, and Keith had told me last week that this week's episode was when Marshall's plan comes to fruition, as it were. ^_^ I normally don't like watching a show while it's on because I hate waiting from week to week, but I need to see that!

I went to bed around midnight, but of course, I couldn't get to sleep. My stupid brain just won't shut off these days! It was probably one by the time I got to sleep. I am so looking forward to being able to sleep through the night again: I am exhausted!

Labels: Daily Life, Friends

posted by Lisa at 8:55 AM |

 
Is it Silly

To wonder if he's missing me like I'm missing him? I don't imagine he misses me as much - after all, he is the one who wanted out - but surely he must miss me a bit?

Sorry, that was my moment of weakness. I'm very tired today and the more tired I am, the more emotional. *sigh*

Last night I spent a bit of time after supper straightening up the apartment to prepare for company. It's a bit of a disaster, of course, with all the boxes etc. lying about, but I swept and ran the Swiffer over the floor. Suzy, Dre, Sarah and Emily came over and we watched chick flicks. Is there a better chick flick than "Dirty Dancing?" Is there no bad feelings that Swayze cannot make feel better, at least for a little while? I think not! ^_^ Suzy and Dre left after the first movie, and I popped in "Step Up," thinking to keep it on just until Em and Sarah left, but we watched the entire thing. It was about 12:25 when they left, and I was up until about 1.

Since I haven't been getting more than 6 hours sleep anyway, that didn't bother me too much, but I'd forgotten about the work being done in our driveway. Why must construction start at 6:45 am? Especially when working in the yard of an apartment building. Do they not realize people might, just might, still be in bed an that time? Maybe some are, but I'd be willing to bet that most are not. *shakes fist* I'm pretty exhausted today, but that seems to be par for the course of late.

Today is US Thanksgiving and I've been invited to share turkey dinner with Liz and John. I do love turkey. Hopefully I won't fall asleep at the table. :-P

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Stuff

posted by Lisa at 9:29 AM |

 
Okay

Yesterday was kind of an okay day. Work was busy, and I only had a couple of really hard moments where I had to get away from my desk. I went to the gym with Dre after work, and we did a good upper body workout. As it was our first workout in a while, we took it easy, but it felt good to go.

Afterwards, we headed to the Superstore for some groceries. By the time we did that, it was 8:30. We ate some sushi in the parking lot and then headed to the mall to do some dress shopping.

It turns out McAllister is only open until 9 pm. I was sure it was 9:30. I tried on a few dresses in RW & Co. One was referred to as the 'devil dress' by the sales guy. Apparently it only looks good on the mannequin - it certainly did nothing for me. There was one red dress that looked good, but it was cute, not sassy. I want a dress that will look hot! ^_^

By the time Dre dropped me off and I got the groceries away, it was 10. I surfed about on Facebook for a while, then watched an episode of Rome. I've been watching it through for a second time with the special feature "All Roads Lead to Rome" on. It pops up information throughout the course of each episode about the era - its fascinating! As someone who practices a multi-deity faith, I'm particularly enjoying the info regarding the role religion played in the lives of the Roman people.

I ended up being up until about 12:30 though. Even though I'm only getting between 4 and 6 hours of sleep, when I usually need 8, I been having a hard time falling asleep, and when I do sleep, it is fitful. I've been having nightmares again - I guess its because I'm feeling less safe than before - so I'm waking often, and its hard to fall back to sleep until I've checked the apartment, assured the safety of Zedd and Kaylee, and my heart stops racing.

I'm skipping improv tonight. Maybe in a couple of months I'll be up to it, but after being forced to spend so much time with Anthony during 'Dracula,' I just can't. He's given up D&D and Turtles for the next couple of months, and its not fair to ask him to give up improv too. I'm looking forward to having a bit of company tonight though. I'm thinking "Dirty Dancing" and "Step Up."

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Health, Stuff, TV

posted by Lisa at 9:36 AM |

 
And Are We Still Solemn and Bleeding?

And are we still swimming in water
that was already wet?
It's over, it's over, it is.
-Lisa Loeb

So the play is over. After the long and potentially disasterous dress rehearsal, we managed to get through opening night with minimal mistakes and the show really progressed. We've been getting positive feedback and everyone seemed to have really enjoyed it.

The cast party was, as many of you already know, a bit of a disaster. There was too much drinking (on my part as well as others) and I spent a large portion of the night sobbing on the shoulder of various friends. In the end, I just ended up hurting myself - literally - and had Kizzy, Kristi, Nicole and Brock take care of me. Nicole and Brock came home with me and stayed, which I really appreciated because I don't think I could have been home alone. I was in really rough shape.

Again, I'm sorry to everyone if I ruined the party for anyone, but I do appreciate the overwhelming support and caring I've received from you all.

Sunday we went for a late (late) breakfast with Dre and then it was off to see "Beowulf" with Jay and Lisa, Brock and Nicole and Sarah. It wasn't the best movie ever, but entertaining. Dre, being my girl, took me to her place and fed me supper before heading to co-host Jay's INXS special edition of his radio show. Chris and Suzy came over and watched "Audition" with me, a crazy Japanese film that Stephen had loaned me. The entire movie is a slow lead up to the creepiest last 15 minutes ever. The more I think about it, the more I liked it.

Yesterday, despite being up late and having only got 3 hours of sleep after the cast party, I was up at 8 am. I did managed to get in another hour between 10 and 11. I had lunch, and went through the Christmas decorations, separating them into two boxes. Anthony and I have agreed that seeing each other right now is not wise, so he's willing to trust that I'll be fair sorting out who gets what.

It's really not fair that one person can just decided "Hey, it's over" without thinking of all the other things involved in leaving. Going through our stuff has been incredibly difficult - a huge portion of the things in our apartment right were purchased together or given as gifts to the both of us - and every item holds a memory. I'm the only left alone in the home that we shared, tearing it into pieces and its horrible. I'm definitely going to need help getting through it; its really hard doing it on my own.

I met Dre for coffee at 3. After our coffee break, we ran into Stephen and I chatted with him until Colleen walked by on her coffee break, and I joined her. I didn't end up leaving the mall until 5 pm. Dre invited Keith and I to eat with her, and I ended up going out to Jay and Lisa's to jump back into the D&D game. It was a lot of fun, and good to think about something else for a little while.

I'd rather be anywhere but here today, but that's how I've been feeling about work these past couple of weeks. It's hard to focus...

Labels: Daily Life, Friends, Movies, Stuff, Theatre

posted by Lisa at 10:11 AM |