Ingredients for Life

What makes up life? Those funny little stories that happen to you slowly over time... all the embarrassing ones, the funny ones, your "WTF" moments so-to-speak, those are all the stories that we reflect on and laugh at. Well, I've had quite a few "WTF" moments throughout my last few weeks during the Holidays. Here's a couple for you to sigh and groan at:

I was on my way to work early one morning on the Black Mountain community bus. It's much shorter than a regular bus as I have explained in previous blogs, so passengers are not allowed standing anywhere in the aisle. For the first time ever, the bus was really full that morning. We went to the top of the mountain and throughout the neighborhood, picking up person after person. Soon enough, each of us were buckled in side-by-side on the tiny, plastic leather seats. They were those gross seats too, the brown leather that gets all worn and cracked over time... permanent marker scribbled all over the back and covered with billions of germs probably. Anyways, it was quite the experience that particular ride. My driver was kind of a young punk who had tons of tattoos, big square sunglasses and blaring loud music on the radio. As one of the last passengers boarded, he took a seat next to a teenage girl who looked like she just came from a Volleyball Tourney. She was wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt and had her hair pulled back... nothing seemed to be out of place about her. When the man sat down next to her, she asked him if she could switch him seats so she could have the aisle. I thought that was weird since she was sitting next to the window original anyways, so it caught my attention. As we kept driving along the highway, our bus was now completely full. There were tons of people in silence, ignoring each other, staying in their own personal zones and pretending their neighbor doesn't exist sitting there next to them, with their legs pushed up next to each other. It was a really awkward experience. Everybody looked like a robot, looking ahead and out the front windshield while Marilyn Manson drove our bus down the slippery mountain slope. All of a sudden, the athletic girl sitting towards the middle of the bus in front of me, got up and crouched down on the ledge next to the driver. I had my earphones in and blasting Jack Johnson tunes, so I couldn't hear what was going on. Naturally I assumed she was asking for directions as most people do when they take a bus they're unfamiliar with. I started to look out the window when all of a sudden our bus came to a sudden stop on the side of the highway. The girl got out of the bus holding the white bucket that sits next to the fare-collector where you put your bus-transfer tickets when you're done using them. She placed it on the complete opposite side of the sidewalk away from us on the bus, turned around and got back on board. I looked curiously in that direction to understand what she was doing, when I noticed that she had vomited excessively in there. Surprised, I looked around at everyone on the bus to see if they were just as shocked as I was that this girl had flat out barfed in the bus transfer bucket. No one seemed fazed by this occurrence at all - I was really dumbfounded. She sat back down next to the man she switched seats with, and calmly began to text message again. I felt like I dreamed that whole thing, but everyone seemed simply unaffected by this. I guess in the end we all get sick once in a while, but the fact that no one even once looked in her direction really confused me. Then again, I guess no one really wants to watch some kid toss their cookies on the bus....

Another weird thing that happened to me the other day, was that I was sitting casually in a lazy boy armchair in the mall, drinking coffee and reading my book before my shift began at 10 am. I was keeping to myself when all of a sudden, two large shadows swept past my view. When I looked up, surprised to see anyone else wandering the mall so early in the morning before anything was opened, I saw it was two huge gangster looking guys with tattoos completely covering their entire bodies. They were wearing pants below their knees, big white sneakers and of course - they even had the bling to match. They were walking by talking to each other, walking with swagga, when all of a sudden one guy dropped to the ground and muttered "$#!%" under his breath. Since I was sitting nearby, I looked to see what had happened to him. Several bags of cocaine fell out from underneath his shorts. He looked around conspicuously, stuffed them back in, and kept walking. I never saw those guys again. What another awkward, somewhat creepy thing to see. Don't worry, I was smart enough to look away as soon as I realized that it was a different type of snow inside his little plastic baggy...

Back when we first moved in, I had realized that my belt for my pants was broken and I had thrown it out back in Winnipeg. I always feel weird when my pants freely fall down, so I always cringe at the idea of leaving the house without wearing one. Just because I like to complain openly, I walked into my brother's room and grumbled that I didn't have a belt to wear, kind of half-kidding and asking them for one. 2.5 seconds later, Mike pulled out a brand new belt and said, "Oh yeah, this belongs to my step-mom. I accidentally took it once. Guess you can have it." and BOOM. All of a sudden I had a belt. What are the chances? How often does that even happen? Belts don't just grow on trees people. It's not a normal, everyday occurrence to have a couple spare belts around to give away. At least not in my circumstances. For such an odd complaint and request to whine about, my brother somehow managed to get me a belt. It was pretty amazing, I gotta say.

It's always fun to mess around with siblings. In fact, my mishaps with them are usually the ones that make the best stories. We're always beating each other up in the hallways, giving each other wet-willies when we're sleeping on the couch and sometimes even grosser stuff like burping in each others face. Anyways, my brother and Jessica really like to watch House at the end of the night; one time they left a disc in the Xbox, but they had turned it off and went upstairs. I was cleaning up the living room and found the empty case and realized the DVD was still inside the machine. Instead of just putting the empty case away on the shelf, I took out the disc from the player and put it back inside the proper sleeve to go back into its box. I slid House: Season Five back into it's correct spot on the shelf in between seasons four and six. I knew the moment that I had put it so perfectly away, that the next time Mike and Jess went to watch it, they would have NO idea where to find it. "That's ruthless," I evilly cackled to myself. I can be one scary child sometimes. I thought it was a great way to retaliate.

My most recent odd tale, was when I was driving my car to the doctor's office the other day. As I was cruising down the highway, an SUV pulled up next to me with a giant dog sticking it's head out the rear window. I was really taken off-guard when I saw this huge dog in my face all of a sudden, so I wanted to take a picture. As I was pulling up closer to get a better view, I saw what I thought was a woman sitting in the front seat - which turned out to be a very well-trained poodle that sat properly in it's front passenger's seat with it's little seatbelt on. The blonde curly hair really threw me off. I truly believed it was a lady sitting in that seat. You can kind of see the outline of the poodle in one of the pictures below, but I didn't have time to snap more than one since I was supposed to have two hands on the wheel! It's a matter of public safety. "My, what big teeth you have!!!" (Get it? Modern day Red Riding Hood...)

Anyhow, those are just a few humorous stories to share with you for today. I hope you all had a really good Christmas holiday and now New Years is coming up which is very exciting. We're going to throw a bit of a party here (not a rager or anything, we do have kids & neighbors, Moms and Dads) so it should be kind of fun. We've finally got a picture-taker in the family (Jessica got a new camera from Mike for Christmas) so I'm uploading some random snaps of our week of Holidays so far. Cheers to all of you, and have a good New Years if I don't write again before then!

Man Without a Country

When it rains, it pours. But do not worry, I'm definitely still singing in the rain... but damn, sometimes it's hard to sing anything at all when your boots are filled with water.

In other words, despite having a nice cozy Christmas this week (pictures soon to come) life still keeps punching me in the throat. For example: I'm sick as a dog, (coughing, stuffy nose, slight fever, etc.) Jessica has a hernia, (which requires extensive surgery resulting in her absence from work for 3 weeks) Mike sliced off his finger tip (complete with fingernail and flesh chunk) and I left my wallet with credit cards, bus pass, money and basically my life - on the bus. Since it is now "Holiday Week" with New Years coming around the bed and such, I could NOT for the life of me get a hold of the transit lost&found to retrieve it. Guess I'll be paycheckless until next week... (do I can get my bank card from my misplaced wallet and deposit it.)

As you can see, we're on a small down streak. This all happened in one day (AKA today) which is probably why it all feels so dramatic right now. I don't really want to waste my time writing down all my complaints on this thing... but I figure sharing a few of my mishaps may bring my blog some honesty. If you REALLY wanna know how I'm feeling right now, the answer is probably "blah".

Yesterday my flu began to kick in... and I guess to keep things positive, it waited until the day after Christmas. So I should really be counting my blessings on that one, right? Well it hit me while I was at work on Boxing Day, then a few hours later it was full-blown pestilence. I used an entire box of Kleenex which I then had to replace since it was brand new.... and I was sneezing left right and centre. It was a pretty ugly mess last night, but I made the stuffiness go away by steaming myself in the shower at inconceivable temperatures. Not to mention I drank nearly a gallon of Acai juice (special Brazilian drink) and passed out in bed early. I woke up this morning and pried my eyelids apart, which is when I saw that it was half an hour after my shift began. Good times!

Don't worry there is a positive spin to that one too. My boss acknowledged my sickness yesterday and assumed that I decided to take the day off. (Pretty nice boss assuming these things, especially without me calling in when I completely screwed that up and showed up at noon instead of ten.) I hauled my sick ass outta bed and got down to the mall, which in another positive light, was quite calm today. I cannot express how relieved I am now that Christmas is over.

It was at work today that my body decided to fall apart. I broke out in the cold sweats (probably reflecting upon the fact that I was withdrawing from a prescription I have, since the bank has been closed and I hadnt gone to refill my scrip yet) turned a tomato-like red, grew extremely tired and couldn't stop blowing my nose. Again. After staying at work for 4 hours, I asked to go home early which my boss willingly allowed. (Who really wants to catch all of that garbage?)

This is where today's fun continued to snow ball. Grabbed the bus heading towards Rutland, a neighborhood here, which I thought I'd need to grab a taxi from the Sevey (711) up the hill to my neighborhood, Black Mountain. I called ahead and requested a cab, and when I stepped off the bus, I realized I left my wallet filled with all of my precious goods behind. (know how they tell you NOT to leave your social insurance number, birth certificate, credit cards AND identification all in one spot? Well I never listen...)

Ergo, I couldn't take the taxi homes Thankfully and ironically enough, my Black Mountain bus which comes only once every hour & a half drove up behind me. Had I realized said bus was going to be at that stop the same time I was, I wouldn't have called a cab. Weirdly enough my bus schedule was wrong.... or he was extremely late... Regardless, I asked him to call the other bus to get my wallet back. The driver of bus #1 didn't answer the call, so I called transit lost and found which is closed for the next week. Le sigh. To put a positive spin on THIS incident though, my Black Mountain driver let me on for free. Pretty good luck, I'd say.

So what happened to the taxi driver at Sev, you ask? Well I had forgotten all about him by the time I had realized my wallet was gone. He called me like 9 times before I could finally answer, and he seemed rather upset that he was sent to a job that abandoned him in the middle of the suburbs. Yeah, I'd be pretty P.O'd too. But considering that it probably happens more often than I may think, I should just let it go. See? Blogging is like self-therapy.

It was when I got home wallet less, sick and stressed out when Mike showed me his missing fingertip. I'm sure the bandaid won't last forever on that thing. Yuck. But it couldn't be that bad since he didn't go to the hospital... so I guess that's the positive spin there...

Jessica's belly button looks like someone punched her, only from the inside-out. Poor woman needs surgery now, which means Mike is going to be short staffed for a while. On my days off I'll tag along though and see what I can do to help. That's what little sisters are for, after all.

Now that all of that is out of my system, I might as well keep going and mention the fact that not only am I sick and tired, but I'm also very homesick. It's hard for me because I am at the two month mark now, and I'm really starting to miss my old routine. Guess I shouldn't say that since I apparently hated it when I was in it... but now I can tell that this is going to be harder than I expected. I thought, "Naaaah, in two months I'll be good." but the reality is that I truly am missing Winnipeg. I'm not so sure if it's Winnipeg I miss, rather than the faces that are still there. Every day I step into my new life here, I'm reminded of all those good things I never appreciated when I was there. It feels like I can never appreciate anything unless I've been somewhere really different for a while. The novelty of having a clean slate now feels kind of like something to overcome. I miss seeing my friends everyday at work. I miss my family watching 60 minutes at dinner time. I miss my dog licking my face when I'd bend down to tie my shoe up before leaving the house. I miss Mortimer, my old, beaten up, faithful little Mazda. And I miss my once-in-a-while weekend trips up to Dauphin.

Right now I feel like I have my left foot stick in one puddle, while my right is stuck in another. I feel divided. I have sincerely enjoyed being an official British Columbian and I still do not regret venturing out here... but at the same time I'm missing Manitoba now more than ever. Will this fade away in time? I miss you guys. But I guess for now I'll just shake my head and carry on doing what I'm doing. I like BC, I want to keep living here.... but just remember that my heart is still very much in Winnipeg. My nieces Emily & Lily sent me a Jets scarf - so I proudly wear it wherever I go.

Well that concludes my brain thoughts for this post. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I'm very much looking forward to 2012. May more adventures arrise in the new year!

Love love love,
Breezy

Ps- these are some candid snaps I took with my phone on Christmas morning... I'll add in the better quality ones from Jessica's camera next time. Cheers!

Be good

Christmas Lights

Well, we put our Christmas tree up last weekend. It's a real tree, fresh from the tree nursery down the street. I'd say it's about seven feet tall, a fairly decent-sized tree... and Jessica picked out a fancy tree skirt for it to liven things up a little bit. Mike ended up rebuilding and painting an old wardrobe set and turned it into a media shelf for all of our video games, r/c helicopters and movies. It cleared up a good chunk of the room since we had abandoned all of our stuff all over the place until now. Mike and Jessica also went to pick up the old futon couch from storage downtown which is much bigger than our tiny loveseat and it also folds into a bed. (Perfect for any guests who may choose to come visit me some day in the future.) It's a much cozier space now and we've even added a few gifts underneath the tree.

Speaking of gifts, I have to say that I have been getting a lot of mail lately. (Did I ever mention we finally got the key for our mailbox?!) Bless my cousin Amy's heart - she sent me a cute little card for Christmas. For her information, I have displayed it proudly on top of my Xbox in my bedroom! I have also received a card from Auntie Barb, my Grandpa and Grandma Hawkins and my Grandma McKane! I feel so popular these days. The crazier part is that I have been receiving lots of parcels this week too! Each person of my wonderful family, Dad, Laura, Shea and Rita - sent me an incredible box filled with several beautifully wrapped gifts to put under my tree. I feel much more than spoiled. They were all so thoughtful and sweet to put together such a brilliant box of presents for their kid out in BC. :) It was very touching to receive such a parcel and I even got teary-eyed just by looking at the names signed on the gift tags. When I looked at each wrapped present, I was picturing each one of you... and I was finally hit with the reality that I won't be there with you to share Christmas. This gesture really made me feel like I was still part of the gang and I happily put them in a special place beneath the tree so I can feel you with me in spirit on Christmas morning. I am even still fighting the urge to tear just thinking about you guys. I felt that way by each letter, card, package etc. that I have received from everyone back home. It's so thoughtful of you all and it really means a lot to me to see a piece of you out here in Kelowna. When I got home from work today, I was also surprised with another beautifully wrapped gift from my amazing two nieces, Emily and Lily. That was truly an unexpected, wonderful surprise. I saved that special one for Christmas morning, too.

To me, all these gestures are fantastic - not because it's me getting presents, but because it is a warm reminder of all those faces I miss so much. I hope so far everyone is having a great Christmas holiday. Mine has been turning out pretty well so far I'd say. I will not lie... working at the mall during a busy season like this is pretty harsh sometimes. You hear the same button pressed over and over again, you hear kids screaming, menopausal mothers hissing and over-tired and burnt out fathers groaning. It can be an unpleasant time of year as well. That's why it's great to focus on the little things about the Holidays that make it so sweet. I'm looking forward to seeing the boys' crazy early morning hair as they skip down the stairs on Christmas morning. I think it's going to be a new experience for me altogether.

Certainly missing my Hallmark companions from back home, and I always recall the most obnoxious holiday moments from previous years I'd been working there. It's kind of fun working in a Hallmark here too because then I can see basically all of the same, stupid little noise-making machines that you have to listen to all day. It's almost like we're all still together under the same roof. Going to be honest here though, I am ready to take off as soon as Christmas is over. I've been applying for other jobs and Mike is hiring me officially too... so I will be saying "peace out" to my card shop days. But it was definitely a fun ride while it lasted, I grew up a lot in these past three years I've known most of you. My past year was awesome at 103 and I cannot express how much I enjoyed showing up for work every day to be able to spend my day with a good team. It has been fun. I've developed another little family and lifelong friendships that I'm very thankful for.To 111: you trained me up and got me going in the Hallmark world. It was great getting to know everyone so well there and I'm glad we continue to have our friendships too.We had many a good time and each one of us has changed a lot since I first began there. Chris is going to be a father, Kelso is in her fancy smancy math courses at school and my long-since-expected departure. I'm proud of all of us, we did well for ourselves. We've even gained some great friends along the way, and added to our family. (e.g. Big Andy and Fresca Bear) Although we may have lost a few soldiers along the way (e.g. Carol, Steffie, Diana) we still stuck around and endured life during the Holidays. ;)

I've had some happy times with you guys in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Well the week long countdown has begun ticking down to Christmas, so I guess I'll carry on, hit the hay and get ready to pump caffeine into my body before I head out for another whirlwind day in Hallmark tomorrow morning. I shall make sure I keep in touch and hopefully stick another post in here before the big December 25th day... (but don't quote me on that one. I think we all know better. I get lazy.)

If I don't talk to you again before then, have a wonderful Christmas, a wonderful holiday (and a wonderful trip to Belize for some of you.)

Love you lots,
Bree

Jack of all Trades

I've been enjoying life a lot lately. I'm not sure if it's waking up every morning to the sound of a donkey's cry, taking in the crisp, cold fresh air in the mountains, or getting a view of the various orchards in the valley below. (I know, I'm no Shakespeare.) I have also been trying to enjoy life's simple pleasures since I have arrived and just enjoy whatever crazy path I may be on here. Instead of finding all the things that are bumming me out for the day, I just wake up in the morning, take the bus to work, do my job selling cards as great and as well as I can... and go home in the evening to enjoy my life with my nephew Landan and my fantastic brother and sister in law. I don't even think about what I'm actually doing at work, I just think about how I could be doing it better. I may not be performing brain surgery but it sure feels a heck of  a lot better going home at the end of the day knowing I worked as hard as I could and made as many people as I could happy rather than just dreading each hour as it passes, looking down upon the pitiful low-end retail life that I currently would call it. (Much like I have been.) The part that I really and truly love in my day is returning home, free to do whatever I chose to spend my time doing. I can put my job behind me and not have to think about it again until the next day...and for now, I can just focus on the things that I love to do.

I love to draw. I am doodling all the time. On the corner of my papers, on the back of my receipts, on the edges of my napkins... you will find little cartoons everywhere. Now, I've jumped around a lot when it comes to choosing potential career paths. I think I have considered about 94 different options, none of which I decided to pursue. I am the most lazy, unmotivated, pathetic person when it comes to making a life decision. I am so cowardly of deciding my destiny and I often wish it was just handed to me instead. I'm never 100% sure about anything that I do and I always look both ways (twice) before crossing the street. I don't know why I can never settle down or choose something specific about anything at all. It's almost as if my brain cock-blocks itself. (Excuse that expression, parents.) I will think up an idea and feel extremely passionate about it- and WHAM- the next morning when I wake up, I won't give a damn about what I felt the day before. I'm always thinking about how much I would love to do all of these things until I picture it in a job like setting, making a business out of what I enjoy. I understand the prospect that it's important to like what you do - but you don't necessarily have to invest your whole existence into it. I think I have been so overwhelmed by everything I'd like to do in my life. It sounds hard to believe since I'm such a procrastinator, however when I feel a jolt of joy for something... I really want to go with it. But the moment I see it as something I need to perform at on a daily basis, all of the excitement and the joy is gone. My passion goes away. I forget all about it and switch to something else... and then the vicious cycle continues.

What any of us would really like to do - is just do everything that we'd ever really LOVE to do. Life would be too easy if we could do everything that we wished we could accomplish or become. Right? The way I see it, a job is just a job. Depending on how far you take it, how much patience you have for acquiring a better one, you will lead a different life. Sink the time and effort into getting a good job = big rewards. You'll get paid hefty, have a steady income, a planned out life and lots of extra room to reap the benefits of having cash... there's no doubt in my mind that studying hard and doing something specific does pay off (pun) in the end. Skip the study, live unpredictably and have a varying income = modest lifestyle. You won't get much out of life if you're not making enough money to accomplish the things you'd like to accomplish. You'll be too busy worrying about the question of eating dinner that night, rather than what you'd like to be spending that time doing. Things don't come as easy and you definitely miss out on a lot of things like being able to afford certain luxuries. There are so many incredible things we could become on this earth: a doctor, a musician, a scientist or a mission worker. It's hard to understand why anyone would choose a different way than that. But there are a lot of jobs in the world and there are always going to be people studying hard to do them. There are those chosen few people in the world like me that are anxious, overwhelmed, and quite frankly, bored. The non-achievers if you will. But what if these people like me... are the ones that fill all those other jobs? The leftovers? The low-paying, grungy, dirt-under-your-fingernails type stuff. (Or scanning greeting cards into a computer.)  At the end of the day, everything we do to earn money is a job. Some pay more and some pay less. But someone always has to do them. What really matters to the people like me who do those types of jobs... is the stuff that comes after work. Playing music, drawing pictures, writing and even making goofy short movies once in a while, that's all what keeps me going and thriving. These are my passions, the things I love to do. That's the big picture for me - and spending time with family/friends. (and terribly missing the family/friends that are far, far away.) Life is here to enjoy, right? Well some people do their passions for a living. Those are the lucky ones, the ones with brains that can focus and work hard to achieve that specific goal. That would be the majority of the population. But then they LOVE their jobs - because they're doing what they always wanted. It's the same thing for me, only I love what I do after work.

I love doing many different creative things. I have found that these are the things that honestly and truly make me happy. My brother and I had a long discussion last night, about the prospect of me becoming his official apprentice as he teaches me the trade and skills of interior/exterior painting. The way he spoke about his job (it's definitely his passion) enlightened me. The last time I was here in Kelowna, visiting during the summer, I had tried my hand at painting as well as had a peek as to what it would be like as a career. Out here, there is some pretty decent money in house development. New neighborhoods are popping up all over the place like crazy and these rich British Columbians are always looking for new ways to obtain some extra property. Now, it's not necessarily a steady job, especially since it highly revolves around the economy... but it does make some decent wage. According to Mike, a half-decent painter can make $24 an hour. He's had phone calls left right and center for jobs... and he's moved up in rank on the Kelowna-scale in terms of who to call when you need a paintover. It's a tricky trade, no doubt about that, and a risky one for sure. Regardless, even for a creative soul like me, the job sounds appealing. It would take time, that is for certain. He would only be able to bring me in twice a week to start, at about $11 bucks an hour, just so I can learn the basics at a slow and steady rate. That way there is no pressure for me to perform perfect for one of his jobs and there is no pressure for him to always stay on my toes. Over time and with practice, I will learn the trade. He has already been teaching me a lot about what he does, and when he comes home in the evening I see all of the paperwork and extra chores that are also part of the process.

Even if I continue to work in a retail like setting for now (hopefully to change soon, if I ever get callbacks on the dozens of resumes I've been sending out) and learning painting as a trade part-time, I would be able to live a decent life until the day where I can officially gain the occupation of Interior/Exterior Painter. With future knowledge and experience, perhaps one day Mike and I could create a company of our own. (I've already decided on the advertiser.) My career would be a tradesperson in painting and at the end of the day I would come home to the life that I'd want to live drawing, writing, and learning to play music again. I may have been out of highschool for years now, and I may be living on my own in a very expensive province, and I may be twenty years old, but I still feel like I have time to do the things I'm going to want to do in my life. I want to become a musician? Well then I'll paint during the day and I'll practice and write songs at night. I want to be a writer? I'll work on children's stories on my laptop when I get home in the evening. I am starting to truly believe that if I engage in things I love to do more, and perhaps go out there and get involved with my passions in the community - I will be a much happier person at heart. Because for the past three years, I have been trying to drive myself to find that "one thing" that I feel so strongly about and would love to do for the rest of my life. For me, that's not possible. I love many, many things... and trying to sit down and pick one thing to do for my entire life is incredibly difficult for me. I'm not saying that finding a career has ever been presented to me that way... of course you can do anything you want. But for me, I just want to enjoy all of these things that I love and that's what keeps me motivated to go throughout the day and work as hard as I possibly can. I'm looking forward to the moment when I can get home and do the things I really care about.

Each time I write about my life here in BC, I get a sense of guilt, almost as if it seemed like I ran away from Winnipeg, to "a better place". Being raised there and living there was an incredible experience, one I will always treasure for the rest of my life. I'm proud to be from Winnipeg, and I surely do miss all of my family and friends there. It makes me teary eyed when I think about everyone I have left behind... but I have found such a wonderful place that I can build my life in. This was the next step for me, my mind had always led me  here and now I'm finally in this place. It's mind-blowing that it even came true. I think  I could find myself very happy learning painting as a serious career and trade... accompanying it with everything I feel passionate about and enjoy. The cherry on top would be having everyone I love around me, but thankfully transportation and communication are two things that will always keep us connected. That, along with the sweet, sweet memories I have made back home.

I am not saying that I am slacking off on life or permanently going with this idea. It's something that occurred to me and that I've been thinking about basically since I got here... and I really feel like it's what I really want as of right now. Maybe that will change later, and perhaps I'll end back up in Winnipeg when this whole thing turns into a total catastrophe. But I think that for now I should give it a go, and the most important thing in the world to me, would be to have support behind it. In the end, I'm still just as mixed up and confused as I was before... and deep down inside, I'm secretly anxious that I'll wake up in a few days and wonder what on Earth it is that I am doing. I'm scared right out of my pants, I will tell you that. Life is a very scary thing, but it can be a very beautiful thing at the same time. Although I'm not too sure which one it is right now.

I miss my family and friends in Winnipeg so, so very much. It really hurts being this far away from the life that I have learned and familiarized myself with. I miss the comfort of coming home to my family and wrestling with the dogs at night. (Or, I guess cleaning Mika's ears.) I miss the laughter that I shared with my friends. I wish there was a way that I could have both worlds. But for now I will just have to explore this one.

Just know that however awful this idea sounds, however stupid I may seem and however irresponsible I may be... I am just trying to explore and find my happiness. I'm not trying to do the wrong thing, I'm trying to do the right thing. And the whole time, I'm thinking about you guys. I miss you.

Tell me if this is a bad idea, and I'll start to work on plan B...

Exaggeration

Okay, I'll admit that I exaggerated my love of salt for the sake of good story telling yesterday. I got called out on that a few times already since I wrote it... don't worry everyone! I'm alive and well! I promise I'm being healthy, I just thought it was funny that I did start to miss these little family habits around the house. But no worries okay? I'm safe, I'm healthy, and I really liked the title "Seasoning Salt" for my last blog. Anyways, none to worry... when horses are in good shape they say that they are as healthy as me. (You know, like that saying Healthy as a Horse, in case you got confused there.)

One thing I love to do is exaggerate. It's my favorite thing when I'm telling stories. Now this is an old secret I've kept to myself for years... but really that is the main trick behind being funny and selling entertainment. A story sounds boring if you just say, "And then I tripped." What about, "And then I flailed in the air and sprawled out all over the floor!" ? Sounds better, right? Maybe I should write a novel about this. BREE'S GUIDE TO ULTIMATE STORYTELLING: Volume 1, Learn How to Lie.

Well now that the secret is out, I suppose I won't be funny anymore. I'll hear crickets in the background when I tell my next embarrassing story. I'll have to find a new hobby, like knitting. People need doilies, right? I guess that's it for today's blog, I just thought I'd clear that whole mess up with the general public. Look forward to the next one titled, "Heroin". Should be just as good. :)

Seasoning Salt

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote. I've been busy working and cooking around here. Yeah, that's right... I started cooking, and as a matter of fact I know a few different styles too. Of frozen pizza. That's basically the one and only meal that I cook. The rest of the meals are traded off by Mike and Jessica, and thankfully I landed into the right hands as they do enjoy whipping up some gourmet meals once in a while. I will admit, there are some old-school Hawkins meals in there too: Shake N Bake chicken, "fancy" Kraft Dinner (with hotdogs) and of course, spaghetti and meatballs. Those types of meals were the staples of when my good ol' Dad and I had to fend for ourselves back in the day. I will admit I do not credit him enough for all of that back then... he did put in an effort to keep me healthy and eating right - no unhealthy cereals for me!

Now that I think about it... I have developed one of my step mom's most infamous of habits: Hy's Seasoning Salt. I feel like I can't eat a meal without it now, or my food seems naked. I also found myself secretly throwing outrageous peppers and spices into our meals. Salt is definitely the king of all, though. When I go to A&W, I'm shoving those little packets into my pockets as if the world was ending tomorrow.

Other than satisfying my unusual food habits, I have been working 1-9 shifts (which usually results in me working at 9-5 the next day) I've just been enjoying my new environment. I suppose I should stop referring to it as a new environment now - I've been here for over a month and I'm quite used to everything at this point. But I just recently discovered what an absolute privilege it is to ride the city bus here every day, something I plan to continue on doing, which is why I invested in a bus pass. Yesterday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to cross the street in the brisk, cold morning air... and wait for the Black Mountain bus to pick me up at 8:45 a.m. Black Mountain is the name of the mountain we live on, it's almost like the name of a neighborhood. Go figure. Anyways, it's a rural community and not many people live out on this hilltop. The bus is more like a small, wheel-chair accessible school bus, with about eight bench seats complete with seatbelts. Since it was so early in the morning (most of you work folk are probably laughing at me) there were only a few people riding the bus including myself. The very cool thing about taking the Black Mountain bus when the sun just begins to rise, is that it's a perfect time to get a great view of the city and the mountains that surround it. I got to travel through many other different neighborhoods - many of which remind me of the street that I lived on when I was in Dauphin. The houses are big and old, with pointy roofs and giant yards. The view was one of the most spectacular things I had ever seen - and getting to experience that while on a bus ride to work was pretty unbelievable. Eventually it took me back down the mountain and into the city... where it dropped me off at Orchard Park mall for my shift. I was an hour early so I spent my time running errands and checking out the brand new Best Buy that recently opened in town.

Not such a bad week so far, eh ? I also got to spend some time with Landan again on Monday. We did the usual, so I really don't think I need to go on a rant about that for three chapters. Brodie is here tonight, although he's already in bed... he's all tuckered out because he had his first Kindergarten Christmas concert. I guess technically, it would be his ONLY Kindergarten Christmas concert. Hopefully. Mike has been getting a lot of work lately and I have been getting lots of hours... so it might be a good holiday season after all. I'm still applying for jobs but haven't heard anything back yet. That's okay, because right now I have the fulfilling opportunity of bringing joy to people's shopping trips in the mall. That's what Hallmark is all about, right?

Well I really miss all of you and since I'm starting to get a bit bored talking about my life every week... I might switch it up a little and talk about one specific topic that day. We'll see if I actually make that happen, I like talking about myself way too much to give it up now.

Cheers

Thirty Days

Well, I guess in my last blog post I basically spilled all of my guts about how I felt living here in BC... so there really isn't a whole lot to discuss about my 30-day milestone mark. Yes that's right - it's been an entire month since I've gone, which for me is extremely hard to believe. Time has flown by so fast ever since I got here and it feels like a new week is beginning all of the time. I mean come on, it's Friday already! (Well technically, it's only Friday for you in Winnipeg... it's just 10:34 pm here.) I feel like this whole thing has been a constant whirlwind since it began and time has ceased to exist in the past several months. I can still remember standing in the storage room of Polo Park back in September, figuring out how I was going to tell Grace that I was leaving. Seems like it was just yesterday. Yeesh, I sound like an old granny when I use expressions like that.

To be honest when I'm talking about myself on this blog nearly every day (okay to be fair, every few days if lucky) there comes a point when there's just absolutely nothing to share. Let's face it, it's not like I'm living in an episode of FRIENDS where something interesting just happens to occur each day of the week. I think my life would be quite dull as a sitcom... well perhaps just my character storyline. My life is kind of the comic relief. 

Hmm... let's see here. Let's give you a few updates... I'm picking my nose.... I just scratched my cheek... my FACE cheek, NOT my butt cheek. I don't know. I really wish I had more to say. Maybe I should start reading that damn paper thing that keeps showing up on my doorstep... it seems like it has some interesting current events in it every once in a while, then maybe I can start talking about some of those things. If you REALLY want to know, I washed my bed comforter today. It tore in some areas. It was a bummer, but I think I'll get over it. OH WAIT! I just remembered something I could share with you. Tonight was the first night that I made dinner for the family. Isn't that amazing?! Me, behind a spatula. Absolutely mind-blowing, I know. Settle yourselves down please. I don't want you to start riots or anything. Oh, I guess that's just Vancouver.

Yes it has been exactly one month and I finally stepped up to the plate (no pun intended) and offered to make us a feast. So what was on the menu, you ask? Well it definitely wasn't Mac n' Cheese by any means...

IT WAS FROZEN, OVEN-READY PIZZA!

What was really shocking was that it turned out brilliantly - there was no burnt crust at all. Just a master at pizza, I am. And I have to say, everyone really enjoyed it too. It wasn't just delicious... it was Delissio!

Sorry, had to stick that one in there.

We finally got word today that we'll be getting our mail key soon though (I know, I'm just a newsbox today) which means I'll FINALLY have access to my mail that I've been waiting for for 30 days. I have a Jack Johnson biography sitting in there that I'm itching to get at... Our landlady should be delivering it within the next day or two. There is a downside as to WHY she is coming over however... we do have a leaking ceiling. We had our washing machine going tonight and when we came downstairs there was a giant pool of water on our hardwood floors. The ceiling was literally bursting at the seams with water.. it was dripping all over the place! Thankfully with a new townhouse like ours, it comes with a warranty... we won't have to pay a dime but we will have to get our ceiling ripped apart and get our pipes fixed probably. Which only means we're going to have a bunch of Italian plumber guys walking around in our living room. Nothing wrong with that I guess, it's just that the whole process is a bit of a pain in the butt. Or should I say, PLUMBERS BUTT! LOL!

Well I guess this is a good time to end it this blog... it's been a little goofy tonight thanks to my boredom so I'll let you all be free and get on with the rest of your days. (or nights, depending on when you read this thing.)

I will say what I always say though - I miss you very much and hope you're all doing great. :)