Being Single Sucks

Normally I don't mind being single. I've been single pretty much my entire life (there was that year or so with Dennis, but for the most part single). I've come to accept this and don't mind going on vacations by myself (New Zealand was great - if you don't count the problem at the Sydney airport); I go to dinner and movies by myself. This is all fine. But, today I went for a rock climbing lesson. I did not realize that this is not a sport you can do by yourself. In hindsight, I should have realized, but I just decided to try it out. They didn't say anything to me when I signed up by myself (which I really think they should have). The first part was fine, I figured out all the knots, figured out how to hook everything up. But, then everyone else in the group got to climb. I didn't get to climb because I didn't have anyone to belay. I did get to belay, though. The instructor had me practice while he climbed. So, I have no idea if I actually like this sport that my brother speaks so highly of.

My Sister's Keeper

Last night I finished reading a book that Christi lent me. I hadn't read anything by this author before and I couldn't put the book down. I highly recommend reading 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult. I really liked the style of the book and the premise was really interesting. I finished it last night and cried for about an hour. My eyes were so puffy this morning. I don't want to say what it was about or details about the writing style because I think everyone should come to this book as fresh as possible.

Before that I read 'a long way gone'. This book was written by a boy soldier from Sierra Leone. It was definitely interesting, but I'm not sure that I liked the writing and I didn't feel for the writer.

I'm back to listening to books on CD for my long drive to work. The first one was 'The Pleasure of my Company' by Steve Martin. I loved his book 'Shop Girl' and I really liked this book on CD. It was actually read by Steve Martin and the story was really interesting. The main character is somewhat autistic. The second book was 'Therapy' by Jonathan Kellerman. Always a good option for a quick / trash read.

I can't decide what to read next. I need something up beat, but I don't really have that on my bookshelf right now. I have a ton of options, but nothing is jumping out at me.

Ballet and The Rolling Stones

I just got home from the ballet. Lisa and I once again purchased subscription seats (seasons tickets). We only went for three ballets this year. The first was back in November and it was a mixed program with a West Side Story performance (I think I already wrote about that). Tonight was also a mixed program (which I realized I am not a big fan of).

The first piece was set to Chopin and I did like it. It was a little too modern for my tastes (I am definitely a fan of classical). It was amazing what they can do with their bodies. I think I am just really tired of ballets where the dancers just run around the stage.

The second piece was called Soldiers' Mass. There were just 12 guys on stage and I found it really moving. Lisa found this one boring. There was a male choir throughout and that was pretty impressive (much better than when the dancers were signing during west side story).

But, the reason I wanted to go tonight was for the third piece. 'Rooster' was set to music by The Rolling Stones. WOW! I loved this. It is up there with Swan Lake in my list of favs. Now, I am a huge fan of the Stones, so that could be part of it. But, I am also a fan of the type of dancing they were doing. It was just a lot of fun. I may just go back before the last performance on the 16th. It's been a long time since I was blown away by a performance by the National Ballet (normally I just complain about them not being in step - really, they are professionals, they should be able to stay together). If you get the chance go see this!

First Day

Well, the first day was good. I had a ton of work to do and it looks like they have lots for me to do for quite a few days :) The drive wasn't horrible, but that could be due to the fact that it is March break. I did not have fun trying to get to trivia after work, though. Apparently there isn't a DVP south exit off of Wynford Drive. I got a little turned around, but finally found my way and that wasn't a bad drive.

I did get a call after work that I was hoping for and I am hoping that it means I have plans this weekend.

I had a really bad Thai meal tonight. Julia and I met up before trivia at the Green Mango. It was like they didn't want to serve us, first off. Then the spring rolls were reheated, my entree smelled like cat litter (and Julia's smelled like urine). Mine was supposed to be spicy, but it hardly had any flavour. It was not a good meal at all. So, we went back to the Duke and had a deep-fried Mars bar to make up for it :)

CSI

I'm watching the 'Mickey Dunn' episode of CSI right now. It's the one with Roger Daltry playing multiple characters. The young Mickey Dunn is played by Rik Young. He is pretty damn hot. I think I need to get out. I was supposed to go dancing last night, but mother nature did not cooperate. Dorie and I talked about how sucky it was that we didn't get to go dancing last night, we were both definitely in the mood. She has two weeks off for March break so our dancing night will have to wait a couple of weeks.

I also just caught up on two months of go fug yourself. I think there was only one or two posts that had me laughing out loud. I really should have spent my time on my Austria scrapbook instead.

Vegas, Baby

A couple of weeks ago Jason and I met up in Vegas. It was really nice to get to hang out with my brother for a weekend away. Megan didn't feel like hanging out in the casinos all weekend so she stayed in BC. Originally I was supposed to get into Vegas half an hour before Jason. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. I was flying on points so I had to fly from Toronto to Ottawa and then on to Vegas. The flight to Ottawa was fine and on time, but the plane we were taking to Vegas ended up stuck in Toronto due to the weather. Once on the plane, we had to wait for the wings to be de-iced. I ended up getting to Vegas an hour after Jason. He had flown in to the main terminal and hopped on the shuttle over to the little terminal where I was. Unfortunately, the one I flew in to didn't have any stores open so he couldn't even get a drink. I was so excited to see him!

We then had to deal with the car rental place. We were planning to rent a car for the whole weekend because it wasn't too expensive, but once we got there they hit us with a $20 / day insurance fee. We decided we would just keep the car for one day (we were planning to go to the Hoover Dam and do some driving in the desert). By the time we got to the hotel I think it was 2am. I was so tired!

We woke up to a screamer in the next room. Every morning at 7:30 am she was letting the world know what a great time she was having in Vegas.

Off we went into the desert. It takes forever to get anywhere in Nevada! Our first stop was the Hoover Dam. Dad has always said it was one of his favourite places in the world. He was just amazed by the structure and I can see why. It wasn't so much how high the dam is, but the story of its construction. During the depression they completed the dam in just three years, two years ahead of schedule. The innovations made during the construction were amazing. It was definitely impressive and I'm really glad we did the tour.

What is not impressive is that they are building a new bridge over the river at the bottom of the dam and it is at least 5 years behind schedule. It's amazing how times change and how work ethics, etc change over time.

We then headed into the desert to drive up to the Valley of Fire. Since it takes forever to get anywhere, we didn't have time to go to Death Valley or the Grand Canyon. But, I think it was okay because the drive was absolutely stunning. We stopped a number of times to get out of the car and take pictures.

By the time we got to the Valley of Fire, we were so tired. It was pretty cool, but not that much better than anything we had seen on the drive. The petroglyphs were cool, though.
We hit rush hour traffic on the way back in to town. We drove down the strip and found a thai restaurant for dinner. I do not remember it taking so long to get down the strip! The hotel that I stayed in on my first trip is gone, The Frontier (except for the sign). Jason and I were staying at the other end of the strip at the Tropicana (which worked out really well for getting to the airport, not so good for getting to the Mirage).

After taking the car back we decided it was time to get into a casino! I'd already checked out the hotels / casinos on my last trip so we were checking out the ones Jason wanted to see. We headed over to the Luxor and played some slots. I was not a fan of the slots before. It turnes out I had not been playing the fun video ones. Jason introduced me to the video slots that have bonus games. I was having a great time. We ended up at three or four different casinos playing slots until around 2am (I think). I really wanted to play poker, but the only hotel on the strip that has a 7-card stud game is the Mirage. We were too far from the Mirage to go that night.

I had forgotten how much people smoke in the casinos. When I went the last time I spent most of my time in the Mirage poker room which is non-smoking. Playing slots I was near smokers all the time. What I don't understand is how anyone can bring their kids into a casino or be there when they are pregnant. There were so many kids and so many pregnant women in there, it boggles my mind. I was sick for a week after I got back with this horrible cough that I completely blame on the smoke.

On Saturday morning we decided to take a Craps lesson. Jason and I watched a bit of a craps game on Friday night, but it was so confusing. We ended up at New York, New York at 11am (after touring down the strip and trying to find out if we could get cheap seats for another Cirque show) for the craps lesson. There is so much going on in this game! It sounded really cool and we decided we would play at some point, but, I really wanted to play some poker. Instead of walking down the strip to the other end we bought ourselves some day passes on the bus. The bus was great! Hop on, hop off, but boy does it take a long time to get to the different casinos. Plus, you can bring your drinks on the bus.

We got to the Mirage and the first thing we did was go to pick up our tickets for the Cirque de Soleil show 'Love'. This is The Beatles show, and the main reason I wanted to go to Vegas. I'm emotionally at the best of times. I was so excited to see the sign! It looked awesome and the Mirage was playing Beatles music most of the time. It was great. The poker room is right next to the theatre. Jason is more a texas hold'em player but he wasn't sure he wanted to play at the Mirage because the cheapest table was a little steep for his first time at the casino. Lucky for me he was willing to play 7 card stud. We put our names on the list and waited. They only had one stud table and it took about an hour before I got to sit down. I won my first two hands and thought I was going to have a great day. Then Jason sat down and all my luck went over to him. He was having a great afternoon. He was up quite a bit and decided to try his hand at one of the texas hold'em tournaments they were having, $70 buy in. He ended up being the fourth last person at the table and his queen was beat by a king, not too bad. While he was having good luck with his cards I was having really bad luck. The players at the table and the dealers were feeling really sorry for me. I was dealt the low card every other hand so I always had to bring in the pot. Unfortunately, I never had anything to go with that low card. It sucked!

Jay and I had to go back to the hotel to get ready for the cirque show, so back on the bus and back down the strip. I was starting to freak out that we wouldn't get back in time for the show. We did make it with about 15 mins to spare. The theater was awesome (as is always the case with Cirque). The ushers were wearing cool 60s outfits and I so want one of their hats. The show was spectacular. So much going on that I'm sure I missed half of it. I loved what they did with the music. They mixed a number of songs together and it was fun to pick out the different Beatles' songs that were being used.

After the show we couldn't decide if we wanted to play poker or try our hand at craps. Poker won out. Neither one of us had good luck, but we still played until around 3am (and I think I only lost $40). I thought for sure I had it on one hand. I had the flush on the first five cards and I was able to get most people out of the hand, but one guy would not leave. He ended up catching a full house on the last card. I was so bummed!

Sunday morning meant that I had to say good bye to Jay. I so didn't want to say good bye. I miss him so much! We did head over to the MGM to try our hand at Craps before he had to leave. There were a couple of girls at the table that had never played before either. We all had a lot of fun. There was a very cute guy at our table and he bet on me rolling a hard eight when I had the dice. I didn't roll the hard eight, but did roll an eight and won us all some money. We could only play for about an hour before Jason had to leave to catch a bus to the airport. We were each up over $100 so craps was definitely a lot of fun. I did not want Jay to leave. I had an extra 12 hours in Vegas after he left and I knew I would just be unhappy. My cousin Amy (well, actually my cousin Michelle's cousin Amy) was actually in Vegas as well so Jason told me to call her and spend part of my day with her.

After Jay left and I stopped crying, I headed back to the craps table. The cute guy was gone and unfortunately, the dice had gone cold. I lost all the money I had one in a very short period of time. I headed back to the Mirage to play some poker. I hung out there for about four hours and once again had crap cards. But, I had fun hanging out with the guys at the table. I only lost $20, but was getting bored. I decided to try my hand at craps again. I learned that I should not touch the dice! I actually ended up throwing them off the table at one point and hit a guy in the back at another table (oops). Dice cold again: I lost $60 in ten minutes. I decided I should call Amy and get away from the tables.

I met up with Amy and her friends and we went shopping at Caesar's Palace. Oh my God! This is not my type of shopping. It was so expensive. There was a Kate Spade shop and the purse I liked cost $400. It was fun to hang out with people who do shop like this (at least for one afternoon). I didn't buy anything (obviously). I decided to head back up to the strip so that I would be closer to my luggage for when I had to hop in a cab to the airport.

Back at New York, New York, I had some dinner and then hit the crap tables again. I decided to watch for a bit to see how the dice were doing. They seemed to be good so I put down some money. At one point the dice bounced into my chip tray and I backed quickly away from them. I did not want my bad luck going anywhere near those dice! No one on my end of the table wanted to touch the dice, which was fine because the guys at the other end were doing a great job. In about an hour I had won $230. I was so unhappy that I had to leave to catch my plane (even more unhappy later when I ended up waiting at the airport for over an hour).

Overall a great trip to Vegas! It was awesome to hang out with Jay for the weekend, the Beatles' Cirque show was amazing and I had fun gambling (only lost $150 over the three days).

Loving the Snow

I love the snow! It is so beautiful outside today. I was upset with Mother Nature yesterday since she made it impossible for me to go out last night (dancing or dinner). Today, I am back in love with her. I went out this morning for a two hour walk and it was amazing. Nice, fluffy, white snow!

The sidewalks were plowed for the most part and I was able to walk and read my book. As I said, for the most part. At the end of one sidewalk the plow had just stopped, or, more likely, the road plow had come by after and closed off the access to the road. I decided to go for it and walk over the snowbank. I sank up to my butt, but it was so much fun. I wish the snow tube park was working at Glen Eden because I really feel like going out tubing today. I am thinking about going out skating later. I have a hockey game at 10:15 tonight, but I don't think I'm going to go. I start my new job tomorrow morning and I would be wide awake until at least 1am after the game. It's our last game and I really want to go, but I don't think it would be a good idea. I haven't been to work in over a month and I would like to give a good impression.

I may just go out for another walk. I'm almost finished my book and I know I would finish it during my walk. I want to go over to the library and get some books on CD. I have a long drive to work starting up and books on CD are a great way to make the time go by quicker.

This reminds me. My trivia round went over really well last week. My round was on Stephen King. There were a couple of comments on it 'not being literature', but I don't care. I love King. Well, not so much his new stuff. It was really fun to write the round. I have another round to write, but I've been putting it off. I've been asked to change the round so that it fits another category. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to write it to fit.

Bangs!

I braved the snow today to get to my stylist. New job almost always means new hair for me. This time, I decided to get bangs. My stylist (who has been styling my hair for ten years) has been wanting to give me bangs for a couple of years now. I was really leery. My mom wouldn't let me have bangs for years and when I was in Grade 6 she finally relented. I love my Grade 6 school photo! I haven't had bangs since (well, I had super short hair for years so I sort of had bangs).

It's weird, it doesn't look like me at all! But, I think I really like it.

So, new hair should be taken out on the town. Unfortunately, Mother Nature is not cooperating. We are having a horrible storm here and there is a good chance that I won't get out. I was supposed to have a date tonight, but it was dependent on the weather. So, no date. There is a chance that Dorie and I will try to get out dancing here in Mississauga, but I don't want her to get in an accident. I could always hop in a cab and go by myself but I'm not really keen on that (especially since I'd prefer to be out on my date).

Last night I went over to Christi's and had a really good time playing hockey with her little guy, Alex. I was a little concerned about the high sticking, he's a little crazy with the stick, but it was a lot of fun. He let me read him a couple of good night stories (including the one I bought him). He may just let me babysit one of these days so that Christi and Mike can go out. After he went to bed, Christi and I spent a couple of hours scrapbooking. I'm working on my Austria trip from 2005. It's almost done! Christi only has one page left of her wedding album. I think we may both work on Disney albums when we are done with these ones. Or, we may work on digital books. So many choices, so many pictures!

Word of the Day

My 'Word of the Day' calendar has 'dewy' as the word. Meaning 1. moist with, affected by, or suggestive of dew *2. innocent, unsophisticated.

And the following sentence to demonstrate the second meaning:

* Although she'll be graduating from college this year, Melanie still has the delicate face and dewy eyes of a young teenager.

It just gave me a giggle since it uses my name.

Possible Job

I had a great interview yesterday and it sounds like the contracts should get signed today and I could start Monday morning! I'm excited and scared (which always bodes well). The only problem: it's the DVP and Wynford. Not looking forward to that drive.

I woke up feeling really horrible this morning. The cat started whining at 5:30am and then I was wide awake. I stayed up for about two hours and then went back to bed. I had the most horrible dream. I was trying to read a trivia question, but the words kept going out of focus and then I kind of passed out and fell on the floor. This happened twice. I couldn't speak or move any limbs. It was horrible. Now I'm up and have no energy. I'm wondering if it was from all the adrenaline I used up yesterday :). I was in a really good mood yesterday.

No New Job

Still no job. I go back and forth on freaking out about this. It's been a month and I know I'm okay for a couple more, but it is nerve racking. I keep thinking back to the time after Nortel when I was off work for 8 months. The two recruiters I have interviewed with seem optimistic. Fingers-crossed.

This past weekend I had absolutely no sleep! On Friday I headed over to Tim and Jen's to scrapbook (since Jen and I are both off work right now we can get together and work on our projects). I'm currently working on my Austria trip and she is working on the last BVI trip (oh how those pics make me want to go again).

When I got home I was going to continue to work on my book, but instead I felt the desire to pull out this Disney puzzle I had bought a couple of months ago. It says 'world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle'. The picture is the same on both sides (with a 90 degree turn). I became obsessed and stayed up until 7:30am completing the puzzle (I was also watching season 3 of Felicity). I woke up at 10am and could not get back to sleep.

Saturday night I hung out with Rod and a couple of his friends. Had an awesome time. We played cards (for the first time in years I actually reneged in euchre - no more red wine for me) and hung out in the hot tub (Christi, you have to get your hot tub up and running!).