Wherein I swear, just to let you know.

So I've been avoiding a new post until I had pictures from Vegas so that they wouldn't be like a week later and me being all "here are those pics from that time I went to Vegas" and you're all "I really don't care about some trip you took a while ago, I cared a while ago when I was reading about the trip" when really you don't care at all but at least there was something visually pleasing while reading about some trip you don't care about, but alas, I haven't gotten the stupid cord from my mum's place yet, and thus not having a way to get the pics on the computer to put on the internet. BUT, it's been a while since I posted and I was getting bored, so new, vegas picture-less post is here.

I got back today from a three-day, which was pretty easy/fun/annoying. The easy part was that it was easy (duh), the fun part was that I got to see Steph in London, where we had dinner at this awesome restaurant with her boif and bro, another fun part was that I got to see anOTHER friend in Grand Prairie and had dinner and chatted about people and had to use the staff bathroom at the restaurant*, and the annoying part was that my flights from GP and Edmonton got delayed so much today because stupid Edmonton only had one de-icing truck that a bunch of people missed their connections and I felt horrible about it. Especially this one guy, who has a really long weird story, but the jist is that he missed his flight, and his ex-wife will be pissed off yet again and hate him even more. My heart went out to him, especially when he was in the back galley trying to phone her to tell her he was missing his flight and he was leaving a message and me being the queen eavesdropper listening in and hearing how awkward the message was. (And FYI I wasn't even staring at him while I was eavesdropping like I normally have to.) ANYWAY, I was sad that people missed their connections.

I'm VERY glad to come home to more tolerable weather... It was minus a bazillion when I left, and now I think sitting around zero, which feels like a heatwave! Yay for chinooks and missing the transition so I don't even have to get a headache! My feel are still cold though. When will they ever warm up?

I'm almost done my Christmas shopping, which is not as much of an accomplishment as it sounds since each person is getting one small gift plus something from Starbucks. Nonetheless, I only have one more main gift to purchase and then maybe a couple for some friends if I have any money left. This Christmas is really hard for me, because one of my favourite things is to give gifts, and whenever I'm shopping I ALWAYS see things that I would love to buy for people (especially Kristen... I find probably 20 things a day I'd love to buy for her) but I don't have any money this year, so I'm limited to one gift for under the tree and one gift for the stocking per person, both gifts being probably worth the same small teensy amount of money. It sucks. I wish I could buy more, but I really really can't. I also wish I could buy presies for my "extended family" like friends, family friends, fake in laws etc. but I don't know if it's in the cards. We'll see.

I have more to say, but I don't feel like it right now. Sorry! I'm busy reeling on the fact that I just got invited to go to Hawaii with someone, but can't go because I'm working on Sunday. Who gets invited to Hawaii and then doesn't go? ME. Fuck I'm an idiot**.

*I will however tell this story. So we're in earls in GP. I get up to go to the bathroom shortly after getting our bevvys. I go into the bathroom, and all the toilets are, um, full. I go to flush one of them. Nothing happens. I try them all, and none flush. I walk out of the bathroom and some manager type walks by. I tell her the bathrooms aren't working. She says "oh, well I'll try to fix them".

Flash to 10 minutes later, me REALLY having to pee. Manager type brings us our calamari.

Me: "How are those bathrooms coming along?"

Manager Type: "well, yeah they aren't working, I don't know what to tell you."

Me: "Ummmm, so where am I supposed to pee?"

MT: "Do you have to go that bad?"

Me: "Well, ummmm, yeah, and we're about to start our appetizer and we're planning on having dinner, and I don't really want to have to sit here the whole time having to pee."

MT: "OK."

Then she walks away... I look at my friend and we giggle uncomfortably. MT comes back.

MT: "I can walk you up to the Staff bathroom. Come on."

So I go as well as my friend, since she has to pee now as well, and we walk through the kitchen, up some stairs, down a hall, into a bathroom where servers have left their street clothes to pee. The most awkward part? Waiting for my friend to pee, in the staffroom, with Manager Type and other servers talking about how wasted they were all last night. MT is looking at me nervously hoping I'm not listening, but this time I wasn't as good an eavesdropper so I'm staring at everyone as they're talking. Weird story.

**Sorry I swore. Seemed like the thing to do.

So I went to Vegas

I'm home now. Vegas was very interesting. Part of me loved it, and the other part of me hated it with every morsel in my body. I'm disappointed and thrilled all at the same time. Very strange.

The things I liked:

• The lights - SO MANY LIGHTS
• The Strip in it's strippy glory
• New York New York - The hotel smells like apples, it has high ceilings in the casino, and it has the coolest roller coaster EVER. It goes outside and around the hotel and so high... it was freaking awesome and probably the best thing IN Vegas. I loved it!
  
• The Fashion Show Mall - Even though I happened to be in Vegas on the busiest shopping day of the year, I loved the mall and the ridiculousness of it... Two live shirtless male models in the entrance of Abercrombie? Crazy, but hilarious.
• The free drinks while playing quarter slots. HELLO
• Walking around drunk until 5 in the morning from hotel to hotel. So funny.
• Walking around Vegas in a tank top when it's minus 20 in Calgary.
  
• Going to Vegas for free.

The things I disliked:

• Our hotel. Biggest piece of crap ever. Sorry, but true.
• The people - Who on earth gets off an escalator and then stops at the top of it so that people fall into each other while they're trying to get off as well.
• The people - Who on earth brings their five children to Vegas for a vacation. There were kids sleeping in the hotel lobby waiting for their parents to be done gambling. Disgusting.
• The people - Rude. (Sorry I know they're not all rude. But mostly)
  
• The food - I have never felt so gross after two meals in my entire life. We went to the buffet... well nothing on earth could have ever prepared me for that monstrosity. I don't know if I ever want to eat at a buffet again. All I can say is that there's a rule that states that they can kick you out if you stay longer than two hours. I think that rule was enforced several times when we were there. We went to McDonalds late last night before we left since there was nothing else to eat, and they didn't have any of the "healthy choices" that we have here... No wraps (except a fried chicken wrap), no sandwiches, no salads, nothing. I saw someone eating a Big Mac AND a Double Quarter Pounder.
• The whole consumerism of Vegas. I know you go to Vegas to indulge, to live in the surrealness for a little bit, but out there I found myself thinking "Wow I would love to be able to look out my window and see the mountains, and not hear blasting music coming from giant tv screens in the street." I understand that's not what Vegas is, but I think it made me reflect on my own lifestyle and be glad that Vegas wasn't it.

I realize that this weekend wasn't the best time to go, since there were loads of people and everyone was on holidays. I also realize that I LOVE shopping so it's kind of hypocritical to be all "people shouldn't consume so much and appreciate the simple things", but I just didn't like the whole larger than life thing. It really wasn't for me. It was cool to go, for a day, for free. I would like to maybe go back, stay somewhere like NYNY and see some shows, but again, more than two days would be too much for me.

AND even though I'm half American, this american city was way too american for me. I like the hippie Vermont type states, not so much the WOAH WE'RE AMERICAN AND DO EVERYTHING TO THE POWER OF A BAZILLION states.

I did get lots of free drinks though. And that's really what this was all about.

Oh, and pictuers are to follow. I just have to get the cord from my mum's house.

OH, and quite possibly one of the greatest things? I got a 40 of Bombay Gin for $14.50 american. HELLO

Enough.

I was getting really grossed out every time I went to my blog and saw the story about the puking, and then reading the comments about "guess what this kid had for lunch"... Enough. No more puking.

I leave tonight for my big Vegas adventure. I borrowed my mum's camera so that I can be as touristy as I can (and since my camera has seems to decide when and where it wants to take pictures, leaving no control whatsoever upon me). I think I'm going to focus on the shopping... My hotel is apparently just blocks away from the Fashion Show Mall where it seems that I can find pretty much everything. AND, a friend has informed me that if I go to the customer service desk at Macy's and tell them I'm Canadian, I get 11% off everything in the entire store. Sounds good to me! I'm hoping to hit up Bath & Bodyworks, Macy's, and really that's all I know. I don't have much money to shop for myself, but shopping for Christmas will hopefully be successful. I have to remember as I'm packing that I plan on buying a crap load of stuff, so I can leave a little room in my suitcase.

Does anyone know how much stuff I'm technically allowed to bring back to Canada from the states in 22 hours? I'm sure I'll buy way more, but I figure I'll just write down everything and hope I don't have to pay too much extra when I go through customs. Maybe I can sweet talk the customs agent... though I will be wearing multiple clothing items made of polyester, so maybe not. Darn.


So I just checked the Vegas weather... Thursday 20 degrees, Friday 17 degrees. Feels a touch better than here, where on Thursday it's supposed to be minus 8 degrees, and Friday where the HIGH is minus 19. Maybe I'll fall ill in Las Vegas and have to stay there for a few more days to recover.

That's all I've got. I swear if someone pukes on my flights, I'm going to snap.

Something a little less boring

Guess where this little flight attendant is going on Wednesday? Toronto... not too exciting. BUT, the next day? VEGAS BABY!! That's right, twenty hours in Las Vegas, staying ON the strip... I seriously can't wait!

I had my first major puke incident this pairing... A poor lady just kind of puked all over herself and the seat and the floor and everywhere imaginable. The rule is, you find it, you deal with it. So, I happened to be the one walking by when I heard "um, excuse me" and I turned and she had puke EVERYWHERE. SO, I won't go into major details, but I had to go back to the seat three separate times and clean more and more because the smell wouldn't go away. I was on my hands and knees, with my face all up in it, and dry heaving the entire time. I even cried a little bit, just because I was in a "I hate my life" kind of mental state. BUT, as sorry as I felt for myself, I felt sorrier for the lady because she still had a long way to fly and she didn't have extra clothes. And plus she was a grown lady who puked everywhere, and she was so embarrassed. (Don't worry I didn't let her see me cry... only the floor and the piles of puke saw that. And maybe the guy sitting behind her... he certainly saw me dry heaving and he was laughing. I wasn't laughing back.) As soon as I got to my hotel room, I called my sis and we felt sorry for ourselves together. I thought that if anyone would understand how I was feeling, it was her, and she happened to be on the verge of puking herself from a bad headache, so we talked to each other in whiny pathetic voices for a little while and I felt better. She felt better later since talking to me probably only made her headache worse, but she sacrificed... that's what sisters are for!

That was my weekend. Kind of crappy.

BUT,
VEGAS BABY

It's a television commercial...

Do you know what kills me inside, little by little? Those commercials that aren't really commercials but little clips of nature in and around Calgary. They show little ducks swimming in the river or eating bread people have thrown at them, or the trees swaying in the wind, or people jogging in unnaturally short shorts, or some other ridiculously lame and boring piece of nonsense. Possibly the worst part of them is the music. The wordless music that plays a loop of some horrible ditty probably played on a keyboard with one of those buttons that has already recorded background beat. Not only that, but they seem so much longer than normal commercials because there's nothing to keep your attention except thinking "OH MY GOSH WILL THIS EVER END???" I hate them. Hate. Them.

(For you Kristen, the first time around I accidentally wrote "Hat. Them." I had to go back and change it.

That was also boring

Whats with me and the boring posts?

I'm flying out tomorrow for four days, going to chill in Vancouver for a couple of nights, which is quite exciting. Today I cooked some food and am going to work, then to pizza with some Starbie's people. Working the other night at the other Starbucks was WAY better than working at the Chapters Starbucks. The girl I closed with was super nice and it wasn't too bad at all. I still like mine the best, of course, but that one was a suitable option.

That's about all I have right now. I had a crazy weekend, I don't know if I posted about that... I forget. Probably having to do with the drinking, and my brain slowly dying from too much booze. The jist of the weekend was drinking and partying and spending a lot of time with friends. Loved it. I especially spent loads of time with Vanessa... it seemed like we didn't do anything without each other. I kind of liked it, not gonna lie. So much laughing again! I love that girl!

The couch is doing alright. I'm liking it more and more... we'll just have to camouflage the un-matchiness of the couch and chair though.

That's the update. I shall leave with a question: What's your favourite song right now? I'm looking to expand the music library.

that was boring

I didn't really like that post at the top... it was pretty boring and I barely read through it myself, so I don't really expect that someone would take the time to read it either.

I got my new couch today and put it in my place. It's nice. Except it doesn't match the chair that Linda recently bought, which I'm pretty upset about, since it's the greatest new chair ever and I love it. I'll have to think how to solve that one.

That's that. Tonight I work at an OTHER different Starbucks, but this one is just 16th ave so no Chapters. I'm hoping it isn't bad.

That's it. See ya.

My sister did this a little while ago and since I have a lot of time on my hands right now I thought I'd do it too. What I've done is in bold.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone (and it was vanessa... it's a long story but it wasn't as romantic as you would have hoped)
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (I saw a red sox game at Fenway Park... does that count?)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne (and it gets me into trouble)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (soon I hope)
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke (as surprising as that sounds I actually haven't, except at Caroline's birthday in grade 4)
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured an ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest (paid a pretty price for that too... DID get a beer bong out of it though)
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo (times two)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
85. Been to Las Vegas (only in the airport so far though)
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised (raising) children (child)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking (every day actually)
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart (doubt it, though there was one guy at Nashville North who said he had a broken heart because I wouldn't go out with him...)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet (yeah right)
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (well I've visited way more provinces than states or foreign countries)
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about (I hope I have)
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life (maybe one day, since I know first aid and all)

I look like I've been beaten with a death stick

Red eyes aren't too fun when you haven't had much sleep to begin with. Death... that's what I feel like. Blech. Sleep time.

Shut up!

Guess who's on Breakfast Television?????


The Urban Peasant! He's looking O-L-D. This is the guy who would "measure everything very carefully" on his cooking show while free pouring 80 proof whiskey into some recipe. He often uses his fingers for everything. He would walk around the set with a weird limp and say funny little weird quips about everything. A few years ago he came to the Stampede and my mum was the one who picked him up from the airport and drove him around etc. and she got me an autographed cook book of him. As we speak he's telling these kids to quit with those nuisance forks and use their fingers.

Ah the Urban Peasant. Best Cooking Show. Ever.

Chapters?

So today I have to work at a different Starbucks for a shift, and this one happens to be in a Chapters. I'm kind of scared, because I'm always in my little niche of people at MY Starbucks who understand that I actually don't know anything about my job besides the coffee making and drink calling since I rarely work. Now I have to step outside of my bubble and work somewhere where people don't know me and who aren't amused by my ridiculous stories which makes them love me and forget that I'm slightly incompetent. Yesterday's shift didn't really give me any more confidence because my brain was not working whatsoever and I pretty much wandered aimlessly until I had the thing I was looking for and then wandered again until I knew what to do with it. Hopefully they'll just stick me on till or bar and leave me there until the day is done. (fat chance of that happening.) At least they don't have a drive through. Now THAT would be crazy.
Mix the hungover shift yesterday, the new Christmas drinks that I haven't made, the staff meeting I missed last week re: Christmas drinks, Chapters Starbucks that can get SO busy that the line up travels around the Chapters, and me not knowing anything, and you get a potentially horrendous shift today at Chapters.

Wish me luck.

Update: I got a call from the Chapters Starbucks double checking that I was still good to work tonight. Guess what the male voice over the phone said? "I think we actually went to high school together Heather, I played the flute in Band and was one year younger, and in Marching band too!" (I know I'm making myself look REALLY cool here but this isn't the point, look beyond that and focus!) So I'm trying to deduce which of the two guys it could be who were in band who played the flute and were younger. One I'm PRETTY sure's name is Kyle, and that wasn't this guy's name. So who am I left with? Kristen I think you're following. I think he may have been friends with a recently discovered CSA and a supervisor at Famous Players.... Shit. I'll just roll with it when I get there. Blech. "I didn't know you were a Starbucks Partner! How neat!" Wow, I use neat regularily as well! Wow, I can't wait to go to work now!

uuuuhhhhnnnngggg

I don't feel very good.

In unrelated news, the party was really fun.