Category Archives: Life as I know it

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A quickie!

As usual, I have a ton of things to say, but not nearly enough time to say it!  I did however come up with a pretty fabulous idea I think…

So its officially 2010 and I had a fabulous day today!    Spent some time with my lovely friend Jeremy & his lovely boyfriend Tim.  Had a fabulous brunch at my house which everyone enjoyed.  Tomorrow is off to home depot to get something I need for my kitchen, wasn\’t going to buy it but its on sale and I need it for my apartment so might as well since its $40.00 off!

Hope everyone had/has a fabulous new year!

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The 2009 review

Well the year is almost over…  There\’s lots I could say to sum it up but to coin a phrase from Catlin \”2009 for me was the absolute highest highs and the lowest lows. I experienced pure, unadulterated joy and rock bottom, brutal sadness. I felt about as angry as I ever have.\” Hope she doesn\’t mind, but in all honestly I really couldn\’t have said it better myself!  Brilliantly put Catlin, that\’s all I have to say 🙂  Reading other people\’s blogs has its advantages since it was Catlin that pointed out that Gillian answers a serious of questions every year after skimming through them I thought well you know, why not?  So thank you Gillian for making this blog entry a little easier!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Lots of things!  Went to places I\’ve never been before and more importantly became a little more true to myself.  Oh and I went boxing day shopping with my mom & sister and didn\’t buy a  single hoodie!  (I have a hoodie addiction)  Seriously…  You reading this Micheal lol.  I actually bought girly attire…  I gotta say though I do love that angora sweater 😉

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I haven\’t bothered with them in years.  I do however hope that 2010 is a whole lot better then 2009 was!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

not particularly close per say, but a few people I know are proud parents.  However  my best friend of 20+ years is pregnant 🙂

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes

5. What countries did you visit?

How about provinces? I went to Ontario as per the usual in the summer and just got back from Christmas there too.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

peace of mind!

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

September 3rd one of my best friends died and that day changed my life.  RIP Jason, I love you!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Wow that\’s a tough one.  Can\’t really say I actually have one which is kind of sad in a way but this year was full of so. much. fail.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not being there for someone when they needed me the most.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Well aside from the Advil overdose because of that epic tooth pain I had, the infection that followed which SUCKED not really.  Injury\’s well I hurt myself at work quite a bit but its rather minor in comparison.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A new computer (thanks mom <3)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My sister

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Jason…

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills, the dentist, visa

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

My tattoos! lol

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

Can\’t say I have one particular song in mind.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Although I can\’t totally recall how I felt this time last year I know due to circumstances that I am most certainly sadder, thinner and hands down a whole lot more poor too lol.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Been there more for my friends/family.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

procrastinated, stressed out, getting angry and less crying!  Did far too much of that this year!

20. How did you spend Christmas?

I was in Ontario with my immediate family and it was awesome!  I had a really good Christmas this year in the end.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

nope.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Family guy!  Although I haven\’t watched a lot of TV this year and I\’m canceling the cable soon because of it.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No.

24. What was the best book you read?

I read so many good ones this year!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Haven\’t made any of those…

26. What did you want and get?

Tickets to Metallica!  A new computer,  a cat with thumbs, some beautiful tattoo work of course/

27. What did you want and not get?

Jason to be alive.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Didn\’t see enough movies to even garner a proper response for that one.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 31…  Had a small soiree with my friends at my apartment and it was fabulous!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

not being in debt and being back in school already!

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

ha ha this year was a bit of a transformation of sorts.  I\’ve always been a jeans/t-shirt/hoodie girl.  I still am but I have gotten more \”girly\” attire and started wearing heels!  That\’s a little crazy in itself!

32. What kept you sane?

My friends, I honestly don\’t know what I would have done without them this year!  I am so very fortunate to have such amazing people in my life!

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

That\’s not my style, I could care less about that sort of thing.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

H1N1 Jesus Christ!  All the hype and bullshit holy fuck!

35. Who did you miss?

Jason, my mom

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Define met, I can say who the best new person I\’ve talked to but have yet to meet is.  They already know that though and if they don\’t well they should!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

Life is short, too short!

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day\’s a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?
What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life
What\’s worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts \’cause there\’s no second try
So live like you\’re never living twice
Don\’t take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day-Nickleback

So in closing, this year sucked in SO many ways…  Tons and tons of soul sucking drama, far too many tears and heartbreak and things that just speak of pure evil.  Although there were a few rare moments of happiness that made them all that much more precious.  In the end its the little things that matter and that was a lesson that I sadly learned the hard way.
So 2009 wasn\’t a total loss, just a very difficult year.  In the end, I have learned that inspiration can come from the strangest things but leads to something beautiful.  I\’m not going to rattle of names, but I can only hope that those who were there for me either directly or indirectly when I needed them the most, who gave me some very much needed closure in inadvertently assisting me with my memorial tattoo for Jason and those who just made this year suck a little less, your awesome and I am so totally grateful that you were there even if it was only for a brief period of time <3
Here\’s to hoping that 2010 is full of much better things for us all 😉
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Randomness!

Start my new job on Wed, have Friday off and a whole lot of crazy insane shifts to look forward to, YAY!  Went shopping today and got the most adorable red wool jacket EVER and I LOVE it!  Along with some other nifty stuff that I don\’t feel as compelled to mention.

I\’m also pondering a decsion of sorts in regards to someone…  But yet I still can\’t seem to totally make up my mind just yet but I\’m thinking if something doesn\’t happen and soon, that\’s going to be a total deal breaker.   Part of it *isn\’t* \”control-able\” due to schedule conflicts and what not but still after a while the whole \”good things come to those who wait\” tends to loose its luster.  I do give them credit for trying at least!  Yet in the same token to coin a phrase from the song (which adds a touch of irony to the situation for reasons I won\’t disclose) beautiful by the smashing pumpkins:\” And I\’m sure you know me well, as I\’m sure you don\’t.  But you just can\’t tell, who you\’ll love and who you won\’t\” .

Which you know it\’d be nice to even have a minuscule amount of say over who\’ll you\’ll like, never mind love.  Aside from the title, another line  from this song also rings true (for a few different reasons): \”Don\’t let your life wrap up around you, don\’t forget to call whenever. I\’ll be here just waiting for you, I\’ll be under your stars forever.  Neither here nor there, just right beside you.\” Carrying on with the whole sappy factor, I adore this song too: by starlight

So enough of the sappiness from me… If your all wondering what in God\’s name has gotten into me, I really have no idea either!

So moving along in other news, since I\’ve been trying to stay up super late in order to get accustomed to my new shift(s) and in doing so have been trolling the internet for something to amuse me and well needless to say, it hasn\’t dissapointed me!  I really have to give the most credit to MILA (my life is average) and thanks to David who told me about it in the first place.  Because occasionally people will post random websites on there and of course I have to go and check them out because well why not?  Along with MILA …  FML (fuck my life) has some odd bits of humor as well.  Let\’s not forget texts from last night (TFLN) which also has a few gems!

Then I discovered: Cracked (which is full of funny off beat humor), not always right (as in the customer!) hilarious if you ever worked with the public!  Thought I would share that with you all 😉

Random MSN tidbit that I happen to think is funny in regards to a certain recent situation:

Steph: \”I told my mom (left out some details *I DON\’T tell her EVERYTHING but this was just too damn funny NOT too!) and she was laughing so hard she was in tears!\”

C:\”he could have asked for a few tips, since I bet youre quite skilled in bed\”

(Why yes, as a matter of fact I am, thanks! haha)  No in case your wondering, nothing happened and no I didn\’t get any recently.

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The truth doesn\’t set you free…

Whomever came up with that statement should really get a kick in the face!  Honesty doesn\’t always get you everywhere or anywhere for that matter.  You see I\’ve been in this crappy culinary industry for 16 years now,  and have gained enough expertise through the years teamed up with a partial education to really truly call myself a Chef.  I\’m quite PROUD of that, no reason why I SHOULDN\’T be either if you ask me.  Thankfully all the hard work in the past has paid off and for the past few years I\’ve managed to snag some pretty high end job titles and the responsibly that come along with it.  GO ME!    However after the soon to be loss of my current job and sending out well over 40 cv\’s to places that were hiring (below my skill level mind you but with decent enough pay to cover my expenses and still have a  life) with very few phone calls in return I was starting to wonder.

But you see, after oodles of utter & EPIC frustration, something dawned on me after being told on numerous occasion that I was \”over qualified\” but thanks for applying anyway that it was necessary to lie on my CV about my qualifications read dumb them the hell down!  Very few places are hiring actual Chef\’s/sous Chef\’s and if they are chances are I\’m not qualified enough since I don\’t have my red seal nor do I plan on getting it even though i am more then eligible and have been for years or not ethnic enough with the added required languages of God knows what aside from the usual English/French.  So instead of saying I was the executive anything most of my job titles save for the exception of 1 sous Chef position because it was just too recent and I know that he would have said as much if called upon for a reference.   I simply replaced all my I worked my ass off for job titles to \”cook\” and well what do you know, all of a sudden I\’m not so \”over qualified\” anymore.

So last night after occasionally returning to a particular \”help wanted section\” online and refreshing the page I put my sneaky ninja stalker skills to good use and nabbed myself a job interview this evening.  So I went and I had a much better feeling about this place then the one in Lasalle & that pointless interview I had in CDN as well.  It just seems more my deal so I talked to the executive Chef and I have a job trial on Thursday.  I LOVE the concept of this place, its not an actual \”restaurant\” per say.  You can \”eat in\” but their main focus is on gourmet take out & delivery and I\’d be rocking the grill & saute which are the more \”coveted\” sections on a line since those are the ones that actually require some real skill as opposed to working any other one.

Which is slightly amusing since I was talking to Mat yesterday about my interview in CDN and how I was gravely insulted that A: It was a garde manger position and B the starting wage was $9.10/hour (I mean seriously are you kidding me?).  So I jokingly said there\’s no way in hell that I\’m going to be a glorified salad bitch for so little money and it really is the lowest rank on an actual line and usually the lowest paid job.  When Mat turned around and said hey, that\’s my position at my restaurant.  *Open mouth, insert foot* good thing I have small feet and a big mouth apparently!  Thankfully Mat has a sense of humor (and laughed all the while defending his position) and well in my own personal defense he\’s only been doing this for 4 years and I\’ve been doing it for 16 so I feel slightly entitled to be a \”title snob\” of sorts.

I don\’t know what the deal is with that place in Lasalle other then they have proven to be terribly un-professional for one thing and the line up they have (staff wise) is HORRENDOUS!  I\’ve never seen so many things occur in my 2 hours of cooling my heels waiting for Domenic\’s ass to show up(which he never did) then I think I have ever, with the exception of that one place that I worked at in the village briefly…  By briefly I mean I stayed for an hour and I quit.  So I\’m not getting my hopes up but I actually kind of hope that I get this job that I had the interview at tonight, it just felt right and I like that!  Not only that, a few of the guys that work there are HOT!  Not that I would personally involve myself with anyone at work ever as a rule but hey, nothing wrong with some awesome eye candy to help pass the time 😉