carnivalnights

Happy birthday to me...
Happy birthday to me...

Oy, another year older today. Birthdays get harder as the years go on, but I suppose that was always a given and something to be expected. I remember as a kid, birthdays were exciting and you loved getting older. But after a certain point (for me it was 19), you realize getting older is not all it is cracked up to be. It is especially hard if you are not where you want to be in life, like me. Birthdays, unfortunately, make you think of everything you have not accomplished yet instead of forcing you to tally up all that you have. For some reason, all you can think about is how old you are and how many things you have not done. Or at least, this is how it is for me. I can see a birthday being a great thing for someone who is more cultured or closer to their goals. If you are in the career you want to be in, especially, a birthday probably would not seem so bad. At least you are on the right path and headed in the right direction. Me? Still floundering about, trying to find something to hold on to (e.g. a permanent job in my field).

But alas, such is life. I will find my way at some point, I am sure. It is all a blur right now. In fact, today has been spent job hunting. My birthday gift to myself it to apply for as many jobs as possible this week. Fun, right? I have been doing alright but still no callbacks. People better hurry up. I have until the end of March to find something or I will be back in the temp world again. I vowed I would never end up at the temp agency again, but so far that is what it looks like may happen. I still have hope but I mean, it is a month and a half away until my contract ends. That is not a long time at all, especially when it comes to job applications. Even if I get an interview, it could be weeks or months until they make a decision. It is such a long, tedious, stressful process. I tailor all of my cover letters so much (because my resume is really not that impressive), so it takes an hour or two to apply for each job. It is just horrid. I want this all to be over. Please cross your fingers for me and pray I find something by March. :\

In other news...

I finally set up the Nintendo Wii I got for Christmas from the boy last night! I am so fascinated with it. It took hours to get the Internet working on it though, and my box did not have the Wii Sports disc in it so I had to order a replacement from Nintendo. It has not been all fun and games with it so far. I was so frustrated trying to figure out the WiFi (seriously, I hate wireless Internet; it is never just a matter of finding the network and typing in the password, ever) and then to find the disc missing... ugh! I have wanted to try the boxing for so long! All of my co-workers talk about the Wii Sports and I was dying to try it out. But now I have to wait for "3-6 business days" to get my disc, or so Nintendo claims. I have read that people have waited three weeks to get their replacement discs... and I am also in Canada, so who knows. In the meantime, I have Super Mario Brothers and a couple of the smaller downloaded ones from the Wii store. My Wii hard drive is already full so now I have to buy SD memory cards (I had no idea this was how it worked; I thought the Wii drive could hold more than two games but apparently not). Hopefully those will tide me over until I have the money/job for more games. I am getting Guitar Hero 5 as a birthday gift but it will not arrive until February 26. And the Wii Fit Plus is sold out in North America (NO retailer has any left), so that is yet another thing I have to wait for (I have heard March for restocking). Waiting, waiting, waiting. That is all I seem to do in life.

Does anyone have any must-have games (preferably from the Wii Shopping Channel) you think I should add to my wishlist? I have not done any reading on the games at all, so I have no idea which ones are highly recommended, etc.

I am always surprised how quickly I pick up on things. I started using the Wii and it was like I had been using it for years. I thought I would have a hard time adjusting because it is so different than most gaming systems, but it is very easy to use and purchasing things is simple too. I have heard the MotionPlus is barely any different than the regular remote, so I do not know if I will be purchasing that at any point. Any thoughts on this?

Gotta love new toys. I am still really digging my iPod Touch, but the amount I play with it has gone down a tad over the past couple of months. I also cannot listen to music because my earbuds fell apart. You know, the Sennheiser earbuds I spent a pretty on that were only a year old. Great sound quality but physically? Crap. They fell apart slowly, but it was one thing after the next until one earbud was rendered completely unusable. What a waste of money.

Birthday Gifts

First off, I apologize for my absence--both from writing here and reading you--as of late. Things have been extremely busy and as always, school is eating up more and more of my time. It really is getting to the point where I just do not have time to sit down and write anymore. I have so many ideas for entries that I get while on the bus or in class, but nothing ever comes of them because when I get home, I have to read all night or work on assignments. Anyway, it is crunch time now so you will see even less of me. It is Reading Week right now and if I do not get down to business and start tackling some of this stuff and get it finished by the end of the break, I will be in a lot of trouble. Over the next two months I have: an exam, four major essays, an annotated bibliography, three presentations, and a web site/art project (for which I have not even chosen my topic yet). On top of this, all the usually weekly reading. *shakes head* However, so far I have at least tackled one presentation and its hand-out.

So tomorrow I turn 23. As most of you know, I hate birthdays but I hate this one even more because I am just edging closer and closer to 25. No, 25 is not really 'old,' but by 25 you are supposed to have accomplished quite a bit because you are 1/3 way through your life (perhaps 1/4, depending on your health). I, of course, have not accomplished much. I have not even graduated university. I should be out there already getting my corporate on. Being forced to change my major second year really put me behind in credits, so life is on hold until I do graduate, which could be at the end of the summer or an entire year from now. At any rate, this birthday brings along a whole new set of fears about 'getting things done,' opening new chapters, setting new goals. My main goal before 24 is to graduate, get a full-time job, and move out. No, not the easiest tasks, but they need to take place soon because I am getting restless. And I obviously need to get out of this house and as far away from my father as possible.

I have already celebrated my birthday with my family since we do mine and my father's together (his is on the 11th). As for gifts... I just asked for money, mostly, because I have been so broke lately. Although I did get a couple of cookbooks, some nice plates for plating and taking pictures of my culinary adventures. From Sean, some Stash Tea, bunny slippers and The Sims 2 Glamour Life add-on, and a 3GIG hard drive from my father. And as a complete surprise today, I got a package from the lovely Bea who gave me an assortment of sexy goodies, including some penis cookie cutters! Thank you also to Jennifer for the thoughtful e-cards and fansigns. <3

To celebrate our Anti-Valentine's Day, Sean and I decided to watch endless episodes of murder/crime/forensic/addiction documentary shows and on A&E. Hah. Our favourites are The First 48 and Intervention. We exchanged gifts, drank tea, talked and laughed. I got some pretty roses too:



Just for fun, I took some pictures of my tea collection at this point. It is getting ridiculous. I admit I have a severe obsession with Stash Tea, my favourite brand, and it is out of control because I am sure they put crack in their teas. I spent a chunk of my birthday money on tea when really, it should have been saved.


This is just my collection of Stash which has only been accumulating for a month or so. I have nowhere to put any of them and they are sitting in a box in my room.


This is the rest of my non-Stash collection (minus the pink box which is my Wild Raspberry Stash). What is wrong with me?

Now I have to go around and change all of my (non-automated) profiles to say 23 instead of 22. :-x