Mushaboom

I was walking from the storage yard back into the warehouse and this verse popped into my head:

So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
1 Corinthians 13:3b (The Message)

And then I continued by singing What a Wonderful World to myself as I moved pallets around the warehouse.

Saturday was my house church meeting. To see twenty faces light up at the prospect of changing the world inspires me and excites me.

Yesterday I sat on the beach and I was so content and happy. There was nowhere else in the world that I wanted to be at that moment.

I'm feeling so blessed and lucky.

Things with my dad have been sooo much better lately, and it makes all the difference in the world.

Tenaya suggested something like a Mancandy of the Week, so maybe I'll get that started up this week. Mwuahahaha.

A bit all over the place I know, but that's kinda me.

My adventure begins so soon.

It's Gonna Be a Bright, Bright, Bright Sun-Shiney Day!

The urge to dye my hair red has passed. Sigh. Oh well.

For Australia updates, please go here.



Today was a gloriously beautiful sun-shiney day. I enjoyed my drive along SW Marine (I had to go to UBC this afternoon) and didn't mind getting caught behind the slowest cement truck on the face of the earth. Somehow, the scenic route just became more scenic.

In my attempt to not speed, I've realized that I needn't rush so much. The drive today, like I said, was much more pleasurable and I arrived home in very good time anyway! Go figure. MAYBE, maybe maybe, I should try to slow down some other aspects of my life! Yeah right ;).

Pathetic Tomkofile of the Day: I learned how to drive the forklift before I could drive a car, and I still bump into stuff constantly.

(no, that's not me)

Today I am amazed at the strength of one of my dear friends. She is going through some hard times and handling it all like a pro. Well, a pro in her situation I suppose.

This morning I woke up with a prayer in my head:

Father, I'm so thankful that I'm always on Your mind, even when You're far from mine. Thank You for thinking of me always, and for Your love and faithfulness.

To be honest, I need to step up the God time. I miss Him. He's not absent, but I need to refocus on the intimacy that I crave.

I have an urge to put a bit of red in my hair.

Blah Blah Blah

Wednesday night was the 12 oh 1 at Riverport, so I took in Star Wars with Beth, Dean, and Trev. Hayden Christensen is hot enough to make up for his lack of stellar acting abilities.

Thursday I went to a techie dinner which was pretty damn fun(ny) depending on the particular moment. These men are so smart. It's kinda crazy.

Work has been good these last few days; Dad actually said that he was pleased with the amount of work I've got done. Score for trying to be perfect (har har).

Still totally impressed by those little duckies I saw on Westminster Hwy. So cute.

Friday night with some crazies was good times for the most part.

Jenny's wedding was beautiful and she looked stunning and Jeff cried when he saw her walking down the aisle. Zahida did so well as Maid of Honour.

I went to Whatcom for Saturday evening and Sunday and it was so bloody nice to just do NOTHING.

The weekend has left me slightly confused, but I'm sure I'll survive.

I'm going to watch Ocean's Twelve again.

When I was driving home today, there was a Mommy Duck and about twelve baby duckies crossing Westminster Highway right in front of me and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever. It made me smile!

"Fathers be good to your daughters"

I've got John Mayer in my head.

A dad is supposed to be one of your biggest fans, right? Lately, mine treats me like I'm an idiot and makes me feel like dirt most of the time. The worst part, in my mind, is that I know he loves me and I don't think he means to make me feel so bad about myself. It hasn't been this bad in summers past, and I want to know what I'm doing wrong now that's suddenly so horrible. I wish I knew how to bring it up with him, but right now I just can't seem to do it.

Working at Tomko sucks, not because of the job, but because it's really straining my relationship with my father.

FILim and BiJORK!!

I'm sitting on my bed with my dog (who has flung herself ontop of me in her usual, "LOOK AT ME" style) and feeling totally lucky once again by the opportunity to hang out with some amazing people tonight.

Man Candy DEUX

Here we go again, in alphabetical order (it will help me with the filing):

Orlando Bloom

I like him. He’s cute. Just don’t tell Ashlee, or she’ll kill me.

Vincent Cassel

He played the cat burglar in Ocean’s Twelve. He’s hot because of his dance moves whilst trying to break in to…. (I’m not telling, you should see the movie).

Hayden Christensen



Can I be honest? I haven’t seen a single Star Wars movie. The lady at the Mohawk says I should watch the old three, then Episodes 1 and 2 and then finish it off with Revenge of the Sith in theatres. I might do just that. In the meantime, this guy is Canada’s hottie of the summer, and if HE'S in it, I'll go.

Johnny Depp


When I was little I had a crush on Edward Scissor Hands. Now, I think I prefer him like this.

Jakob Dylan

He got some of daddy’s talent, and he’s slightly better looking than Bob. I think I need to listen to the Wallflowers again. It’s good times.


Billy Idol





Kelly is in love with a young Billy Idol. Whenever he’s on tv, as he is now, she freaks out.
Kell: Father time was a real bitch to Billy Idol. Ewww…. He should have been frozen back when he was hot. Then we could have waited until I was old enough to marry him and then we could have thawed him out!

Keane

After seeing these three on Tuesday, I’ve concluded that they will always be hot. The good news about people who are hot not necessarily for their looks but for other things, is that when they’re old, they still have hot potential.

John Mayer





John Mayer is a great guitar player, mostly because of hard work and long fingers. Stef often complains of her tiny nubbin hands, and I do feel like there is a versatility that the long-fingered have. John, who I have also seen live, is a great performer, but he tends to look a little goofy when he’s singing. He calls him self a turkey with a disappearing neck. But, I did manage to find a couple goodies! Hot stuff.

Jason Mraz



I wouldn’t have called him hot until I saw him live a few Decembers ago. Such talent, and such a stage presence. He was sick and sipping on hot tea all evening, but his voice held out until the show was done and I became a fan for life.


Jesse Spencer



I was convinced for the longest time that this doctor on House was Jeremy London. Apparently not. He plays a bit of a jerk sometimes, but I guess since his dad is terminally ill, he has some things that he needs to work out. Note to self: he’s not really a doctor, Sara. He’s an actor. An AC-TOR.

Ben Taylor



Another spawn of musicians, except this time he got the double dose. Mom is Carly Simon and dad is James Taylor. I’ve never heard any of his stuff, but I saw him on the cover of Rolling Stone and that was all I needed.

So there's version 2.0.1.4.3.7.4.5.4.6.1.1.1.1.1
The first edition can be found here.

Jamie Mann is at it again!

"In high tide or low tide, I'm gonna be your friend"

Ooooh 20 minutes until Will Ferrell on SNL. I just got home from Megs' HAWAIIAN BEACH PARTY. Hehehe. I got leid, and she's very excited about that.

Even though Megs' is one of my best friends, the funny thing is that I don't really know any of her friends. She has a huge chunk that came from choir, and then there's some from her jazz band. All super nice people, but it's hard to make small talk for hours on end when these super nice people are all loaded. I drove my mom's car over there, so I wasn't going to spend the night, and I certainly wasn't going to drive after drinking, so I stayed sauce-less. If the situation had been different, if Crap Bag hadn't been at the mechanic's, I would have just stayed over and had a few.

As it was, I stopped at Shadowlifter before I went to the party, but didn't manage to catch any music before I took off. The point was to support Stepping Stones though, so that was accomplished. Later, I made leave of Megs for a few minutes to see if I could catch Sarah or Jonathan, but alas, I arrived as they were announcing the top bidders for the auction. Shucks. I suppose that's what you get for trying to be everywhere.

Highlights of the evening:
- Listening to a very drunk Meghan sing torch songs while forcing one of her piano major friends to accompany her (despite his cries of, "I can't see the chords! I'm too drunk! Hand me my drink - where's my drink??")
- Proof that Trevor is alive. Until tonight I would have sworn that he was nothing more than a computer program, sending out the occasional email. Go figure!
- A chat with Tenaya on my second visit to Elgin Hall. Lovely to run into her (again, proof of existence is a good thing!) and catch up briefly.

I was talking to Nicki this week, and we were discussing how it's kind of fun to have a crush on someone. I was feeling a little bit nostalgic today, thinking about the last person who filled that role. While I'm glad it fizzled out and turned into a deep respect, it was something to do with my time. Ha! John is convinced that I'll find some hot Aussie to make my heart flutter (or whatever!). I don't often have crushes, so we'll have to see.

Hmmm... this Friday may call for some sort of get together chez moi.

I think tomorrow I'll pull out the big guns for a Mancandy II. I think it's time.

I think tomorrow I'll clean my room. I think it's time.

I think tomorrow I'll visit my grandparents. I think it's time.

It always astounds me that I'm able to write so much about basically nothing.

The Death Mobile

My car stalled 7 times on the way to work today. The best time was when I was trying to merge onto the 99. Thank goodness I know where my hazard lights are. Stupid car.

I'm the kind of person who really tries not to let money stress me out, but I've been having a lot of trouble with that lately. 500 to the podiatrist, 300 so far to the physiotherapist, a kinesiologist in the near future (at 55 bucks a visit), a car that has cost $1000 since January (a third of what was paid for it), and then there's this whole AUSTRALIA thing that I am not even allowing to register in my brain yet. I write all this fully aware that I have it SO good compared to many. And yet, even though my brain can tell me that everything will be ok, I can't help but stress. Because what it comes down to is that I'm caught in a vicious cycle now. I have to work more to make the money to afford to take care of, among other things, my health. At the same time, however, not having had a break at all has left me burned out and exhausted. So it's just stinky.

I'm just sitting at work waiting for Mike Siu to show up so that he can drive The Death Mobile back to his place to fix it. I'll tell him that it can't break down for the next 48 days or I might have a nervous breakdown :).

Plans for tonight include True Lies with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, combined with some sitting, and probably some reading. I borrowed Shake Hands with the Devil from Ashlee's Dad last night and I'm interested to start it soon. Even more interested than I was before I talked to Ashlee's dad. The last person I talked to said of Dallaire: "the man is a hero". Ashlee's dad had a slightly different take on the work: "He's a whiney little prick". So... with that it mind I guess I'll have to form my own opinion (oooh scary stuff).

Anyway.

"I'm the girl who loves you inside and out"

Miss Leslie Feist you are a musical treasure.

Can you believe it, I had a little bit of energy today. Frickin' fantastic. Work was cool, although Megs and I have a prank in progress that so far has been a bit disappointing. I'll report back with details later.

Megs and I figure that we could have pretty much the coolest reality TV show ever. The things we get up to before, during, and after work are definitely camera worthy. Now we just need to sell it to a big network. Mwuahaha.

I feel like I haven't talked to certain people in F-O-R-E-V-E-R. So I've sent out a couple TELL ME HOW YOU'RE DOING OR I'LL ASSUME YOU'RE DEAD emails in the hopes that I can reconnect. Some people are just too cool for me to let them sneak away like that.

Concerts coming up that will be awesome (whether or not I will be there):
Sarah Latheron et. al: 05/16
Athlete: 06/04
Doves: 06/09

I must liven this thing up with some visuals, but not today. Today I'm on the family pc, so there will be none of that.

Word on the street is that justice has been on the minds of some of those who are near and dear to me (though not so much near these days). I think I'm going to have to stick some of my own personal ramblings on the subject up here some time soon. It's quite the topic, but one worth struggling through I think.

And I'll leave you with a final thought for this evening, one discovered thanks to Mr. Regier:

"There is the equivalent of a man-made, preventable tsunami every week in Africa," [Tony] Blair said. Thank you, sir.

Keane'd!

I finally saw them last night and it was fantastic. Monday night I fell asleep at 8 30 and woke up tired. Lame. Work was ok; no gooseneck poles, no Calgary pallets, lots of Keane in preparation. Good thing Megs is also a Keaner.

I got home at 5 35 and was showered and ready to go again by 6 05. I think that deserves some sort of prize, especially since I opted out of a sweatshirt for this one. Good thing I did, too, because Brea and I had met up with Sally and John for less than ten minutes when our ride showed up. It was frivolous (but SO nice) to ride to the QE in a stretch limo, blasting a cd that I have since dubbed "The Limo Sessions" (I've decided that everything this summer will be called the "[something] sessions"). John and Sally decided that they had nothing better to do with their money than make our trip to Keane extra special. Sweeties.

We found our seats, about 2 inches from the back of the theatre (not literally, but we did take our sweet time in getting tickets so they weren't the greatest). The good news is that the balcony at the QE is steep enough that you can see anyway. Unless the people in front of you like standing. Which they did.

The opening guy (forgive me, I don't recall his name) was pretty good. I didn't like the sound of his guitars at all, but the drums sounded excellent, especially the toms... oooh and the bass too. I blame the tech crew at Peace Portal Alliance for that last comment *shakes fist*.

Keane was fantastic. Dude hit every high note and his falsetto is even more stunning live than on disc. He's hot because he's talented (not because he looks like a troll, as John said). The keyboards sounded really good (not all gross and bath-tubby like that of the opening guy). It was cool - fun and engaging. I liked their stage presence - not arrogant, but not shy and meek. Oh and they played all the songs that I had on my list. I was getting a bit worried that I wouldn't get Bedshaped but it was the last song of their encore. Overall, it was too short for my liking, but exceptional for what it was.

We went to Moxie's after for cheap Margaritas and then Caz (driver) was waiting for us in our white steed. The ride back was so fun. Thank goodness for soundproofing the back, cuz Keane was a-blasting. We got to John's, did some trampolining, some guitaring (on that lovely vintage Fender Stratocaster that is surely worth more than me), some Napoleon Dynamiting, and then there was some dry tapping (that was for you, Brea). Brea and I crashed on the pullout, deciding around 2 that we were tired, and now I'm home.

I just got an email from Meghan Wickett (friend from elementary school who moved to the Okanagan about 6 years ago). She thought of me the other day when she saw a Tomko truck drive by her Kelowna neighborhood. It just goes to show that you can't escape Tomko, so you might as well not try. So I'm going to write back and then go to Staples.

I'm not working today because I have a bunch of appointments. I'm just wondering what to do with myself this afternoon. I'm thinking the beach might be in order.

Blehhhhhh

Yeah I'm not going to cg tonight. What I really want to be doing right now is sleeping, but I have to try to stay awake until at least 9 I figure, or I'll throw everything way off balance. I miss my cg so much--I haven't seen any of them in at least a month (with the exception of Ed and Chris whom I saw for about 30 seconds yesterday) and I haven't even had a chance to ask Chris and Trevor about Rwanda. It makes me so sad. So sad. They're such amazing people and I want to see them all.

What is going on with me? This past month has been brutal. I figured it was uni, but it's done nothing but get worse since exams ended. I am just. So. Tired. I have no energy to do anything. The idea of driving into Vancouver is terrifying. I'd probably pass out at the wheel or something.

I don't get it. I can't seem to snap out of this... I don't want to go out, I don't want to do anything at all except sleep. I don't wear makeup these days, I feel like all I want to do is wear track pants and a sweatshirt. I don't even feel like reading because it takes too much energy.

Is something sucking the life out of me or what? It doesn't make sense. I've been going to sleep by 10 almost every night for the last two weeks --most nights it's been more like 9 30-- and still nothing.

Frumpy, dumpy, tired, stressed. Mom asked me tonight if maybe I'm depressed or something. But I don't think that's it because I'm not like, sad or anything. Just so tired and without any energy. And I've been taking an iron supplement so I don't think it's anemia... I would know if I had something like mono, right?

I look at this Australia thing, and of course I want to go... but at the same time I see everything that needs to be done and I wonder if maybe I would just rather sleep.

Mehhhhhhhhh.

The Tomko Sessions

Since life has essentially become work and sleep, I've decided to start a little anecdote-of-the-day / my-life-is-pathetic-and-here's-why (depending on the day).

Today so far there are two, both of which revolve around things that make me really happy.
Here they are:
1) I got a pallet ready to ship out to Mike and the crew boys up in Kelowna and it was beautiful. Symmetrical, safe, and just plain pretty.

2) Comox Valley Freight showed up with a flatdeck for today's gooseneck pole shipment. How scrumtrillescent it was to just slide those poles onto that precious truck and be done with it. "Slide" may not be the most appropriate word, because there was some forking and some craziness involved of course. Compared to what normally happens, however, this was practically effortless.

As you can tell, these two fit into the "my-life-is-pathetic-and-here's-why" category, and I don't particularly care!

I want to go care group very badly tonight, but I just don't know if it's going to work out. I hope it does. I hope I hope I hope.

9:41

It's 9:41 and I have just realized that I cannot remember when I last went out with friends. So with that lame, lame confession out of the way, I'm going to go to sleep.

The Merry Month of May

A bit of housekeeping --> I've started an Australia Blog here. If you come here, it's not going to be anything that much different, only it will be cleaner and less... rambly (maybe), for people like my grandparents and those who are afraid of the "A" word, the "B" word, the "etc.".

I'm still alive. I've enjoyed a week not so full of the computering and it's been really nice.

I passed bio, which is the triumph of the year... I didn't do well, but I have figured out that I must have gotten about a B- on the final in order to get the grade that I did. And that's really good for me. Really, really good. I must say, despite all the freaking out, that class probably taught me more than any other that I've taken. It taught me how to ask for help and how to study, and those are lessons that I will surely find valuable in life.

My Opa continues to recover from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. Yeah I know it's news to me as well. No one told me for fear it would distract me from studying for finals. Good call. I was a bit peeved, and felt a little dupe, but definitely a good call.

Work frustrates me so very much. It's straining mine and my father's relationship to new levels of... straining. I like my job, but I'm thankful that I'm gone in two months.

Now that all of the major obstacles standing between me and Australia are gone, I can finally read the book that Kiri mailed me for my birthday (can't remember what it's called, but I'll post it later). I'm looking forward to it.

Speaking of reads, I read the Martin and Gracia Burnham story in "In the Presence of My Enemies" a few days ago and it was spectacular. Not Nobel Prize-winning literature, but so heartfelt and a fantastic tribute to an amazing, God-loving man. Truly a blessing. More later (I think).

There is so much more I could write about, as always... Miss Frenetic Fingers always has lots to say, but I really just want to go to sleep. I went to GW yesterday for the first time in at least a month, and then again tonight, so I'm tired and looking forward to hitting the mattress.

One final "anecdote": I almost burst into tears today on the forklift. I was lifting 14' curved metal poles off a flatdeck in bunches of 12 (due to HORRIBLE PACKAGING) and a) would have been killed had it not been for that blessed side protection bar (the thing swung in and slammed into the cage); b) was scared out of my wits when the metal strapping of one bundle snapped and poles fell everywhere; and c) came literally three inches from blowing out the tire of the guy's truck. And this was with four people watching and guiding me, so it's not like I was being an idiot. I hate it when people cut corners. It can be so dangerous.

Sleep well.