Big Bang ended up being more like Little Thump...
Date: October 28th 2003
Feeling...: relaxed, and a little relieved to be getting a bunch of important stuff done (finally)
Listening to: Alanis's "Jagged Little Pill" album
Excitement brewing over: snuggling with my new blankie (I'll come back to that in a minute)
Concerned about: what I'm gonna do come January...when I'm unemployed and night school will be ending, and I'll once again have no real plans for a few months...
People/things that made me smile: so far not a whole lot today...I'm in a sort of mellow mood...just taking it eaaaaa-syyyyyyyy...heh heh heh
New thing(s) I�ve learned: It was a blessing in disguise that I got the job at Restoration instead of chasing one at IKEA, cause apparently they're not the greatest place to work...
Additional witty comments (heh heh heh): Big Bang was on Sunday, as I've been mentioning for weeks...of course I had a very idealistic image of what it would be like in my head, and of course it ended up being considerably less exciting...I mean it was nice, I got to decorate the Rock 'n' Roll tree with Cyd (she's so sweet, she'd make a perfect elementary school teacher, she's got the kind of personality that kids would love), and she brought in a bunch of CDs to play including the "ABBA Gold" album...so for a while I was a pretty happy camper. But...I was looking forward to Julia being there (there was a mix-up and she ended up not staying *sigh*) and there weren't that many people there so the atmosphere was a little more serious than I'd anticipated. There was some good food, it was a potluck so everyone brought something yummy...I made a whole batch of my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies but with all the other desserts there hardly anybody touched them *sigh* oh well, my mom took them to work with her the next day and they just loved them there so it all worked out in the end. All in all I had a pretty good time but I think if I'd known it was going to be the way it was, I wouldn't have gotten very excited about it beforehand.

On a happier note, I finally succumbed to the urge to use my discount at Restoration. Coupled with the fact that I've been admiring them each time I've had to fold one or drape them over various sofas and chairs, I splurged yesterday on a scarlet "Grand 5lb Chenille Throw" which already has been added to my list of ultimate spoileries. That thing really does weigh about 5lbs and it's soft as a puppy's ears, and it just falls over you like a truly snuggle-icious blankie should...It set me back about $60 post-discount but I justified it by reasoning that I know I'm gonna get sick at least once this winter, and when that happens I'll appreciate every thread of it's "oh-my-that's-yummy" cuddliness.

Making this purchase also gave me a chance to test out my new bank card, as I opened a new chequing account yesterday with President's Choice Financial. It's gotta be one of the most brilliant banking ideas anyone has ever come up with - hats off to PC. They don't actually have any real BANKS, so their overhead costs of rent and hiring tellers and all that stuff is next to nothing. They have a partnership with CIBC so you can use any PC or CIBC ABM (wow, 'nuff abbreviations huh...) and the bestest part is it's all 100% freeeeeeeeeeee! That's right, unlimited cheques (which I can write now that I'm 18 heh heh heh), Interac and ABM transactions, and I didn't but PC points towards free groceries if you sign up for a PC credit card. I was so thoroughly impressed that I immediately went to my TD branch, got a money order for every last penny in my account and then closed the damned thing. Imagine, their "value account" cost $3.95 a month, and that only gave me 10 Interac/ABM transactions and 4 teller transactions...after that it was something like $0.50 per transaction and there were a bunch of other restrictions too...far too complicated for my liking. Within ten minutes I was able to open an account with PC and that's all I have to worry about with it from now on, and to me that's just plain bee-yoo-ti-ful :)

�In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make��
Date: October 24th 2003
Feeling...: kinda sad�I�ll elaborate in a minute
Listening to: �In My Life� by the Beatles
Excitement brewing over: getting paid next week lol
Concerned about: either calc was exaggeratedly hard at A.Y. or they�re leaving out some important stuff at night school cause so far, I think I�m doing pretty well�somehow getting A�s at night school doesn�t seem to require as much energy as getting 30s at A.Y�.go figure *sigh*
People/things that made me smile: gave my dog a bath yesterday, and he feels like a fat, cuddly teddy bear today�his coat�s so soft and clean-feeling :)
New thing(s) I�ve learned: Adding baking soda to your tooth-brushing routine once a week is great for keeping your teeth clean, white and shiny (I sound like a Crest ad�)
Additional witty comments (heh heh heh): I just (finally) finished reading �The Love You Make�, the Beatles biography I mentioned a couple of entries ago. When I wrote that last post I was about 2/3 of the way thru the book, and enjoying it despite the constant reminders of how most of the Beatles� lives were composed of a wild assortment of drugs and alcohol�but the last part of the book filled me with an unexpected sadness, to the point where I felt a little choked up�obviously I knew the story in a nutshell, but to hear all of the arguments and lawsuits and verbal abuse which transpired between the Fab Four and those around them, to hear all this described in the most minute detail was, in a way, heartbreaking. I felt like a bystander, watching (or in this case, reading) as what started out as a simple, joyful partnership took one wrong turn after another, until finally it reached the point of no return and dissolved into petty name-calling and bitterness. The book read like a romance novel: our heroes, fighting against all odds to be together and create happiness, achieving it, feeling invincible�and then someone dies and their little bubble of joy bursts and they come crashing down, down, down�and all that�s left is a melancholy memory of how things used to be. The song I mentioned before, �In My Life� seems an eerie foreshadowing of what lay in store for them when they wrote it�

Okay, on a lighter topic: As of yesterday, I've officially applied to university. I did it online thru OUAC's website and it was surprisingly painless...I thought it would involve much, much more than it did. Anyway it's probably for the better that it was so simple or I would've put it off for longer. I've applied to Guelph, McMaster and Western, and my preferrences follow in that order as well. Now (I think) it's just a matter of waiting for the universities or OUAC to respond somehow (if anybody has any advice/information I'd appreciate it since I'm just assuming what I've done is right...which could end up forcing me to take another year off - hmmm...maybe that's not such a bad thing after all heh heh heh...)

"*ahem* that's PRINCESS to you..."
Date: October 19th 2003
Feeling...: tired yet springy...still coming down from the sugar rush I obtained from the double chocolate chip cookie I had a little while ago
Listening to: The Supremes Greatest Hits album...*sings* "baby (baby, baby) where did our love go?..."
Excitement brewing over: hmmm...I dunno, everything? :D
Concerned about: erm...calc test on Thursday and this is about where I stopped fully understanding everything...*sigh* at least I've got some extra time to study this week
People/things that made me smile: our townhouse management property sent us a letter saying "someone in your complex has reported seeing your dog running off his leash and defecating on the complex property" - which is an outright lie since if my dog ever got loose, he wouldn't hang around here long enough to "defecate" lol...so anyway my family and I were thinking of stupid responses we could write to make them feel so silly for sending us the letter that they wouldn't pursue it any further, and we came up with some pretty funny stuffs...for example: "We're quite certain that our dog is not responsible for the excreta found in the complex; enclosed please find a sample of our dog's *pebbles*, which will prove the innocence of our pet and hopefully enable proper identification of the culprit..." or, "Budd is currently in the process of converting to the Buddhist faith, and as part of his redemption must seek forgiveness for any offences he may be responsible for, including those mentioned in your recent letter. Please, if you could find it in your heart to pardon his misgivings...otherwise we're afraid his soul may be doomed to burn in hell for all eternity..." :D
New thing(s) I�ve learned: The likeliness of a customer requiring your assistance is inversely proportional to your availability at any given moment...
Additional witty comments (heh heh heh): Just one nicety: I was greeting at work today (which is exactly what it sounds like...basically standing at the door saying "hi there" to everyone who comes in and "thank you, have a nice day" to everyone who goes out) when this girl, Mahsima, from my co-op class at Dallington walked by with her mom...she saw me and she was like "Jehan!!" and she came running over and gave me a big hug :) It made my day...then I think I made hers by telling her that the mug she gave me as an end of the year gift was the one I use every morning, and it always reminds me of her (which is actually true...it's such a cute mug too, it's got a smily face on it with a nose that sticks out and a big handle...it's the perfect hot chocolate mug :D ) Anyway I just thought that was cute...Nothing much else to say, since I updated fairly recently and all I've been doing was working since then. Although, if I do say so meself, I think I've made some pretty good sales. Why, just today I sold about $2000 worth of drapery - and that's just divided between the two customers that I rang up, I dunno how many other things I sent to the cash but didn't get credit for *sigh*

"cool kids never have the time" (at least, that's my excuse)
Date: October 13th 2003
Feeling...: rested...and, oddly enough, prepared for my calc test tomorrow
Listening to: Robert Miles...perfect music for studying or working, it's got a beat which keeps you going but no lyrics to start thinking about while you're trying to solve a stupid ugly polynomial *grrrr*
Excitement brewing over: work tomorrow :D I'm not a nerd, the people are just really nice ;)
Concerned about: possibly over-doing it with work and night school...things get pretty hectic every couple of days but so far I'm actually liking it :) Nice change from sitting in my pyjamas all day for a couple of months...
People/things that made me smile: my dad made us all laugh today...he has this often-frustrating-but-occasionally-hilarious habit of not really listening to anything you say...and all day, whenever someone's said something he'll say "no! it's..." and then repeat what they just said...lol. It's like if I say "2+2=4" he'll just interrupt and say "no it's 4!!" lol :D (but as I said, this isn't always as funny as I'm finding it right now...)
New thing(s) I�ve learned: This isn't really new but I thought I'd mention it anyway: drinking caffeinated beverages is a great way to dehydrate your body, break down your bone density, and discolor your teeth. Yum.
Additional witty comments (heh heh heh): I realize it's been almost a full two weeks since I last updated (this is my way of apologizing to those responsible for the 30-odd hits my main page got since the last time I checked...love that counter!), but if this changes anything, there is a valid reason behind it: I've been BUSY (didn't see that one coming, didja? :P ) Between work and night school my days have been pretty packed and with me, when I'm busy, TV and Internet are the first frivolities to go. I've been spending my spare time trying to keep up with the weekly editions of Time (*eek* there's another one on its way tomorrow and I'm only half-way thru the last one) and crawling my way thru a Beatles biography which I've been working on since August. (Carly, at times like these I envy your ability to inhale novels...) Yet with all this hectic-ness I feel more satisfied with my daily life than I have in over a year...a feeling which is due almost entirely to changes in my routine-turned-rut which I sorely needed.

The major thing that's changed is that, as of last Monday, I have joined the ranks of the working world and started my first job, at Restoration Hardware (as you all know). We finished our training last week, and yesterday was my first time on the actual sales floor. I made myself proud :D I didn't know I had it in me to be a borderline-obnoxious sales rep who would be "more than happy to assist you with those bathroom accessories" heh heh heh. My throat felt like sandpaper and my cheeks seemed to be frozen into a smiling position (after "greeting" for an hour my one wish was for a misbehaving kid to come in and kick me or something, so that I'd have a reason to be angry for a change!!) but I made some *moola* and otherwise had a good time. I think I'd have to slit my writsts if I was working at, say, Jean Machine for $6.85 an hour helping stupid bubble-gum-pop teens and 40-something pineapple-tanned platinum blonde women in denial about their multiple face-lifts to find the perfectly skin-tight pair of Parasucos...instead our clientelle inquires about thread-count for their linens while Frankie sings about "the way you held your knife" in the background. I've found my calling (at least 'till January :D )

It's my birthday! *yaay* *yaay*
Date: October 1st 2003
Feeling...: 18...which doesn't really feel that different from 17 except *specialer*
Listening to: ugh Craig David is stuck in my head.
Excitement brewing over: getting to vote tomorrow :D And my birthday dinner - we're going to Carmelina's, which has THE BEST pizza in the WORLD.
Concerned about: nothing in particular. Starting driving school soon, perhaps?
People/things that made me smile: everyone being so sweet today...hang on I'll come back to that...Telus giving me unlimited free phone calls on my celly in honor of my birthday (I haven't made much use of it but it's a nice guesture :) ) Oh and Julia's email - "we found nemo!!" LMAO
New thing(s) I�ve learned: I didn't so much "learn" this as realize this: there are way too many other things that could be going wrong right now in my life, and AREN'T, for me to be upset about not going out dancing for a while. And that's something you can tell yourself over and over but it won't necessarily mean anything until a certain point when you know you've really understood it.
Additional witty comments (heh heh heh): Okay I'm a little sentimental right now so pardon the cheese, s'il-vous-plait...I woke up thinking "another year, what's the difference" but not anymore. Damn it I can't even articulate what I'm feeling right now...Carly, Denise and JoJo, your messages on your websites and your cards made me realize all over again, somewhat overwhelmingly, what a blessing it's been to have friends like you in my life. (Even though I cursed when I was woken up at 8 this morning after forgetting to put my cell phone ringer to "silent" *cough*Denise*coughcough* :P ) Friends have such a major impact on your life, on your perception of reality and on the decisions you make from day to day, and I know that I wouldn't be at all the person I am today if it wasn't for you guys. I probably don't say it as often as I should but here goes: I love you all, for being who you are and, in turn, for making me who I am. Thank you for the good times (which includes the few bad times but which ended up being good times anyway cause here we still are, friends and stronger for it) and here's to many, many more...