Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Out of Balance

Well, moving weekend is over and things should theoretically be getting back to normal soonish.

This, however, has been and will continue to be the week from Hades: after moving on Saturday, I came back to work on Monday and logged 13 hours, leaving at midnight (they wanted me to stay until 3) and coming in again at 9am to open. I spent a day and a half at work rushing the inventory and putting everything else aside to get it done, only to discover that the auditors don't even need it today. We're signing the lease tonight and cleaning the old place tomorrow night...I've barely had a minute to myself all week, let alone a good night's sleep. We didn't have real food until I went and bought groceries yesterday after work, so I've been eating whatever was available - including a lot of packaged food from work, which obviously is total junk. Now I'm getting sick and everything that could possibly go wrong at the C-Store, has. Everyone is on edge around here and it's adding yet more stress. I'm thinking I'll take a sick day tomorrow. There's nobody else on staff to work, but as the cleaner Tony reminded me just a few minutes ago, they don't pay me enough to worry about that.

So enough bitching. I'm finally getting back on that detox thing, and by now I have plenty to detoxify. I know that plenty of people live in similar styles all the time and still manage to function, but I think that by actually taking care of myself most of the time I've gotten used to being all healthy and balanced. So when I occasionally hit times like this, my body's like "what the fuck are you doing to me, woman?!"

Friday, June 23, 2006

I am cranky.

I am cranky. It's been a while since I've been able to just sit back and relax on my own, and it will be at least 4 more days before I can do so. This is my second long day at eh CStore in two days and I've been (unsuccessfully) attempting all day to get some change. The move is stressing Jenn out, and being around stressed-out people stresses me out. I have to run all over the place right after work and be in to sign the lease tonight, then do dishes and finish packing so that we can go through all the moving brouhaha tomorrow. And there's a bucket of chicken wings polluting my fridge.

In a situatin like this, my habitual response is to eat prodigious amounts of chocolate. Today, however, I really don't even feel like having any chocolate. Either this detox thing is working its magic already (unlikely) or I've been kidnapped and replaced by a changeling.

I will let nothing stand in the way of me getting a good night's sleep tonight, because tomorrow night is a birthday/going-away party pub crawl with a few of my favorite Sackvillians and I plan to partake wholeheartedly...at least, until about 2:30am. And without all the drinkingness. Because my little sister's birthday party is the next day at 1:30 and I can't face a gaggle of four-year-olds while nursing a hangover.

Ok I just had some chocolate. Just a little bit! I figure, this is my warm-up week and next week I'll be getting dangerous. And I found a gluten-free buddy: Adam is going to brave the dietary weirdness with me. Awwwww.

And now, this cranky hipster is getting back to what she gets paid to do: sit around the C-Store looking bored and doing the crossword in the newspaper.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Thus begins Day 2

This is also the earliest I've women up in months - I start my full-time CornerStoreness today. I'm surprisingly alert, despite the lack of caffeine. I read somewhere recently that an apple in the morning is more effective than a cup of coffee - I wonder if the same is true of lemon juice?

So yesterday was a challenge, what with working in a convenience store and all, with 8 kinds of yummy chocolate things on sale. It'll be hell when they're free. I drank a ton of water, ate a lot of rice (white - can't wait to move and buy brown rice again) and twiddled my thumbs. Oh, the temptation!

Today I'm quasi-prepared...I have a big stir-fry and a bag of almonds, plus a big ol buckwheat pancake in my belly. I haven't started the sugar- and gluten-free deal yet but i'vs started figuring out what the eff I'm gonna eat when I do. Lots of beans, lentils, rice, veggies and mmm-mmm raisins, nature's candy!

I also finally have a computer back in the CStore and it's wonderful. It means that I can take I Like Yellow back to its boredom-defeating origin in CStore summers past.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Hippie Alert!

I got a free natural-health-style magazine at the Supahstore on Monday night and was inspired by it. As I have been feeling very blah lately, lacking energy and suffering from horrendous skin, I have decided to try a detox. Not the juice-fast kind of detox, I don't have that kind of willpower. And I'm way too little to do it safely, methinks.

No, I'm going to start ACTUALLY exercising, and cut some stuff out of my diet for a while...baddies like alcohol, caffeine, sugar and processsed foods just because they're, well, not healthy...and stuff like wheat and nightshade vegetables to test for undiagnosed allergies. It's recommended that people also cut out meat and dairy, but well...I think I can safely skip that step

(Oh dear, I almost used a smiley-face emoticon...somebody save me from myself)

Anyway, then there will be a week of doing crazy things like starting every day with half a lemon squeezed into a glass of warm water (basically warm lemonade without the sugar - but I tried it, and it's not nearly as bad as it sounds), taking milk thistle supplements and bathing in epsom salts. Sounds relatively painless, really. I'll keep you up-to-date on the progress of this crazy adventure in Hipsterland.

Monday, June 19, 2006

It seems I was misinformed: it's Mr. DRESSUP who's going off the air, not Mr. Rogers. Still a big loss for the kiddos.

So, I'm currently wasting time that I really don't have to waste. I'm planning to hop over to Halifax Shopping Centre to find a gift for my sister's birthday party on Saturday. What do you buy the four-year-old who has more toys and books than she can ever really ask for?

And while we're on the topic of the young'uns in my family, it seems that my short blonde adversary is back to her old tricks. That cute, innocent pre-schooler facade may work on other people but I know what she's really up to. And I've got my eye on her.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

So I hear Mr. Rogers reruns are going off the air. Apparently the pace of the show is too relaxed for Canadian children. Maybe that's because of the current ADD pandemic, because I watched Mr. Rogers for years and it was total quality. He had good puppet shows. Anyway I assume just about everybody's seen that clip of Mr. Rogers defending PBS funding before the Senate during the Nixon years, but here it is just in case you haven't. I know of a whole lot of children who could seriously benefit from the relaxation-inducing qualities of that voice.

Anyway I'm sure all of my Nova Scotia-living readers voted in yesterday's election, and a curse on you if you didn't (see archives from January 2006). The Conservatives returned with another (slimmer) minority, while the NDP won a record 20 seats (including Graham's, which is no surprise) and the Liberals got the remaining 9. I like this minority thing because it means that the Opposition (i.e. the party I support) gets way more say in the governing process. And that's a good thing.

Nine women were elected this time, another record for the province. That makes 17% of the provincial legislature. That's less than the precentage in Parliament, which is a sad figure in itself, but an improvement nonetheless. Assuming that Women in House will happen without me next year, the co-ordinator will have more to work with!

I was more than 3 hours late for the victory party due to an unfortunate incident involving cookie crumbs, a vaccuum cleaner that wouldn't suck and a highly distraught roommate, but lots of people were still there so I had a couple drinks with Krissy and Denis, did some very light schmoozing (I hate doing that, sitting down with a pitcher of beer is SO much more conducive to making connections with people), found out who to talk to about emploment, and FINALLY got a campaign pin. And an election sign for my room because I'm ghetto.

Then this morning I had brunch with Andrea at the Soup'er Sandwich Shop which offers a decent vegan omelette. It was unlike any I've had before and I think I would have preferred some good ol' scrambled tofu, but it was neat to be able to walk into a restaurant and say "could I get a vegan omelette?" and have them say "yeah, no problem!" What a wonderful world we live in.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

I'm getting a little concerned about the quality of my Hotmail, as a few emails I've been expecting for over a week haven't shown up. I have been known to accidentally log out of my email when I meant to send messages, so I hope that's not the case here...although it would be preferable to being forsaken by my friends, which is another possibility. At least I've still been getting them from Mark, so I don't feel utterly dejected when I open my inbox every morning.

Anyway moving day will likely be Saturday, June 24th if anybody's interested in helping us move boxes. We're probably gonna hire moving guys to do the furniture, thus saving our friends and family the risk of back injury. We also have a bunch of old towels to get rid of, and rather than throw them out I'd love to see them go to the SPCA. So if anybody will be in the area of the shelter on Scarfe Court in Dartmouth and can drop a package off there for me, please let me know! Think about how happy it would make all the puppies...

And now I must leave you and get some sleep, for tomorrow will be spent with a four-year-old and we all know how exhausting THAT is.

P.S. A long-overdue quizzie thing...
Your Inner Pop Princess Is Shakira

"Baby I would climb the Andes solely
To count the freckles on your body
Never could imagine there were only
Too many ways to love somebody"

You're more a poet than a pop star.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Poll

he provincial Liberals may be miffed, after all this is a terribly unscientific poll...not nearly as reliable as, say, the Trail Shop's Crocs poll. However, since its results don't concern them and since I have nothing better to blog inanely about this morning I shall continue with my plans.

A few weeks ago this very conversation took place:

Alex: If you had a superpower, what would it be?
Adam: Deductive reasoning.

For the record, deductive reasoning is using general knowledge to infer specific details, as opposed to INductive reasoning, which is using specifics to figure out larger patterns. Or is it the other way around?

Anyway, what would your superpower be? Feel free to make up a superhero name for yourself as well - superhero names are tasty.

Oh, and anyone who reads this blog and never comments (this means you, Mary Ann!) is also welcome to take part in this very important research.

May I also point out the fledgling World Cup discussion taking place in the comment board for yesterday's post. Since, you know, people like sports and stuff.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Is it really?

June 8. So it's been a while since my last post. Life happens. It's been happening in a relatively substantial way lately. And it's about to go and happen again, in approximately 3 minutes.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Killing time

I have an hour before heading out to Quinpool to meet my Quebeckie just-got-back-from-a-year-in-Spain friend Manon at Clay Cafe so for some reason I chose to visit the computer lab and it's giving me a killer headache. Oh well, there's not a lot else to do on campus and it (tut, tut) looks like rain. For the record, if nobody gets that reference I'll feel like an outcast.

I did some door-to-door canvassing with Graham last night and it was actually a lot of fun - way better than phone canvassing to be sure, people are way more responsive in person and especially so when they get to speak directly with the candidate. Let's not talk about unpleasant experiences with calling people on behalf of a certain environmental organization...it must be even worse when you have to call and ask for money! You also have to admire a person who can engage with people on just about any topic. Kinda daunting when you're considering an eventual career in politics. I'm learning a bunch of the tricks of the trade, though, and I get to play Miss Political.

Anyway, it's nice to see interest in the environmental side of Nova Scotian politics in all the campaign brouhaha. The Herald has been running some kind of article about a related topic just about every day. The parties have also begun releasing their environmental platforms and of course, the Greens have their first-ever full slate of candidates (incidentally, they have more candidates than the Liberals, at 52 vs. 51). One thing I'd love to see would be the province taking over where the federal Conservatives abandoned us (when they cancelled the Energuide program), and subsidizing building retrofits for increased energy efficiency. However, removing the tax from home heating fuel is more popular so the political winds will favour that. It's so frustrating that the environment is marginalized as a "special issue" when really, it's everyone's issue and should be way closer to the foreground of our collective consciousness. We need to begin, as a society, to give the issue more than lip service.

If I were a superhero, my superpowers would be cartwheels and the sad face (with corresponding sad noises). Oh, and my supersuit would be made of organic hemp.