I just sent an email to the manager of an organization where I worked for two years. In my email, I asked if they were hiring and said that I'd love to come back if they were. This is the response I got.
Jamie- I am sorry- please remind me who you are-I know yourOw. My Spirit. It's crushed.
name but that is where it ends.
Things have been a quiet on the blogging front this week because today was my deadline to hand in my completed master's thesis to my supervisor. I just emailed it to her and am sitting here at my computer feeling a bit sick to my stomach. After having spent so much time writing, reading, and editing the same paper, I feel as though I have no idea if my thesis is what it should be. We'll see.
I've really enjoyed the process of writing my thesis and I'm trying to savour the last weeks before I defend and then move onto the next phase of life. Full-time work will definitely be a shock to my system!
Even though there is quite a bit more work to do before I'm entirely finished, I've resolved to celebrate steps along the way. So today, I'm posting a commemorative photo of the local where the magic has been happening for the past eight months.
This corner of our dining room is where I spend my days - staring out the window, drinking coffee, and listening to CBC Radio 3. And with the constant help of www.thesaurus.com, I also do some writing.
Maybe this is following too closely on the heels of the "Pee and Poo post" but I couldn't resist putting up a photo of the product I stumbled upon while killing time in London Drugs yesterday.
Am
isha - with Pee and Poo, my new plush friends.
Yesterday was my 27th birthday. I had a wonderful weekend with my friend Roxanne who drove down from Edmonton. My birthday was made even better by the addition of my new niece, who shall remain nameless (but hopefully not for long!). My brother and his lovely wife Sarah are still settling on a name. She was born at 9pm on the 12th, just three hours shy of sharing my birthday. I guess my birthday present to her will be not to hold that against her.
Kyle and I bought really good travel mugs, which I try to bring with me whenever I meet someone for coffee. Last week at Starbucks, I handed the woman at the till my travel mug and ordered a drink. Then, like a good customer, I walked to the bar to wait quietly for my coffee. I watched in stunned silence as the barrista made my drink in a cardboard cup, poured the drink from disposable cup into my travel mug, and tossed the cup in the garbage.
I understand that she probably wants to make sure I get the same amount of drink as I ordered. But it's a Starbucks mug, which I figure must be a standard size. Or maybe she was confused and didn't notice the mug until after she started making my drink.
Regardless of the reason, I was a bit irritated. The sad thing is that my irritation wasn't because of the environmental impact of such waste. It was because of my deep love of disposable coffee cups. When I drink from a cardboard cup, I savour the warm feeling of heat transfering from the drink to my hands. I relish the rough texture of the paper. I delight in the colourful cheer of left-over Christmas cups. For me, the cardboard cup is a big part of the experience of going out for a five-dollar coffee.
It was all I could do to not launch myself over the counter, intercept the cup before it hit the garbage can, and fill it again with my lactaid latte. Instead, I watched in slow-motion horror as that beautiful cup sailed through the air, ricocheted off the side of the giant garbage can and fell on top of a cold pile of coffee grounds.
All that beauty... wasted.
Why Starbucks, why!? I try to do the right thing by bringing my own cup and you just taunt me!
ps. For fun, you coffee drinkers should check out the Oracle of Starbucks.
I'm going to a bar downtown tonight to see a show. I'm excited about seeing the band and I'm pumped to hang out with some friends who are in town for the holidays.
On Friday I was out for lunch with these same friends, worrying aloud about what I should wear to the show. My anxiety stems from the fact that I'm just not cool enough for indie shows (or any other shows) and neither is my wardrobe.
To illustrate my lack of coolness, I told the girls about the time a bunch of kids from my bible school drove up to Edmonton to watch Grandmaster Flash dj. Not knowing that Grandmaster Flash was playing a rave, I put on my "coolest" sweater, which I had picked up from Value Village. The sweater was chocolate brown with a small gold lion embroidered on the chest.
At the rave, I felt okay in my brown sweater amidst all of the kids with their loofahs, glow sticks, soothers, and neon spandex dresses. And then I went to the bathroom. While I waited in line, one of the tiny raver girls asked me if I was a security guard. A security guard. That's how cool I was in my awesome brown sweater.
So tonight I'm heading downtown wearing jeans and my current coolest shirt. I have a good feeling about this one. But then again, I also felt pretty hot in my security guard sweater so it's hard to know how things will turn out.
We had a fantastic couple of weeks cruising around the province enjoying the generous hospitality of friends and family. In Camrose we got to visit some of our dear friends and meet Soren, a fantastic new addition to our family.
Aside from the arrival of a beautiful new baby, there was another Christmas 
miracle. Every year, my family practices the British tradition opening of Christmas crackers before dinner. For the first time ever, Amisha received a paper Christmas crown in her cracker that was big enough to fit over her massive head. She was so excited that she kept it in her pocket and brought it out periodically over the holidays.
Another highlight of our holiday was Murray's Ho Ho Hold the Turkey event, which Amisha has accurately described on her blog while skillfully mocking our host. I think this is my favourite party ever, not only because of the delicious forno pizza but because of Murray's mad dancing skills.
Click on the photo to check out the i
ntensity on his face. He wasn't messing around...
The night before we left Grande Prairie I laid awake in my bed, overflowing with thankfulness for a holiday filled with the sweetness of new life, connection, good food, and laughter.
Happy 2008!
