Purple is the new black

When I was 13ish, I remember reading a book where two characters were talking. An over make-uped girl crossed their path and the female started making fun of how she looked. The male gently reprimanded her for making fun and said something along the lines of how dare you make fun of something beautiful that God created just because it's different then you. Or something to that effect. The importance of those words have never left me and have caused me to try to be careful about critisizing (even in my head) other's appearances. And when I fail and make fun of how someone looks I often feel guilty like I am really making fun of God's handiwork. Which I am.

So it was with a twinge of guilt this morning that I contemplated how ugly a lady that I saw putting oil into her car was as I approached her on my way to work. I was still kinda far away and if someone is ugly from far away, well that's even worse then up close. My second thought was how hideous her purple dress was too. I didn't feel as guilty about that because technically a human made it and it could be chalked up to human flaw that a dress that horrible came into existence (I'm sure the plants or whatever that the material was made from were beautiful).

But then once I got close, I realized it was a fantastic purple bathrobe and the ugly lady was actually a kind of attractive man. So it was all good. Phewf.

Anyway, I'm off to Victoria and then Spokane for some holidaying! I'll talk to you dudes in a little over 2 weeks time.

Later!

smiles and temper tantrums

My co-worker had to bring her kids to work today for a bit while she prepared everything so she could work on her reports from home. In 3 years this is the first time between daycare and babysitting it has happened. It is pure pandemonium - she has two boys aged one and three. They are running around grabbing things, screaming, making funny noises and having temper tantrums. She is frustrated to no end and I feel a bit bad about barely being able to keep a straight face. They really are cute kids with huge happy smiles, devilish as they may be.

It is very great contrast to another co-worker who has four kids (aged 6-13) which often drop by for an hour in the afternoons and who sit silently in our waiting area and read the paper (although they do eat ALL of the candy in our candy dish whenever they visit). I realise they are older, but I think these kids would have been silent even when they were one and three. Different personalities and parenting styles I suppose.

3% down, 97% to go

This is cool. It was on the lovely Ariann's site. I've gotta get me some more red on the eastern hemisphere.




create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

props to the rain

inside my house yesterday, it was well over 30 degrees celcius. just breathing caused persperation beads to form on the forehead. thank you rain for coming to cool off my house.

note - please don't think i am complaining about the beautiful summer we are having. after the past two cold and rainy summers i am welcoming the plus 30 weather with open arms. but it sure does make my house warm. an occasionaly rainy respite is just what i need.

props to the rain

inside my house yesterday, it was well over 30 degrees celcius. just breathing caused persperation beads to form on the forehead. thank you rain for coming to cool off my house.

note - please don't think i am complaining about the beautiful summer we are having. after the past two cold and rainy summers i am welcoming the plus 30 weather with open arms. but it sure does make my house warm. an occasionaly rainy respite is just what i need.

quote

my enemy is the absence of hope my foe is the dissipation of faith...

I'm all smiles

I hate how shallow I am sometimes. I mean honestly, I should really not get as much satisfaction from these things as I do. They all come to nothing (and I'd likely be horrified if any of them came to something) yet I felt all smiley and flirty and happy. I shall now s'plain.

I returned to working man's land today. There is a whole new crew there! And it seems like a lot of them are youngerish. And I revelled in the appreciative glances (and I honeslty don't care that it's because I'm the only girl for miles) and the harmless flirtations. But the moment that made me smile most was when someone came walking over and said "Shannon, the Zoom Boom operator wants you to meet him in town after work for a drink." I peeked over at the Zoom Boom assuming that it would be one of the guys I'd gotten to know from my 6 weeks out there last year, but it wasn't. It was some random new guy. And he was cute. I got incredibly shy and blushed.

Anyway, I'm a huge dork but I just can't stop liking cute guys.

P.S. I did not meet any stranger cute guy for a drink in town after work - just because I get all smiley doesn't mean I'm going to follow up on it.

P.P.S. Insanely enough, someone thinks my blog is quasi interesting and put it on some kind of list. I can't say I'm crazy about the fact that I fall under the category "Girlz". Girlz with a z makes me think of Brittany Spears fans and 8 year olds that dress like they are 20 and carry cell phones. But whatever, kind of cool that someone went to the trouble. I sort of feel semi famous almost.

How to meet cute neighbours - a Beginner's Guide

My first clue that yesterday was going to be a bit of a gong show was when I woke up at 8:08am. I genearlly start work at 8:00 and although we have a little bit of flexibility with our hours, it's not a good idea for me to not even be awake when I am supposed to already have checked my email and started on my Monday timesheet. It really was my own fault for I almost always set more than one type of alarm and I'd stayed up late the night before and in my laziness had only set the one on my cell phone. I just got a new cell phone so I don't know why I thought I could trust it without a backup.

Anyway, rushing around ensued. I grabbed my purse, keys and a banana and I locked the door from the inside as I ran out the door. At this point I am mere seconds away from having my above suspcisions of gong-showness be solidly confirmed.

The distance from my house to the garage is maybe 10 strides. About 5 strides in I slowed down to a horrifying halt. I had only my car key in my hand. The previous night I'd decided to go for a bike ride along the river and I'd removed my house keys and bike lockup key from my normal key chain so I wouldn't have anything bulky to carry. Well guess what I didn't do. Put it back. It was still sitting on my coffee table. And it gets better - one of my roomates is in Victoria and the other has just left for work moments before. And it gets better still. That sneaky little cell phone that didn't wake me up is still sitting on the shelf above my bed. Harumph. Well, it was time to meet the neighbours at 8:30 in the morning. I sadly haven't made any friends in my neighbourhood yet. I don't know why but I feel suddenly shy when I see them - maybe because I have a mortgage that now forces me to stay put for awhile - it's not like I can up and move if I embarrass myself. But I digress. So, no answer at the first place. I'm about to go to the next place when across the street and 4 houses down I see someone getting into his truck. I race over there and shake my head to clear it (he's super adorable and probably totally my age) and explain my perdicament and ask to borrow his phone. As we enter his house I try very much to focus on my problem at hand but I just can't resist a quick look around for signs of a girlfriend - and aside from the floral couch (that looks really old) this is totally a bachelor's place. Hooray! Then I remind myself that I look like a total ditz right now and nothing I can do in the next 30 seconds will change that fact. Sigh. Anyway, I use his phone to beg my lovely sister to come and rescue me (which she did - she's awesome) and I leave his house telling him that I certainly owe him now and if he ever needs anything to come on over. As I am saying it I am very much hoping that it sounds like a nonchalant, friendly neighbourish thing to say and not a desparate plea for new friends, or worse, a proposition. He smiled a "knock em dead" kind of smile and said it was no problem. I grin because I think I have just pulled off the friendly neighbourish option above. Hooray!

Anyway, the day proceeded from there. It was a bit of a gong show but in the end I managed to get the most important things done. And then I relaxed all evening, figured out what had gone wrong with my phone's alarm the night before and had a good night's rest. Today's looking up. Especially since Taste of Saskatchewan is on. So lunch is planned. Awesome.

badgirl shannon

So yesterday I not only rode a motorbike but I also wore leather head to toe. I felt so bad I just about got a tatoo!

Kidding about the tatoo of course. But I did catch a ride out to the lake with my friend's dad - who is also the preacher man at my church. It was such a perfect day. The temperature was idyllic, the canola was in bloom, even the scents in the air were pleasant (except one spot where I think we may have passed a diary farm - but it wasn't bad). I was surprised how much I enjoyed being the bike - I knew I'd like it but I didn't anticipate it being such a comfortable way to travel. I don't know if I will go out and get my own or anything, but I'd ride on someone else's again sometime I think.

Anyway, to the dishes I go. They've gotten stacked up over the last while and I need to plan my attack carefully. I think some serious scrubbing may be in store. Wish me luck!

polyethylene roasting on an open fire

I learned an important lesson today. Domestic hot water tanks require a location from which to exhaust. The secondary lesson learned was that just because someone tells you the tank is turned off does not mean it is. Tertiary lesson, if you cover up the only place from which a hot water tank can exhaust, and it is in fact still operating, flames shoot out from the bottom.

It was tense there for a few moments. No one was hurt.

In other news, my bestest favourite Kylee-Anne is leaving me, possibly forever (but hopefully not - she might come back in the fall!). And I am sad for me, but happy for her. Hopefully she will have lots of fun and friends in Victoria. And I'm happy Mary and Chris get her for awhile. But I think I may get to go see them all for a week in August. I just got approved for a two week holiday beginning July 31st. Excitingness!

I'll be gone for several days. I've got to journey to the southeast of the province to do some asbestos investigating and then I think I will be going camping with my friends on their annual family camping trip. Till next week then!

two seemingly unrelated events

When I was 16 I was in a car accident. Afterward we were standing around talking to the guy who hit me and the other guy who's business I just about plowed through with my parent's car (you know my natural reflex was not to hit the brakes - it was to keep pushing on the gas. Thank goodness I could still steer). Anyway, the guy who hit me left to go "check on his baby". I couldn't believe he'd refer to his truck as his baby in the midst of the chaos. Then he pulled around the corner and I sheepishly realised he meant his actual baby. As in a wee little person. Why was it my first thought to assume he meant his truck?

Today the newest FedEx guy came in to pick up some equipment I'd scheduled to go back to one of the western offices. I think I might have a thing for FedEx guys - maybe because they are all so friendly. I had a more than year long crush on the first one we had when I started working here. But he turned out to be married. That could have been embarrassing - thankfully I am a chicken and would NEVER ask a guy out I was interested in. Phewf. Anyway, since I generally am fond of these courier people I was chatting up the new guy about summer holidays and he mentioned that he took "the pit bull to the lake" for the weekend. Quick what is your first thought?! If you answered a furry, often angry, little creature known as a dog you are correct. My first thought - "how can he be so degrading as to refer to his girlfriend/wife as a pit bull". What in the world? I have no idea why I would think that. Once I realized he meant his man's best friend, it was all good.

Then he asked if he could take one of my business cards. What does that mean? I was still reeling from the whole pit bull escapade so I didn't think about it till he left. Why would he need my business card? He knows where I work. Weird.

Okay, off to camp for the evening. Hooray.

Something special about that place

This week is my church's yearly family camp in North Battleford. It is one of my favourite times of the year even though I usually have to work and can only go to part of it. I've grown up my whole life going there and with only a few exceptions, almost all of my friends that I stayed in touch with are from this collection of churches across Canada and the United States that gather twice a year. I think my life would be very different if I had not grown up in this church. Every first week of July and Easter weekend since I can remember, I have gone to North Battleford. And once I was 13, there were "young peoples weekends" over New Year's, May Long and Labour Day. Not to mention the "extras" like the summer and November camps in Spokane Washington, or the summer camps in North Carolina and the Caribbean. There are others and one day I would like to be able to say I've attended them all. But this place in North Battleford is special - there is something about it that gets to you that causes you to overlook the old buildings, the uncomfortable bunk beds and the soggy toast. Even my lifelong friends whose personal beliefs have taken them away from attending a church still have something inside of them calling them back to the grounds at North Battleford every July 3rd-ish. It cannot be explained with words. Personally, I think they know in their hearts that what they can find there is Truth. A Truth that they possibly regret turning away from and haven't found since. A Truth which can be found elsewhere, but seems to be intensified in that extra-ordinary place. But that's just what I think

Anyway, I spent last Thursday and Friday in Fort McMurray for work (I may post on that later) and then flew to Calgary to meet up with a bunch of camp-goers who were planning to spend the night at a lake before heading onto North Battleford. I must say that I had a lovely time and was very relaxed. I adore the water and lots of merry-making involving splashing and horesplay occurred. Not to mention the all night camp fire and the enchanting sunrise. Oh how I love to camp.

So anyway, I will be gone to NB for the rest of week in the evenings (hooray for living only 130 km away!) and on the weekend. I shall be playing volleyball, eating popsicles and hotdogs and singing and laughing and all kinds of things.

Until later.