31 Dec 2009
by Lauriein Cow & Toaster, Me, me, me
As 2000 began I was drunk in a hotel room partying with a bunch of friends and studiously ignoring my boyfriend. I rang in the new year and millennium in the hallway outside the party room as a bunch of us ran out to get more alcohol from another room. Strangers came out to count down with us and we all cheered, yelled, and kissed right in the stairwell.
I moved to Burnaby in mid-December and met Paul. By the end of the year we were an item, as we had a very drunken 48 hours to close out the year.
In 2001 Paul and I moved out together. I was working a job that made me miserable. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I was laid off from said horrible job and was unemployed for six months.
I began a round of differing medications to try and bring my fibromyalgia and depression under control. Nothing really worked.
I found the religious group that I am still a part of and enrolled in the Beginner’s lessons. Stood in horror with the rest of the world as the Twin Towers fell.
2002 found me starting a new job. I finally met Paul’s (in)famous friend from Arizona, Rich. I took Shemsu vows. Paul had emergency orthopedic surgery to repair his torn meniscus and hopped around our apartment instead of using crutches.
In 2003 I had a scare with my heart. I thought I was having panic attacks but it turns out some of the medication I was taking was affecting my heart causing it to race. I went in for an echo cardiogram and an ultrasound of my heart and was found to be okay. Waved hello to my liver while I was at it.
I was hating my job and considering going back to school to work with animals in a veterinary clinic.
We moved from Vancouver to Ladner (from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom rancher with a yard).
2004 saw me actually applying for a student loan and quitting my job to take the 6 month veterinary assistant diploma.
Paul and I went camping, staying at Christina Lake, Kootenay National Park, and Banff. We came back just in time for me to start my classes in July.
In 2005 I was promoted to Manager at the veterinary clinic. Rich came to visit & joined us at my Christmas party & apparently will never hang out with my boss again (can’t say I blame him).
I traveled alone for the first time to Chicago to my temple. Took Shemsu-Ankh vows.
Paul and I started to think about buying a house.
Hurricane Katrina happened, my boss went down to help and ended up coming back with over 30 dogs that needed homes, including one very pregnant hound dog who stole our hearts. Noel-the-Christmas-Miracle-Dog becomes Maggie and we start looking for a place to buy.
2006 saw us learning how to cope with a dog with severe anxiety problems, moving into our own house, and getting a puppy. Rich & Rob came to visit from Arizona.
In 2007 Paul and I got married. Went to San Diego for the first time for the CVC West conference and visited behind the scenes at the San Diego Zoo.
In 2008 I finally got a diagnosis for what’s wrong with my left knee (chondromalacia patella/patellofemoral pain syndrome). Not surprisingly there isn’t a lot that can be done to fix it.
Became a little obsessed with eeePCs.
Started thinking about starting a family.
Our nephew Traviss was born.
2009: I entered my 30s. Was given the best birthday present ever by Paul.
Went to Maui and had an amazing time.
Our nephew Atticus was born.
Horrified my doctor and physiotherapist with the state of my neck.
Decided I am not ready to have children and put that plan on indefinite hold.
Um, motorcycles? Motorcycles!
30 Dec 2009
by Lauriein Me, me, me
I was reading old blog posts from the blogger days. A lot of it was terrible, oh god so terrible. Some of it was cute. A small amount of it was insightful.
I pretty much manage to land on my feet when things go wrong or life throws me a curve ball. Is that something that I want to bank on, some trick of luck I’ve had that everything – with hindsight, mind you – works out for the best?
Tonight I attended a ceremony for my temple (online) for the first time in a long time and it felt good.
Friggin’ April can not come fast enough. Roll on Spring! A sunny Spring with dry roads! Roads where drivers will hopefully be paying slightly more attention to the road because hand held devices are banned!
It is past time for sleep.
29 Dec 2009
by Lauriein Me, me, me, Work
I’ve been off work since the 19th and I go back on January 4th. But I’m really dreading going back. Not just “boy it sure sucks to have to work for a living!” but actual dread.
I don’t have any direction at work, I’m basically left to my own devices to fill the eight hours. Which sounds nice but in reality is really disconcerting. Anything I put my time and effort into (because I think it’s important/useful/will help grow the business/help develop the staff, etc.) is either not acknowledged or looked at and forgotten. More
28 Dec 2009
by Lauriein Life
How many times do we have to tell people:
- We’re both pretty allergic to cats. Please don’t let the cat sleep on the bed we’ll be using. Also, it’s not normal for a cat to make that kind of a stench whenever it has a bowel movement. That shit ain’t right – in more ways than one.
- I am lactose intolerant. Please don’t hide dairy in food I don’t expect it to be in. Also, please don’t make every meal involve cheese.
Granted, my own mother forgets on occasion that I have a hard time with dairy, but it’s not a staple of every meal in her house.
28 Dec 2009
by Lauriein Life, Me, me, me
A few more days of December left and then we’re done with another year and another decade.
Christmas was…well, it was. Paul and I didn’t exchange gifts since we spent so much on motorcycles and assorted gear. We spent Christmas in Kelowna with his family so we didn’t bother putting up a tree since we wouldn’t be home.
The dogs stayed at the usual kennel – sounds like they had a fantastic time! The gentleman who is responsible for feeding/cleaning/watching over the dogs is very taken with Maggie (I have to make sure I don’t send too many cookies with them because he is very generous with them) and had Maggie and Bender at his house for a special Christmas dinner and made them turkey sandwiches . Aw, so cute!
I really didn’t feel any Christmas spirit this year. I don’t know if it was the lack of traditional “us” stuff that we didn’t do or something else. I was hoping that by the time Christmas Day came around, I would too but all I felt was sadness at how a once-magical day was just like any other mundane day. Add that and the weirdness/pressure of being with my in-laws and I really didn’t have a great holiday.
I hope it was an off year. I don’t want to be sitting around December 2010 saying “eh, let’s not bother getting a tree – we didn’t do it last year”.
11 Dec 2009
by Lauriein Me, me, me
Things I Have Not Done:
- Had a stagette/bachelorette party. For this I am grateful.
- Had to plan a wedding and become insane with stress and decide to blow the budget on cupcakes and beer, and left the guests to their own devices as far as entertaining themselves. Except the entertainment may be the aftermath of me eating cupcakes and beer. Running away to Hawaii for the win!
- Been a bridesmaid or maid of honour.
- Successfully painted a wall on my own. I am the world’s worst painter.
- Learned to swim properly. I swim like a Labrador Retriever.
- Traveled outside of North America.
- Graduated from university.
- Taken Home Economics
- Gone skiing or snowboarding.
- Kissed a girl.
Things I Have Done:
- “Slung puppies” post caesarian section (swung them the dislodge mucous in their lungs and if needed – and it was – sucked the mucous out of their noses with my mouth).
- Seen the entire intestinal tract of a Rottweiler.
- Stayed up to see two consecutive sunrises.
- Went to an outdoor music festival on my own and camped with a bunch of strangers. Got a ride back into town in a Volkswagon van.
- Sat for 6 hours of tattooing. Should have listened to the artist and stopped after the lines were done but nooo, I wanted the colouring finished too.
- Had road rash from mid-calf to hip.
- Changed my haircolour twice in one day (red to blonde to brown).
- Had an emergency room doctor recognize me because of how often I’d been at the ER.
- Drank an entire pot of coffee, followed by two shots of espresso.
- Had the throttle of a motorcycle wide open and thought ” that’s it? Shit!”*
*It was a Sherpa on highway 99. Thing could barely get to 100km/hr.
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