And then... None!

Hurray! Today's the last day of work for 2 (count them... 1, 2!) glorious weeks of un-work! But DAMN did I need this vacation.

I have a bet going with Shauna about when I'm being dragged off to my parent's place, assuming my brother shows up late (which he will... this is my brother we're talking about). My money is on "whenever my brother shows up", since that's about as long as I intend to spend with my parents. Love them, but they get on my nerves EXTREMELY quickly these days.

Or all days. Whatever.

Anyway, Shauna thinks I'll fold to my parent's wishes and go home before he shows up. Unlikely. But whatever, she's allowed to think whatever she wants (if I lose, she wants dinner out of it... if I win, I get to stop her from nagging me about finances a couple times, which is worth it's weight in the gold I don't have!).

Oh, and I bought Christmas presents for my family. Still have a few things I want... a pot for my mom, more alcohol for dear father, and a book for Alex (that reminds me... gotta look up if he's read Snow Crash or not...), but I have at least one thing for all of them, which is better than some years. Cost me way too much (as predicted), but them's the breaks.

And, lastly, the Habs won last night (the game Andy was at with her friend Rachel), so I hope Andy is enjoying her Christmas a bit more.

One More Day!

Only 1 day of work left! Woo!

Yesterday was the General Staff Meeting and our Christmas lunch. I won a bunch of Christmas-tree ornaments... yay. Of course, a bonus woulda been nice, but since the company is just now getting out of the mess it was in over the summer, I think that's pretty bloody unlikely. Never mind that Chantal got $500 at her job she hates, or that Lenka got a solid $1000 from her 3-month-old job...
[sigh]

But whatever. Whatever whatever. I'm certainly not doing this for the money (which is good... if I was, we'd have pretty serious problems!).

Talked with Andy last night (technically this morning... she called around 12:30, but I hadn't been able to fall asleep, so we talked for awhile). Nice to hear her voice... says that her Pre-Christmas Christmas dinner was okay, but she was tired and cranky. I hope she feels better today... and I really hope that the Habs win their game tonight (she's going to watch with her friend Rachel). That would make her happy (and that would make me happy).

Lastly, still no word about when my dear brother will be materializing for Christmas. Ah well... we'll get it all straightened out sooner or later!

Two More Days!

Well, only 2 more days of work... and that's a blessing. Today we have the staff Christmas lunch, and before that a general meeting, and before that I have to do a short presentation on our variable focus solar simulator and double monochromators. Damned if I know why, but whatever... I does whats I'm told.

Andy and I talked again last night... her two closest friends in Montreal aren't too thrilled with the fact that she and I hooked up... and I can't say I blame them. I mean, it was only a few months after the break-up of her and Patrick. If I were an outside observer, even I would say it was pretty quick... but I trust Andy. I'm sure Will and Temor (her friends, obviously) do as well... they probably just need a bit of time to adjust to the concept. I do hope they open up to her and talk about it, though... but we'll have to wait and see, I suppose.

Other than that, I'm really looking forward to seeing her and hanging out with everyone in a week and change... should be a lot of fun! Yay! Of course, I have to survive Christmas first... but that shouldn't be too difficult.

I hope.

Andy's Home!

She got back to Montreal safely... which is nice. Apparently had a good time (although not an excellent one) in Germany, and I commited to hiking with her through Germany and Switzerland some summer (hopefully this one, but we'll have to wait and see how the finances work out).

It was really nice to talk to her, but sadly it meant that I didn't get to sleep quite as early as I was hoping... but whatever. Small price to pay. I hope I don't get sick, though... that would suck pretty hardcore. Ah well... I'm going to the gym tonight anyway (first time in a week!)... and after that I think it'll be pretty close to straight to bed. At least that's the plan.

And Shauna wants to come see me sometime... but until I know when my brother is coming to town, hard to commit to anything. I'm kinda hoping he doesn't come to Ontario until Sunday so that I can utterly minimize the time spent with the 'rents, but we'll have to wait and see, really. It'll be nice to see her again. Not as nice as when I get to see Andy, of course... yay! Only... 11 more days!

And only 3 more work days until no more for 2 weeks! WOO!

Sadly, no kendo tonight... but that's okay. Like I said, I'll be going to the gym, and I still have kendo on Friday, so I'll survive.

I Miss Andy...

It's true. She's supposed to be back in Canada today... I miss her. But I hope she had a good time.

I spoke with her for a little while on Friday, and it was really nice to hear her voice. She sounded a bit sad... I think she may actually miss me too. Imagine that!

Anyway, other than that, the weekend was pretty good... kendo on Friday was awesome, the kendo party on Saturday was interesting (I won about $10 off of Mori-sensei playing poker... hard to complain about that!). Sushi-senpai and I played chess, and then Weihao-senpai and I tried to play chess but Nishigori-sensei's kids kept moving the pieces and generally causing chaos... made it very difficult to play. Oh, and Mori-sensei's wife is the sweetest little Japanese woman ever... she's very cute (in that "awww... she's so TINY!" sorta way). She's a Japanese prof at the University (which might explain why the two of them look so well-off... I still don't know what Mori-sensei does for work!).

The only downside is that I was at Mori-sensei's until about 3am... so my Sunday wasn't really as long as I woulda liked (slept until noon, played FFXII, then back to bed!).

Still, overall an okay weekend... and only 1 more to go until I get to see Andy again.

No more volunteering...

Well, today was my last day. There was hell unleashed when I got to work, but I honestly don't care... I'm so bummed about not being able to volunteer any more.

Sure, it wasn't the ideal place to volunteer (I've been lightheaded from being there about a dozen times), but it was nice and I liked the people...

[sigh]

Oh well. Gotta get through the next 5 months.

In other news, Andy called me last night but I was at dinner with my mother so I missed the call... I really miss her. It was so nice to hear her voice again... only a few more weeks and then I can see her. I hope she's still having fun, though... but I can't wait to see her.

Boring Week

You know, besides work being slightly more annoying than usual, this has been a remarkably boring week. Kendo tomorrow and volunteering, which is nice... but even that won't make things much better, really. I mean, kendo is awesome, but I've apparently gotta come up with a way to quit volunteering, and that really sucks.

[sigh]
I don't want to quit volunteering. I like it. Especially compared to the work I'd be quitting it for.

But whatever... I'll figure it out later. Gotta remember to tell Mick I won't be in tomorrow morning... maybe talk to him about just getting Friday mornings off. Although it's remarkably unlikely (despite the fact I don't actually DO anything at work, everyone seems to insist that I be here).

Crap. I have a meeting right now. Stupid meetings.

Ruminations

Well, my father says my problem is my attitude. It's not that work is making me miserable, it's that I'm convinced I should be miserable and therefore am.

Something along the lines of "anyone else would love to be in your shoes"...

It's something to think about, at least. Is it really my attitude, or is it the job? Both? Hmmm.

Anyway, just something I have to think about. I still hate this job, I still hate that I'm stuck here, and I REALLY hate that my father doesn't appreciate it at all... but whatever. He seems to think that everyone is telling me to stick with this... I think he's crazy.

Interesting Case Study

Well, Andy's been gone now for... 3 days out of the... 20 days until I see her. It's been interesting... lots of thinking about her. Not just sex, either... sure, I'm thinking about that (but this is me we're talking about and that shouldn't surprise anyone), but more about things like how nice it is to have her around. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to catch up on my video games and sleep, but still... I'm okay without her around but happier when she is. I like having Andy in my life... she's pretty cool. And funny.

Hope she's having fun in Germany. I am... not having fun in London (but not because of a lack of her... work is driving me sideways and I've always hated the holidays).

Oh, and my harddrive at home has been slowly dying... borrowed a portable harddrive from work so I can save my more important stuff (anime, music, wallpapers, photos, and e-mail, mostly... about 50-60 gigs of stuff), so that when I buy a new harddrive (hopefully a relatively cheap one) I can basically start again without too much interruption.

And, lastly, Andy's Christmas present shipped today... I know she wants the Home jersey, but I didn't know it at the time, damnit! I just hope it arrives in the next 2 weeks (since it's so close to the holidays... really, anyone's guess!).

Snow Day!

So... Uh... Andy and I totally had sex last week. Wow.

I mean... wow on two very different levels. First, wow it was good (okay, it was pretty bloody awesome), and then wow I didn't see that coming.

But wow was it good! And now she's in Germany... but I have a girlfriend again! WOW!

Wow.

Uh... oh, and I had a snow day on Friday. Which was freakin' cool... got to hang out with Andy until about 3pm when she took her train to Montreal... and then went to kendo (which sadly was cancelled). But no matter... the rest of the weekend was spent playing FFXII and BF2142 (about 20 hours of Final Fantasy and about 10 hours of BF over the 3 days), which was brilliant.

Did I mention that Andy and I had sex? And it was GOOD?

Now I just have to wait for the other shoe to drop. My bets are on Bonnie telling me that she's decided her and I have a chance together. Not that it would matter at this point... I really do love Andy, and while I worry a little that we're still moving too quickly for her, I'm willing to risk it. But it would still sorta suck if she decided that now (in a "Where were you 4 months ago!" sorta way).

Yeah. The sex was really freakin' good. We've only done it twice to this point... but it bodes well! I guess we'll see how she feels when she gets back from Germany and I get to see her in Montreal! Only another... 18 days or so!

Hmmm...

So Andy says she loves me because I'm right for her.
Hmmm...

In a related story: We may have had sex. Just a little.
It was AWEsome.
[happy sigh]
But I'm a bit worried about it... did I jump the gun a little? Andy said that she didn't want to wait until she got back just because it seemed "proper"... and I totally agree with that. And she really was earnest about wanting to be with me... so that's good... and the sex itself was freakin' amazing... but her saying that she loved me...

Don't get me wrong... it was great to hear. Made me all warm and fuzzy. But... there's something there that's not quite sitting right. I dunno... maybe it's just me. Probably just me.
Either way, I'm not worrying about it for now... when she gets back from Germany we'll have plenty of time to think about such things!

And we have SNOW today! YAY! Quite a bit, too... if it keeps up for another day, I might be able to snowboard this weekend! Woo!

Lastly, remarkably hard to find athletic tape so far. Gotta check the sports store in the mall across the street.
Maybe I'll skip the gym today (bad Marc!)... we'll have to see how I feel after work!

Armoured but Ouch!

Well, I got to put on the bogu yesterday... it was certainly fun. The Kote hits unquestionably hurt... not too badly, but its noticeable. And I need to find athletic tape somewhere for my wrists... the wrist-band I have is too thick and doesn't let me get the left kote on very well. But still, tonnes of fun... I just wish I were better. I bend at the waist (instead of keeping my back straight and my shoulders back), I forget or am incapable of stomping for the second hit in a 2-hit series, and there are beginners that have been to half as many practices as I have that are still better than I am. But many of them will stop going to practice for at least a few weeks while I'll be there... maybe I can catch up!

Sadly, no more Tuesday or Sunday practices until January... only Friday. But I'm still going to leave work early on Tuesdays for the rest of the month (just because I know there's no practice doesn't mean my work needs to know!), mostly just to get the time the hell away from here.

Other than that, Andy isn't feeling terribly well (headache coupled with cramps), so she had kinda a rough night... she woke me up a few times, but overall I don't feel terribly tired (maybe I'm just getting used to running off of 5~6 hours of sleep!). Regardless, she may be meeting my mother for dinner tonight... that could be amusing, or it could be disasterous. I hope mom likes her (not that I really care for my sake, honestly... I only care because it'd make my life a bit easier).

Armoured Core!

Tonight... I put on Bogu! That's right folks... in a mere 2 months I am ready to strap on the armour that the kendo sensei said I wouldn't wear for... 2 months.
Hmmm. Well, anyway, I'm still excited... I can't freakin' wait! People are going to start hitting me back! And I'll have bruises and be sore and practice harder... yay!
[happy sigh]

In other news, Andy has her exam today... good luck hime! I'm sure she'll do fabulous... she's pretty freakin' brilliant after all (I just hope she got enough sleep last night... only about 6 hours all told after the talking was done!).

Other than that... got to play a bit of BF2142 last night before my brother mysteriously disappeared... still a pretty fun game (the weapon accuracy has improved, so it's actually fun to shoot stuff again... the support gun and I are getting along marvelously well!). No time for FFXII, but that's okay... again, I'll plenty of time after Andy leaves on Friday. I'll miss her...
But I'll get to see her plenty before that, so that's good at least!

Monday... curses.

Well, for the record it was actually a pretty okay weekend. Not enough video games, but since that was replaced by rolling around with Andy (still no sex) and going to a bar to watch a Habs game... I'm okay with that! And besides... Andy is leaving on Friday, kendo is down to one practice a week after Tuesday... I have a feeling I'll have plenty of time to catch up on FFXII (which, for the record... still really freakin' cool!).

Oh, and I finally found a copy of Phantom Crash for my Xbox! Only $10 too... here's hoping it's actually as good as I've heard! Looks pretty okay... sorta like Jet Set Radio meets Mechwarrior!

Other than that, not a lot to report... I still really freakin' like Andy (I think I may be slightly head-over-heels for her... just slightly), and her Christmas present is still on backorder... I shoulda ordered it sooner. I hope they get a replacement before Christmas... it would suck otherwise... and I would order a woman's jersey as a kinda "present until your real present arrives", except that Andy loathes pink! Very upsetting. Hopefully I'll figure something out!

Other than that... not a whole lot to report. I get to put Bogu on tomorrow... yay wearing armour!

T'was a Very Good Morning...

Well, sorta. It certainly started good... Andy is pretty freakin' amazing. I love waking up next to her... that early-morning smile is absolutely priceless.

And then volunteering... well, for the hour I was there... that was pretty good. Joanne said I looked like crap and I should head home, so I took her offer... and had to come to work. That sucks.

I'm really getting fed up with this job. The more I'm learning about my ENFJ tendencies, the more I'm realizing how much of a poor fit this work is for me. I still haven't quite figured out what I want to do, of course... but I'm getting closer, at least.

Ordered Andy's Christmas present... and... it's outta stock. That is officially the suck. And she leaves for Germany in about a week... I'm going to miss her!

Oooh, that reminds me... gotta buy my Via ticket when I get home tomorrow to get from Brockville to Montreal. Won't make Bill very happy... means we (or I, if Andy can't make it) have to leave around 11am... but that's okay. With any luck it'll still be almost 24 hours around him!

Oh, and I have to buy my ticket to Oakville for the Friday too... damnit, too many tickets to keep track of! Ah well... at least they're for good reasons!

This weekend will probably be pretty busy (although it looks like Elizabeth is bowing out of making chocolate on Sunday)... and we'll have to see how badly I injure myself with the new hakama and gi.

Oh, and I tried Harry's Wii yesterday night (after the All You Can Eat Sushi)... fun, but nothing has really blown me away yet. Twilight Princess is probably really solid, but I'm not buying a $300 system for 1 game, thanks. As much as it hurts to say, I'll probably end up getting a 360 first... unless, of course, they release a FF-title for one of the other ones. Then it's sorta a done deal.

Anyway! On to pretending to work!