Everybody's Working for the Weekend

Happy Monday! Wow, that's quite the oxymoron, isn't it? I don't think I know anyone who is happy about Mondays, except maybe.....no, what am I saying there's no one who is happy about Mondays.

Ah well, they have to be done though, don't they?

I figured to make this Monday a little more bearable, I would do a quick, happy fun post about my weekend.

Friday (I know Fri isn't technically the weekend, but as far as I'm concerned, the weekend really starts at 4:30pm Fri) consisted of stopping quickly at home after work (which was the first time ever coming home to there and not being greeted by my kitty :( that was definitely sad and wierd...but meh, can't dwell on that!) to quickly grab some clothes, then head to my mom's in Dartmouth. She was away for work Friday and Saturday, which means I had to house/cat/sister-sit for her, and which also meant that I had the use of her car those two days (woohoo!). I decided to give my sister a bit of a treat and take her to Swiss Chalet for supper (I'm sooo boring I always order the Club Wrap, but it's just sooo yummy! They have the best fries).

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before on the blog, but my sister has Down's Syndrome. She's five years older than me but because of her condition, she's more like a younger sister. I'm not going to lie, she pisses me off and she can be very difficult to deal with sometimes (she can be very cranky, shy and quiet - sometimes taking forever to answer a questions or not answering you at all - and not very sociable) but she means well and when she is in a good mood she makes me laugh. Deep down, I love her lots and am fiercely protective of her. Like, if you say or do anything mean to her you'd better watch out for me!! Ok, I'm like the least intimidating person ever (I'm only 5 feet tall!) but I can still bring it if provoked! Just remember, I'm right at crotch and knee level.

...Anyway...

She loves Swiss Chalet and going out for dinner in general so this is a big deal to her. Then I took her home and went for coffee with a friend of mine to catch up. It was a quick visit, but still nice!

Saturday I had a slow morning reading the paper, catching up on blogs, and working on some writing planning. I really want to get more serious about sending pitches and articles to publications and websites and start building up a larger, more consistent portfolio of writing. But I've realized I won't stick with it unless I have a plan, so I've decided to kick myself in the butt and actually start making a list of places I want to approach, subjects for articles, etc. Writing projects aren't just going to fall in my lap! I have to go out and get them. I also started an "Inspiration and Ideas" folder on my computer to save articles and web posts that speak to me and provide good advice that I want to keep in mind. I read all these things on a regular basis and come across so many things that make me think "wow, that's a great idea", or "I'm definitely going to use these tips" but had no place to keep track of them, which seemed silly. It felt good to get some of these things done; I feel much more organized on the writing front now!

Once my sister got up and ready to go, we headed out to run some errands and just get out of the house (my sister isn't 100% independent and that combined with her inconsistent social skills means that she only really gets "out" if my mom or me take her somewhere. Since I don't live at home anymore and don't get to spend time with her very often, I really wanted to take advantage of my time at mom's to take her out this past weekend). We went to the duck pond for a walk and to feed the ducks, but of course it started raining before we had the chance to do either, so we went to Starbucks instead! (is that not the best place to be on a rainy day?). Then we just ran a couple of errands and headed home!

Saturday evening I ended up at a friend's boyfriend's house for a giant games night! I was sort of on the fence about going at all, but I'm so glad I did because I've never laughed so much in my life! We played Loaded Questions, which involves one person in the group reading a question off the card, and everyone else writing an answer down. The answer you write can be as ridiculous as possible and not even have anything to do with the question. Then the "asker" has to listen to each answer and guess who wrote what. Some of the things that people wrote were quite hilarious. I ended up tying to win with my friend Michelle (we each got 5 right)! It's funny that I guessed 5 people's answers because I had never met over half the group before that night, and I think I guessed more of their answers than those of the people I actually knew! Wierd.

After LQ, we played What Mine's Like, which turned out to be one of the funniest games ever. It involves a card being passed around the group with a word or thing on it that is kept secret from one person in the circle. Then each person has to try and allude to what the word/thing is by describing what "their's is like", e.g. saying "Mine is green" or "I have used mine many times today", etc. You can imagine how much hilarity could ensue, both from the confusion of the "guesser" and the fact that the clues people give can be completely taken out of context, if you know what I mean. Literally, my jaw and ribs were sore from laughing by the time we left! I ended up having a 30 minute heart-to-heart relationship chat with one friend when I dropped her off at home. She was worried about some issues with the guy she's dating and needed some advice. She's actually a friend of a friend and we've never had any deep conversations one on one before, so it was nice that she felt comfortable talking to me about her issues!

Mom came home from her trip late Saturday night and Sunday we were slow going, didn't get out until 2pm or so but ended up getting a ton of shopping done. My lovely mother bought me a whole load of kitchen stuff I've been meaning to get, as well as a cute black sweater-cape from Walmart (yes, WM! Say what you will about Wally World but they have cute clothes!). This was such a huge help as I'm still horribly broke at the moment. I finally got my 1st paycheque from the temp job on Tuesday but once I paid a couple of (already late) bills, and had my cat put down on Thursday (which costs almost $150 by the way!! Shocking...), I was basically down to zero again. It's sooooo frustrating living hand to mouth right now, I can't even tell you. I know it will get better, but I have to dig myself out of the hole and get back on level ground 1st, and it's a very frustrating place to be in. Thank god for my mom's generosity and close proximity - she has helped me so much during this tough time and I can't thank her enough.

We went out for supper, and the little boy in the booth next to us was celebrating his bday (he was probably around 8 years old I'd guess). When the servers came around and sang to him, they made him stand up on the booth and as they sang he did this booty-shakin' dance in his spot - it was so funny! Hey, if you're being stared at by an entire restaurant and made to look silly, you might as well go with it, right?

When I got home I did a whole bunch of tidying and putting things away, and I also gathered all the cat's stuff up in a pile to get rid of. It's just too hard sitting there looking at her things sitting around like she's still there, so I wanted to get them cleaned out before the new week started. Clean slate. I'm going to donate as much of it as possible to a local shelter, which will help them out but also make me feel better. It was definitely strange spending the evening at home for the first time since she was put down; I kept expecting her to come into the room or to go into the bedroom and find her snoozing or something. I miss her and I'm not used to the change yet, but I feel very content about it in any case. I'm just happy that it's over with and she's in a better place.

After I tidied I got my Halloween decorations out! I LOVE Halloween! It's definitely one of my favourite holidays, and so I always like to have a few fun things around the apartment (I don't go crazy or anything; we're talkin' orange tablecloth and towels, candy bowl, skull candle holders). I've pretty much decided on my costume, just need to figure out where and when I'm going to where it. There are some murmurings of possible goings-on but nothing set in stone yet. I just have so much fun putting a costume together and wearing it that I definitely want to do something - not just sit around. Gotta burn off all the mini chocolate bars I plan on consuming.

Remainder of the weekend was spent laying on the couch with green tea and watching the Amazing Race! God I love that show; me and my mom are going to do it if they ever start a Canadian version (ummm, by the way Canadian Cable Companies, could you get on that, like soon?!). Is it sad that there are already teams annoying the f#$% out of me? Also, I have to say I'm rather worried for one particular team and whether or not they will be able to get through this thing...

So, that was it in a...well, a very long nutshell. I think it's going to be a good week! I'm definitely going into this one feeling more positive, motivated and organized than last. I also have been thinking a lot about this blog and what changes I want to make to it. I've decided that I want to personalize it a bit more, and so you can probably expect to see more posts such as this one that are more light-hearted and highlight a bit about me and how I spend my time. I'm hoping to create more of a connection with more readers this way. There's no way you will EVER see me writing about ME all the time, or going into every single detail about my existence on this blog, because when it comes right down to it, I'm a private person and I don't want this to be a narcisistic forum. However, I do think that people will enjoy reading more (and I'll enjoy writing more) if I have more of a fun, personal focus to my posts. I guess we'll see!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything exciting? Thinking about making any changes lately?