And this is why I love Canadians in sport...

Canadians always know how to have a good time when they play sports. This is from a week ago but I love this picture so much... it says a lot about Canadian athletes. The one pouring is Britt Janyk who won the downhill ski race that day. Kelly Vanderbeek is the one drinking and she placed sixth. Canadians will celebrate if they come in 65th... it doesn't matter. It's like they're just happy to be there (paying their own way because our funding sucks).

Back on the horse... so to speak

I went to another hockey game last night. This time the Dallas Stars were in town. We ended up losing in a shoot out. Being there again was not that bad, despite being able to see where I had been sitting the last time from the seats we were in this time. At one point the puck flipped into the crowd and my blood ran cold, but it hit the ground instead of a person, so that was good.

Work is hellacious right now. I can't freakin' wait to be on vacation, although who am I kidding... I'm still going to have to monitor some stuff while I'm gone.

I totally did not get around to sending Christmas cards to *anyone* this year. Not even people I see every day where I could just HAND them one. I've been so damn busy it's not even funny.

Tonight I finished work at 8 pm and decided to go to Wal-mart to pick up something for Jules. Holy Christ was that a mistake. I guess there's a reason it's open 24 hours because you HAVE to go in the middle of the night just to be able to walk down an aisle way without being crushed by the crowd.

Tomorrow the office people are doing a gift exchange thing (that I totally did not want to participate in)... we draw numbers and the first person opens a present... second person can pick that one or open one... etc., etc... with the last person getting to pick from everything. Anyway, I decided to be practical and hopefully a little original... I bought a car seat warmer/massager. It's at least a gift I wouldn't mind ending up with. Currently I'm using my sister's seat warmer (she let me use it the night I broke my nose and I just haven't taken it out of my car yet...heh).

Well, it's time for bed. I'm beyond exhausted...

Today I'm grateful for:

* My upcoming vacation
* Tomorrow being pay day
* My girlfriend
* My American twin for updating her blog so I know she's alive

Surgery

Doctor determined I need surgery to repair the inside of my nose. I'm now booked for January 23rd. It's a day surgery procedure that'll take about four days to recover from.

One thing I know for sure... having a camera shoved up my nose is NOT fun.

Four more days of work/hell until vacation. Yay....

Wendi's birthday today... wow... I've known Wendi for seven years now... where does time go??

Hm... well, Shannon over on Other-Motherhood tagged everyone for this, so here goes:

Write the first sentence from the first post of every month, and the last sentence from the last post of every month.

(I am taking the last line before my gratitude part of the posts)

January - N/A

February - People use that phrase, "More [blank] than I know what to do with." quite often. Tim Hortons coffee.

March - I realized, as I pulled away from the drive-thru window at Tim Horton's this morning, that people do not say 'thank you' or exchange praise nearly enough as they should. Boy, have I been punished.

April - This weekend sucked for the most part. In all honesty though, I would gladly re-live last August when I had strep throat for almost the entire month if it meant fixing what's happening now. (Gee... can you tell I was starting to go through relationship hell?)

May - I'm feeling a little better today, although I think I've blown my nose about 200 times. I'm just so upset...

June - Well, I had an hour-long phone conversation with her this morning. I have a tee time to face at 7:30 in the morning.

July - Golfing went pretty well this morning, considering I haven't golfed since September 29 th of last year. I love being happy and productive. (Starting to perk up here now...)

August - My uncle passed away this morning. I don't get it...

September - My god, I'm getting terrible with this updating thing... damn vortex of first stage-ness! So yeah, no more relaxed mood...

October - Well, for four days this week, I worked from 7 am to 7 or 8 pm. Not sure why that is.

November - Well, I think winter has begun. I wish I could win the lottery...

December - I received a hockey jersey from the Edmonton Oilers today.

Craziness

Work is so crazy that I can't seem to focus on anything else. My laundry is piled up, the movies I rented a while ago are still sitting on my desk, I haven't given my trip much of a thought yet (aside from saying 'thank god I have a trip coming up'), I haven't sent any Christmas cards, I haven't really done much Christmas shopping... I'm just a disorganized mess.

I'm seeing a ENT specialist on Monday for my nose. I need my left nostril looked at because it seems to be partially blocked and I need to be cleared for flying. I still get several headaches and periods of dizziness which sucks, especially when I'm at work.

Today we had the warmest weather we've had in weeks (+2C) but then in the afternoon came a huge blizzard with heavy wet snow and it was almost impossible to drive home after work. It wasn't so much driving as it was sliding home...

Today I'm grateful for:

* My family
* My girlfriend
* Not getting into an accident
* My upcoming trip
* Finally finishing one of my new books after months of sitting on the shelf

Brrrrrrrr...... it's frrrreeeeeeeeezing here...

It is so damn cold here lately. This whole past week has been very frigid... like, -20C and below with snow almost every day. Tonight, on the way home from work, I saw three big accidents during my 15 minute commute. How sad is that... the roads are very slippery despite some of them looking clear. At one point, I hit my brakes and I just kept on going because the road was like glass. It's amazing, the things we do to get around without having to brave the elements. Huge, heavy, fuel filled vehicles on ice... yeah, totally stupid.

I've resumed working long hours again now that my nose isn't bothering me as much. This month has been insane already and it's only the 7th. I'm really looking forward to my vacation at the end of the month...

On Monday I brought my cat, Molly, over to my place for a visit. She was freaked out for the first day but then did pretty well after that. It was nice having her here but I definitely value my sleep now that she's gone again (my grandparents came and picked her up yesterday). She's so adorable in the middle of the night, walking all over me, meowing and rubbing herself against everything. Annoying but adorable.

I finished watching season one of Dexter on DVD and I'm craving more. Jules bought me one of the books to tide me over and it's great because the show is obviously written closely to the style of the books.

I've also finally started watching the third and final season of Veronica Mars. I bought it when it came out on DVD but I was putting it off because I don't want to finish it and have nothing to look forward to. So far it's pretty good but it's all bittersweet of course... sigh.

Well, off to take a warm bath because I'm freezing my ass off...

Today I'm grateful for:

- A warm house to live in (except it's cold right now for some reason...)
- My girlfriend and all of the wonderful things she does for me
- Not getting into an accident on the super slippery roads
- My upcoming vacation
- Good books to read

Jersey

I received a hockey jersey from the Edmonton Oilers today. It's signed by Ales Hemsky, my current favourite player. :)

Ugh... work sucks. I can't wait for Christmas break!