"525,600 minutes, how do you measure a year..."

Well Christmas has come and gone and ringing in the New Year is only days away. I seem to always reflect at this time of the year and think, did I make any changes, do anything exciting this year? Yeah...there were a few things that I can look back on and be proud of. Which is always a good feeling going into a new year.

I'm going to start 2006 off as an auntie...which is cool. My first neice or nephew. And it's all becoming so real...a baby seat, clothes and cradle in the house really changed the feeling of a house which has had only adults living it in for the past few years. Ok, my bro isn't a total adult, but he's trying. And being a daddy will make him grow up mighty quick! LOL

I've tried my hand at a few new career choices which has made the decision for what I want to be when I grow up even harder. Growing up sucks. I wish I would have appreciated how simple life was when I was a kid. How I wish I could take back the summers when Sharon and I tried to schedule almost every afternoon off of our jobs so we could spend it floating in my pool, at the beach or shopping. Ahh...the days. Think my new job will give me every afternoon off in the summer? Meh....summer can't be that busy in a tourist bureau.

Or how my biggest concern was where we were gonna party on the weekends and the only stressful thing I had to coordinate was how we were all gonna get there. Now since most of my greatest friends have spread themselves out all over the world, keeping in touch seems like it's damn near impossible somedays. But, I guess, it makes the times we do see each other that much more entertaining!

Either way...as another year approaches us...I want to say Happy New Year and I hope that 2006 brings lots of love, luck and happiness to those who are close to our hearts - no matter how far away!

Great friend, good food, good atmosphere.

My title says it all....that's what makes for a perfect day catching up with an old friend. Sarah and I met in the city and went out for lunch at the Shoe Shop...we snuck in through the back door to avoid the paparazzi....which makes the journey even more entertaining. I love spending time with Sarah. She's one of those friends who don't know how inspirational they are. She's so amazingly talented and I feel like I'm in a creative frame of mind when we hang out. There are 3 people in my life who inspire my creative side and she is one of them. I love that she refers to me as "artsy". I have just started to consider myself an artist.

I know, I sound retarded (like a turkey - in Q's case). But doing artwork for fun and calling yourself an artist are, in my mind, two different leagues all together. So, when I'm hanging out with my artists friends and discussing artwork, galleries, etc. I can see that I probably am in the same league as them and I think the appreciation for my own artwork is developing and also helping me to get there.

On another note...Christmas is almost here! Tomorrow is our family's turkey dinner....30 plus people will be here tomorrow evening to partake in some festive morsals. LOL I can't wait. As much as having a large family can sometimes have aspects that are annoying, I couldn't imagine spending Christmas any other way! Having a wonderful meal with my grandparents, mom, bro, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, etc. is what Christmas is to me. No gift is ever as great as spending time with the ones you love. My Christmas wish is for all those I care about to have a happy and safe holiday season and to know how much they are appreciated. Happy Holidays :)

Crazy times...

What a crazy weekend. I spent 12 hours on Saturday doing photography for a friends wedding. I hope the pictures turn out...it's scary being a photographer on such an important day. The bride looked beautiful. I've never truly appreciated a Christmas wedding before, but the red dresses and all the Christmas trimmings made it so incredible. Truly a magical time of the year to get married.

So, it's finally official for real....I got the job. No more of the yes, no, maybe crap. I start Jan. 3rd at 9am. They wanted to meet with me today to give me a tour of the building which I was looking forward to as much as I didn't want to talk business today, but they had to cancel because my boss was called out of town. Meh....that means I now get to enjoy the next two weeks of vacation. Back to the grind in the new year.

I'm going to visit Sarah this week and I'm sooo excited to see her. It sucks that most of my friends live in Fredericton and I barely get to see them any more. But now that Qortnee is back in NS, I'm already excited for my trip to the cape to see her!!!

Scary news...my bro was in a car accident on Sat night...he's fine....truck is a mess though. Nothing is worse then showing up on the scene of an accident and not knowing what you'll find. (It happened just up the road...we were just going to bed, heard his truck leave the yard and heard a squeal and big smash 2 seconds later...mom and I were out the door and on the scene in a blink of an eye) He took out a fire hydrant but just missed a telephone pole so he's super lucky. I think he's learnt to slow down a bit and be more careful with icy roads.

K...guess that's it for now. Q, I don't know if you have access to read this, but I'm blogging anyway....and I don't really think anyone else reads it. LOL

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Spent yesterday putting up the tree and decorating the house. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my neck of the woods...but do I feel like I'm ready?? Of friggin course not. I have to make a do to list and actually stick to it this week. I got invited to the office Christmas party in Fredericton this week, but I don't want to go....A) Because I have to much else I could be doing; B) Because it won't be the same being in F'ton when I can't go visit everyone and C)Because it's also really weird being in F'ton and not having a place to call home anymore.

Other than that, life in Truro is boring. I'm stressed, cranky and I feel bad but I'm yelling at mom all the time. She does little things that make me angry and not having any sense of security right now really bugs me therefore she gets the raw end of the deal and gets yelled at. I know it's wrong...I know I shouldn't do it. And saying I'm sorry while snapping at her really doesn't make it any better.

The problem is I keep getting "yes, maybe, well probably" about the job that I'm suppose to start in January and I'm starting to doubt if I really want it at all. But, I have no other obvious opportunity so I can't really refuse it. And I don't know if its the job or if it's because of this crap that I've had to go through to even land this job that's making me doubt it. So much to think about, and I was fooling myself to think I'd have the time to do any thinking over the holidays.

Sometimes I really hate when I feel that life is being sucked out of me. I wish I could find something to do that I love. I miss being creative, I miss doing work where I'm proud of my accomplishments, where there's a big end result which shows me and those I love how hard I worked. Maybe I should give this job a fighting chance. Maybe it will end up being something I will love. I can see that there's only a few more hoops that I need to jump through in order to make this final. I guess for today that means my decision is to keep jumping.

Ramblings, really....

So, sometimes I really hate weekends in Truro. I did some Christmas shopping, put up the lights on the house with my bro and his friend, help mom put up her Christmas village, and decorated the tree at the office. But, I'm so not in the Christmas spirit. I've been so blah this weekend it's not even fit. I have a family dinner today, cause my new baby cousin Paige is being baptized.....and I don't even want to go. I half think it's because I was so excited to take some time off in Dec to do some art work, and do the things that make me happy. But, I just got asked to do some crappy filing for a couple days next week. Normally I'd say no, but the guy who asked was a co-worker of mine, and he's the nicest guy ever. So, I'd feel bad saying no.

And to top it all off...I just found out that Martha isn't going to be home most of the break. I really was looking forward to some down time with Mar....especially where she's studying art this year at college...I thought she'd be my creative inspiration. But one of her gifts is a ticket to go to visit her bf in Switzerland until Christmas Eve. Boourns. Great gift...I know I'm being selfish. Let's build a bridge and get over it. Sorry for the sad blog....and I'm not trying to have a pity party, I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening. CD xo

Update

Okay...since this is my first blog, I guess it will be a little more detailed that what it normally would be. Q...I won't be blogging everyday...unless I have something interesting to say. But since our lives are so busy, I figured this would be a good way to keep updated on each other's lives.

So, I spend last weekend in Toronto for the Canadian Aboriginal Festival. Which I've been dying to go to for the past few years. I was amazing. I didn't want it to end. I was excited to home home to my own bed, but I didn't want the music, dancing and the feeling to ever go away. It made my officially decide to spend the winter working on my own regalia for dancing. I may not be brave enough to do the powwow trail and dance at every powwow, but at least I'll know that I made something so special to my culture myself.

I also have been spending a lot of time work. Maybe too much. I really wanted to get to Fredericton to visit everyone this fall, but I just didn't have the time. I'm not complaining...I thought I was going to be unemployed as of the end of September. But it's been just the opposite. Since the award show ended, I kept working at Ulnooweg getting all their stuff together for the launch of their new look, got hired on as an assistant for a project with Aboriginal musicians. And spend the past few days working as a Production Assistant for a video that is being produced. Oh....and I helped add some french subtitles to AIDS awareness commercials which may be going network soon. CRAZINESS! But I'm loving it.

It also looks like I'll have a real career starting in January. Short version of a long story...it's not 100% yet, but I've been told that I am in line for the position of Aboriginal Interpretive Coordinator. Basically I'll be running a Mi'kmaq museum out of Truro's new tourist bureau. Insane part is, I'll be a boss and have to help create training for my employees aka "interpreters".

I tried to work my contracts so I'd have some time off in December to do some art work, relax and try to get some sense of normalcy in my life. But it looks like I might have another contract coming up and apparenlty someone else is trying to get ahold of me to do some work for him. I'm glad I have something to spend my days doing...really....cause Truro does get mighty boring!

Ok...that's it for now. I guess that's update enough. Have a good one :)