dashed hopes

have you ever gotten SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited over something, only to realize that it's not possible?

I was playing a friend a sample of TFK off their website, and there under "tour dates" i noticed Saskatoon, SK listed.......WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

saw them in April in Edmonton at YC, and they put on an AMAZING show.....would LOVE to see them again. Especially after i (hopefully) get their new album for my birthday....

then i realized they're playing on Nov 3 - the same weekend i am out at camp cooking for the weekend, sigh.

guess it wasn't meant to be. Hopefully tony and Leon get some good pics and stories and memories from the concert - i'm sure they'll be going.

now THAT's customer service!!

we are currently in the process of getting Sasktel Max installed at our house...and when i say process, boy do I mean process.

We've had shaw cable as of late, but decided to switch over to max now that Leon's back in school and needs internet for some of his homework. We've had max in the past at our old place and quite liked it.

The install was originally booked for last Thursday, the lady called and showed up around 6:30, saying she'd likely be there for a couple hours....well, 9:30 rolls around, and she is unable to proceed, as the next steps require input from dispatch, and they have all gone home for the night. All the wiring is neatly installed, but the modem box was not working properly....

So early Friday morning, before going out on other calls, she comes by and does some more work and checking to see what's wrong, and determines there's a problem with the line between the junction box on our block, and our house.

So another branch of Sasktel is dispatched to fix the outside problems, but we are not told how long this will take, or when we can expect them to come back to finish the inside stuff. So i give them a call yesterday - the installer also forgot her drill at the house, so i let them know that, and said to tell her to come by if she needs it for other jobs. They inform us that she'll be back at 4pm today to finish the job, and all is good.

Well, this morning, 8:10 am, the doorbell rings....i throw on my housecoat and run downstairs, and there she is, with a box of donuts.....she wanted to grab her drill, but had been so happy to find out where it was (she didn't really know where she left it), and so she brought us a treat, then said "ok, see you at 4!"

We were slightly worried about the install, because if the installer is crabby and fussy, they don't always listen to the customer to do it in such a way as to minimize the visible wiring and holes in walls, etc. but she has gone over the top in terms of her agreeableness, diligence, and in accomodating us. I think i may have to call her manager to commend her... and not just because of the donuts!

self-medicating

had a great weekend....friday nite youth was really good, we did some team building activities and a great study on Ananias and Sapphira....then the sponsors came over and we ended up playing games 'till 4am....now i'm a night owl, but that night sure showed me that i'm not as young as i used to be, lol.

Saturday was my kitchen day - the guys went to a movie and i got the house to myself, which was nice. it's hard to cook/bake with interruptions. Made cinnamon buns, white buns, home made salsa, and home made perogies.

Sunday there was a potluck after church for the young couples - what a great group of people! Then spent the afternoon cutting and freezing apples - we picked them a few weeks ago and have been storing them in our spare fridge, but now i gotta do somethign with them before they spoil. Candace n Lyndon came over in the evening with their kids to play games and hang out, that was great as well.

But now i'm tired, and need another weekend! I also think i'm catching a bit of a bug - the sniffles are getting a bit worse each day. And combined with other 'problems' (sigh, the life of a woman), i'm feeling pretty bad today - aches n pains, sniffles, and of course, pretty tired. So me and my lovely mug of hot chocolate are trying to feel happier in body, though my soul is refreshed after the weekend.

any takers?

$599 -- Ireland: 7 Nights, Car and R/T Air *
IrelandTravel dates: October 11 and 18

For $599 ($782 incl. tax) reserve this 7-night Irish cottage getaway -- air alone regularly costs the price of the whole package!

Note: The price is based on bookings with 4 people. If you are 2 people, you'll have to add $100 per person...still a great deal.
This deal is valid for departures from Toronto on October 11 and 18.

Your package includes:
Roundtrip airfare on Air Transat from Toronto to Dublin or Shannon
7-nights cottage accommodations (in your choice of region)
7-day car rental
2-for-1 attractions booklet and touring map of Ireland
To Book: Call Royal Irish Tours at 1-866-907-8687 or 905-773-6773.

innie or outie?

Here's a pic i took on my holidays - at the top of one of the sand dunes by Sceptre, SK. I admit, i got the idea from a picture Arleen took that's pretty much identical - of her footprints over in the sand in asia...... her picture does this weird thing where the footprints look either indented/pressed in as they should, or they pop out at you as if the person stepped from the other side of the sand, and i was curious to see if it would turn out the same in this picture - which it did.




So which is it for you - do they pop out or indent in? Can you make them switch back and forth? (hint: mentally imagine which side the light is coming from....)

why is it

i seem to go thru life in cycles - or maybe just in circles.

every so often, maybe once a year, i just hit this point where i feel very lonely, feel like I really don't mean much to the people around me, feel that my friends are people who i think are close friends but they think i'm just a casual friend.

calls seem to go unreturned, plans/suggestions for coffee don't turn into reality,

i've experienced a lot of rejection in my life, and a lot of being on the outside of social circles looking in, never quite fitting in, never quite being part of the group. So when little things like this happen, it starts feeling like the rejection and isolation are happening all over again. And i retreat, i crawl into my shell.

i don't want to call back when i've made the last call, don't want to seem needy.

i don't want pity, i don't want to be patronized. i know that i'm a pretty intense person in terms of relationships - that's why i try to step back and let the other party call, let them follow up on my suggestion to have coffee or hang out.

i just feel so socially awkward sometimes, i don't know where the "line" is, even with people that i would say i'm pretty close with. Should i just call again, assuming they either got busy or forgot? or should i take the lack of response as an indication that they do not want to go for coffee, they do not want to hang out or chat.

i wonder if i'll ever change, if i'll ever grow out of this, or if it will be with me forever.

rest

this weekend should bring a much needed time of rest, rejuvination, reconnection, and catch-up.

Hopefully in that order, otherwise i won't get to the parts of it that i really need.

I love being away and travelling and being at the lake in the summertime, but it sure does take a lot of energy, and make you fall behind on things like housework, etc. that would normally get done on weekends. I have felt so lost this week, so overwhelmed with everything i need to get done around the house, yet so tired that i crash into bed every nite and wish for a day just to relax.

I think i need to do the relaxing/rejuvination before i tackle the catch-up, otherwise i will just be unproductive and fizzle out very quickly. As for the reconnecting, hopefully lots of that will happen sunday with the kickoff at church - pancake breakfast, bbq lunch, lots of time to hang out and visit hopefully.

At least most of the produce from the backyard is either (a) happily stored in the fridge for my attention in the next week, (b) already processed to a point, then frozen so i can continue to can/preserve it when time allows, or (c) still in the garden, not in need of immediate attention (except all those yummy ripe tomatoes calling to me - by the end of the weekend they should be salsa!)

I wish gardening season (as in the harvesting/preserving part) was a different season than holiday/lake season. It would make it easier to really enjoy both without being so exhausted.

it would appear.....

that Dave and Gerri have the same home phone number as my work number........except for the area code. Theirs is 360 (Washington state)........

their poor friend was so confused.......